Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Pair: Rifleman W. Clayton, 12th Battalion, London Regiment (The Rangers), who was killed in action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, 1 July 1916, on which date the Battalion suffered over 500 casualties

British War and Victory Medals (4266 Pte. W. Clayton. 12-Lond. R.); Memorial Plaque (Walter Clayton); together with the recipient’s Berkshire Education Committee Perfect Attendance Medal, silver (Walter Clayton - Seven Years),with two award bars, 1904-1910 and 1910-1911, the reverse of both engraved ‘Walter Clayton’, extremely fine (4) £240-£280

Walter Clayton, a native of Wokingham, attested for the London Regiment, and served with the 1st/12th Battalion (The Rangers) during the Great War on the Western Front. He was killed in action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme on 1 July 1916, on which date the Battalion, as part of 168 Brigade, 56th (1st London) Division, was involved in an attack on Gommecourt, and suffered total casualties of 517. Clayton has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, France.