The Jack Webb Collection of Medals and Militaria

Three: Private W. Lee, Middlesex Regiment, who was killed in action on the Western Front on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, 1 July 1916, when the 2nd Battalion was all but wiped out, with just 1 officer and 50 men returning unscathed out of a total force of nearly 700

Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 1 clasp, Cape Colony (895 Pte. W. Lee. 6/Middx: Regt.); King’s South Africa 1901-02, 2 clasps, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902 (895 Pte. W. Lee. Middlesex Regt.); British War Medal 1914-20 (L-9183 Pte. W. Lee. Midd’x R.) the Boer War pair mounted as worn, heavy edge bruising and contact marks to KSA, this fair to fine; the QSA and BWM both very fine (3) £240-£280

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Jack Webb Collection of Medals and Militaria.

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William Lee attested for the Middlesex Regiment and served with the 6th (Militia) Battalion in South Africa during the Boer War, and with the 2nd Battalion during the the Great War on the Western Front from 7 November 1914 (also entitled to a 1914 Star and Victory Medal). He was killed in action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, 1 July 1916, on which date the battalion was involved in 23rd Brigade’s attack up Mash Valley towards Ovillers. Only 1 of the 23 officers that moved forward at zero hour returned unscathed, and among the 650 other ranks that went over the top, just 50 were able to answer their names when the roll was called early the following morning. Lee has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, France.