Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A fine Great War D.C.M. group of four awarded to Lance-Corporal H. W. Fox, Wiltshire Regiment, who was killed in action on the Arras front 9 April 1917

Distinguished Conduct Medal, G.V.R. (8829 L. Cpl. H. W. Fox, 2/Wilts. R.); 1914 Star, with clasp (8829 Pte., 2/Wilts. R.); British War and Victory Medals (Cpl., Wilts. R.), with related Memorial Plaque (Herbert Wolton Fox), extremely fine (5) £1000-1200

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Collection of Medals to Great War Casualties formed by Tim Parsons.

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D.C.M. London Gazette 19 August 1916:

‘For conspicuous gallantry and resource as a telephone linesman. On several occasions during bombardments previous to an assault he kept up telephone communications and repaired and maintained lines under the heaviest shell fire. His services were invaluable, and he always performed his work with coolness and courage under the most dangerous circumstances.’

Herbert Wolton Fox was born at Great Ryburgh, Fakenham, Norfolk and enlisted at Devizes, Wiltshire. He would appear, however, to have been brought up by his aunt and uncle in Cirencester, although his mother was still living. He first went to France with the 2nd Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment in early October 1914 and was killed in action on 9 April 1917, his mother receiving the following letter from 2nd Lieutenant W. R. Wood, O.C. of ‘A’ Company, 2nd Wiltshires:

‘It is with great regret that I am writing to inform you of the death of your son, No. 8829 Cpl. Fox, H.

He was killed in action on 9 April 1917 during an attack on an enemy position. I can hardly express in words the sympathy which I feel for you in your great trouble but I hope that it will comfort you to know that he always did his duty and set a fine example to everyone around him both by his devotion to duty and great courage under fire. His loss will be a great loss to the regiment and I may say the Army ...’

Fox was interred in the Bucquoy Road Cemetery, his original wooden cross bearing the inscription ‘Known to be buried in this cemetery’.

Sold with the following original documentation:

(i) Two letters from the head of the Church Lads Brigade at Cirencester to the recipient’s uncle, the first, dated 9 September 1916, being a congratulatory message on hearing of the award of his D.C.M. (‘ ... We forwarded news of his gallant action to our Headquarters in London and they have written requesting us to secure them a copy of Herbert’s photograph for reproduction in their official magazine, “The Brigade” ...’), and the second, dated 9 May 1917, a message of condolence.

(ii) Two letters from the Headmaster of Powell’s Boys’ School at Cirencester, one addressed to his uncle and the other to his aunt, the first, dated 31 August 1916, being a congratulatory message on hearing of the award of his D.C.M., and the second, dated 17 May 1917, a message of condolence (‘ ... My recollections (which are very distinct) of him as a school boy are that he was steady, industrious and conscientious. His later life - especially as a soldier - fully showed how those qualities had developed. I am proud to have had him in school ...’); and another letter of condolence from a church goer in Cirencester, who clearly knew Fox in his youth, dated 23 April 1917.

(iii) Letter of condolence to his mother from 2nd Lieutenant W. R. Wood, O.C. of ‘A’ Company, 2nd Wiltshires, as reproduced above, complete in its ‘On Active Service’ envelope and date stamped 17 April 1917.

(iv) War Office communication, dated 3 August 1917, confirming that the sum of £32 was due to the recipient’s mother, Mrs. A. E. Fox, from army funds, ‘£20 [of it] being a Gratuity attached to the Distinguished Conduct Medal awarded to the late soldier. The Medal will be forwarded to you by the Officer in Charge, Infantry Records Office, Exeter, who has received instructions regarding its disposal ...’

(v) A copy of the Bath Herald of 13 October 1917, which includes a feature regarding the distribution of Honours and Awards at a special ceremony outside the Guildhall by Major-General W. G. B. Western, C.B., the accompanying text confirming that Mrs. Fox received her late son’s D.C.M. on the same occasion, and also including an illustration of her actually collecting it from the General - ‘she was accompanied by Mr. J. Smith of the Bath Arms, the deceased’s uncle, who brought him up.’

(vi) Two official communications regarding the recipient’s burial site, one of them from the Imperial War Graves Commission, with photograph, and the other the Army Record Office at Exeter, dated 9 January 1918, with exact location near Arras.

(vii) Three contemporary photographs, two of them of the recipient in uniform, and the other, poignantly, of his mother wearing his D.C.M. and 1914 Star.