Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Pair: Private A. Baker, The Buffs (East Kent Regiment), who was killed in action on the Western Front on 3 May 1918

British War and Victory Medals (G-24742 Pte. A. Baker. E. Kent R.); Memorial Plaque (Archibald Baker) mounted on a wooden base, with Buckingham Palace enclosure; Memorial Scroll, ‘Pte. Archibald Baker, East Kent Regt.’, in OHMS scroll tube holder addressed to ‘Mr. F. Baker, Red Cottages, Wigginton, Tring, Herts.’ nearly extremely fine (4) £180-£220

Archibald Baker was born in Wigginton, Hertfordshire in 1899 and attested for The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) at Watford, Hertfordshire. He served with D Company of the 6th (Service) Battalion during the Great War on the Western Front and was killed in action by shell-fire on 3 May 1918. Corporal A. B. Smalley, of D Company, 6th The Buffs, gave the following details of the circumstances of the recipient’s death: ‘He was struck in the head by a piece of shell and killed instantly... No name can be given to the battle, as it was a general engagement along the line.’
Baker is buried in Mailly Wood Cemetery, Mailly-Maillet.

Sold together with a quantity of ephemera including the recipient’s hand written military cookbook containing a large number of field cooking techniques and recipes - recipes typically in quantities for a strength of 100 men, indicating that Baker was likely one of D Company’s cooks (typically 2 cooks per company); Imperial War Graves Commission Memorial Scroll, slightly torn, in tube; two Buffs Christmas Cards, inscribed by the recipient; War Office Army Form B. 104-82, death notification; handwritten letter of condolence to the recipient’s sister from Corporal A. B. Smalley, D Company, 6th The Buffs, providing further details of the circumstances of the recipient’s death; another similar letter from the Officer Commanding D Company; The Buffs cap badge; the recipient’s “Active Service” Testament 1916 and “Helps to Worship booklet” these both inscribed; “A Form of Prayer” booklet.