Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Pair: Chauffeur F. C. Papworth, British Red Cross Society and Graves Registration Commission, later Army Service Corps

1914 Star (F. C. Papworth. B.R.C.S. & St. J. J.); British War Medal 1914-20 (F. C. Papworth. B.R.C. & St. J. J.) with damaged named card box of issue and outer transmission envelope, good very fine (2) £80-£120

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Medals to Recipients of the 1914 Star.

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Frederick Charles Papworth was born at Chesterton, Cambridgeshire on 17 March 1884. He served as a Chauffeur during the Great War for 12 months from 4 November 1914; firstly with Motor Ambulance Unit No. 2 of the British Red Cross Society, later with the Graves Registration Commission. Following his return to England, Papworth attested for the Army Service Corps at Battersea, London on 11 December 1915 and returned to the Western Front as a Driver attached to a succession of different units with the British Expeditionary Force from 23 July 1917.

Sold with the following original photographs and documents: a portrait photograph, 85mm x 130mm, of the recipient in the uniform of the British Red Cross Society, taken March 1915; a photograph, 105mm x 82mm, of a fleet of motor vehicles inside a large hangar, reverse captioned ‘The Workshop, Le Cateau, 1918’; the recipient’s ‘Annexe du Passeport’ with portrait photograph attached, issued by the République Francaise authorising entry into France via Boulogne before 2 June 1915; a certificate issued by the French Ambassador to London authorising passage to France for the recipient’s automobile - Vauxhall, chassis Number 216; a letter of reference from Brigidier-General Fabian Ware, Director of Graves Registration and Enquiries at the War Office; a letter from the British Red Cross Society regarding overseas service Chevrons earned by the recipient; the damaged lid to another card box of issue for BWM and VM named to “Pte F. C. Papworth, A.S.C.’

Note: The medal rolls and index cards indicate that the recipient’s service with the Army Service Corps resulted in him being issued with a second pair of British War and Victory Medals.