Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Three: Private F. Allman, 5th Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, who was severely wounded on the Somme in August 1916 and was killed in action serving with the the 2nd Battalion during the Second Battle of Cambrai on 8 October 1918

1914-15 Star (10808 Pte. F. Allman. Oxf: & Bucks: L.I.); British War and Victory Medals (10808 Pte. F. Allman. Oxf. & Bucks. L. I.); Memorial Plaque (Frank Allman) extremely fine (4) £180-£220

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Barry Hobbs Collection of Great War Medals.

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Frank Allman was born in 1894 at Devizes, Wiltshire and was a resident of Hazlemere, Buckinghamshire. He enlisted in the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry on the outbreak of the Great War in August 1914 and served with the 5th (Service) Battalion on the Western Front from 20 May 1915. He was in the Battle of the Somme and being severely wounded by shrapnel on 24 August 1916, he was sent to hospital in England. Having made a good recovery he was again drafted to France on 27 April 1917 and was posted to the 2nd Battalion as servant to Lieutenant T. Tyrwhitt-Drake.

Private Allman was killed in action on 8 October 1918, the opening day of the Second Battle of Cambrai. His mother, Ellen Mary Allman received a letter [original with lot], informing her of her son’s death, from Lieutenant Tywhitt-Drake on 14 October 1918, extracts of which are given below:
‘I regret to have to tell you that your son 10808 Pte. Allman has been killed. He suffered no pain and knew nothing about it. A shell came through the roof of the room in which he was sleeping and he died instantaneously. He was my servant. He was an extraordinarily good officer’s servant and a very fine soldier. He was an excellent fellow in every way. Many will miss him here on earth and it is sad that he has been taken away from us, but I have no doubt that God has something better in store for him. Expressing to you my deepest sympathy. I am, yours very sincerely, T. T. Drake.’

Another friend wrote soon afterwards, ‘I can truly say he was liked by everyone in the regiment and we shall miss him very much, we have lost one of the best men that ever stepped in France.’

Private Allman was the son of Edwin and Ellen Mary Allman, of St. John’s Lodge, Hazlemere, High Wycombe, Bucks. He also left five brothers and sisters and a fiancée, Miss A. Barnwell, at Hazlemere. He is buried at Noyelles-sur-L’Escaut Communal Cemetery Extension, France.

Sold with the following paper ephemera: hand-written 3 page letter from Lieutenant T. Thyrwitt-Drake to Mrs Allman, informing her of the death of her son and the associated circumstances, the envelope postmarked 10 October 1918; hand-written letter from the recipient to his mother, dated 5 October, the envelope dated October 1918; transcript of an obituary article dated 22 October 1918, source unknown; three Field Service Post Cards sent by the recipient to his mother, dated 1 December 1917, 31 March 1918 and 29 May 1918; Record Office forwarding letter for 1914-15 Star; War Office Form E (1), dated 18 March 1919, informing Mrs E. Allman of the location of the recipient’s grave.