Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Pair: Lieutenant the Hon. M. F. S. Howard, 8th Hussars and 18th Hussars, later Honourable Artillery Company, who was Mentioned in Despatches for his gallantry at Zillebeke on 28 February 1915, and was killed in action at Polygon Wood, Passchendaele, on 9 October 1917

King’s South Africa 1901-02, 2 clasps, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902 (Lt. Hon. M. F. S. Howard. 8/Hrs.) engraved naming; British War Medal 1914-20 (Lieut. Hon. M. F. S. Howard) small area of erasure at 3 o’clock on BWM, good very fine (2) £100-£140

The Hon. Michael Francis Stafford Howard was born in Kensington, London, on 23 January 1880, the sixth son of George James Howard, 9th Earl of Carlisle, and was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the 8th Hussars on 18 November 1899, having previously held a commission in the 4th (Volunteer) Battalion, Suffolk Regiment. He served with the 8th Hussars in South Africa during the Boer War (entitled to the Queen’s South Africa Medal with clasps for Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Paardeberg, and Belfast), and was advanced Lieutenant, before transferring to the Reserve of Officers. In March 1904 he was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Royal Anglesey Royal Engineers (Militia), and in December of that year transferred back to the Regular Army, this time as a Second Lieutenant in the 18th Hussars.

Following the outbreak of the Great War Howard proceeded to France with the 18th Hussars, and served with them on the Western Front from 9 November 1914 (entitled to a 1914 Star). For his services with the 18th Hussars he was Mentioned in Despatches (London Gazette 22 June 1915)- the Regimental History incorrectly reports that he was awarded the D.S.O. for this action:
‘At Zillebeke on 28 February 1915, Lieutenant Howard and Sergeant Mason, both of “A” Squadron, volunteered to go out and obtain vital intelligence. They had to dodge the German post in the communication trench, examine the latter, find out the number of occupants, and discover in what way the German communication trenches ran up to the captured trench. They did their work so thoroughly and sent in such a valuable report that Lieutenant Howard received the D.S.O. and Sergeant Mason the D.C.M. for their respective services. They had, indeed, performed a difficult and dangerous task and well merited the awards.’

For reasons unknown Howard relinquished his commission in the 18th Hussars, and in 1917 enlisted as a Private in the Honourable Artillery Company. He served with his new unit during the Great War on the Western Front from 25 April 1917, and was killed in action at Polygon Wood, near Passchendaele, on 9 October 1917. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Belgium.

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Note: According to the recipient’s Medal Index Card, Howard’s widow was originally issued with a British War and Victory Medal pair named to him as 10246 Private, H.A.C. These were returned, and a 1914 Star trio was subsequently issued named Lieutenant (18th Hussars) in 1922.