Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Three: Lieutenant C. A. Campbell, 1st Battalion, Cheshire Regiment, who was killed in action near Audregnies during the Retreat from Mons on 24 August 1914

1914 Star, with clasp (Lieut C. A. Campbell, Ches. R.); British War and Victory Medals (Lieutenant C. A. Campbell.); Memorial Plaque (Charles Arthur Campbell); together with a Cheshire Regiment cap badge and a framed portrait photograph of the recipient in uniform, this last contained in a small bronze oval frame, plaque with small drill holes at 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock, otherwise extremely fine (4) £1,400-£1,800

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

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Charles Arthur Campbell was born on 3 June 1891 at Paddington, London. He was the eldest son of Arthur and Annabella Campbell of Wye House, Downview Road, West Worthing, Sussex and was educated at Downside School and the Royal Military College Sandhurst where he became a Gentleman Cadet. Having entered the Cheshire Regiment as a Second Lieutenant on 11 October 1911, he was posted to the 1st Battalion in Ireland and received advancement to Lieutenant on 4 April 1914.

With the onset of war, Campbell landed at Havre with his battalion on 16 August 1914 and a week later was entrenched with D Company, under Captain E. R. Jones, astride the Mons Road. Pressured into a withdrawal, on 24 August Lieutenant-Colonel D. C. Boger, in command of the battalion, deployed his companies in an unprepared defensive line in open fields between the 1st Norfolk’s positions to the north east in front of Èlouges and the 9th Lancers at Audregnies. Here then, under orders to hold up the enemy advance to allow the bulk of the 5th Division to retreat, this rearguard started to come under attack from four enemy regiments, each of three battalions, advancing from Quiévrain and Bois de Déduit to the north. Failing to receive the order to retire from his superior - Colonel Ballard of the 1st Norfolks - Boger believed his Battalion was to hold its ground at all costs, thus condemning it to virtual annihilation. D Company, positioned on the right flank straddling the railway line near Elouges and close to the Norfolks, became aware of the order to retire sooner than most however - as described in the regimental history of the Cheshire Regiment:

‘Captain Jones, with support platoons of “D” Company on the right, must have received early news of the withdrawal, either from the groups of cavalry which were retiring through his position or from the left company of the 1st Norfolks. Although it is impossible to say with any accuracy at what time the various occurrences took place - everyone was too fully occupied to glance at their watches - it seems clear that these platoons started to retire down the mineral railway about the same time as the two left platoons of “B” Company withdrew from the left flank (3 p.m.)’

Captain Jones, Lieutenant Campbell and other men from D Company are known to have retreated to the Audregnies-Elouges Road and at some point in the confusion of the afternoon they encountered Major Chetwynd-Stapleton, the senior regimental major who, recognising the dangerous position of B Company on the left and the importance of Audregnies for the security of the left flank, was trying to find Lieutenant-Colonel Boger. As he left, Chetwynd-Stapleton gave orders for Lieutenants Campbell and Matterson to reinforce Captain Shore of B Company on the left. Campbell was shot and killed shortly afterwards:
‘Matterson led the way, with Campbell about a yard behind him, and in passing an exposed gap, where the bank was low and exposed to fire, Campbell - a most popular young officer - was shot through the head by machine gun bullets. He was temporarily buried near to where he fell and a few days later removed to the cemetery at Audregnies. (The Cheshire Regiment and the Miniature Colour at Mons by F. Simpson refers)

Lieutenant Matterson’s own account of the Battle at Audregnies came to light in 2015 when it was made available by his granddaughter. Written in his diary just seven days after the battle whilst he was already a prisoner at Fort Bruckenhopf, Torgau, Matterson’s account provides further valuable insight into the proceedings that day and contains the following extracts pertaining to Campbell:
‘12.30pm. At about this hour we were lying flat, trying to answer the fire, and we couldn’t see the Germans advancing, whilst thousands of shells screamed over us. Pte Corcoran, lying beside me, was hit and I took his rifle and fired with it. The order then came to retire to the sunken road, and I waited with a few men till the last, then ran back under heavy fire.
When I got to the road, I found Capt Jones and Lt Campbell and men of their Coy, and I realised that I had been very lucky to get back unhit, as they were firing very wildly from a bad position and several bullets from our men barely missed us.
I found that our position was more hopeless then ever – a very bad field of fire, in fact we had to kneel on the top of the bank to see at all. This I did using Corcoran’s rifle. Major Stapylton was on our left with Capts. Dyer, Jolliffe and Massy etc. I moved off to see what was going on.
1pm. I met Major Stapylton who said that he wanted the left reinforced i.e. Shore who was in or near Audregnies. I volunteered to go to the left flank with Campbell and we started to go to where Lt. Jacobs was commanding a platoon. I said, “Come on, Jock, we’ll reinforce the left”, and Campbell answering, ran after me. Two paces behind me he fell, hit through the head, and he died almost at once.’

‘4.30pm. I then helped in looking after the wounded. I found many killed. Jolliffe was hit very badly twice and Massy once. The rest of the evening we spent tending the wounded. At sunset we buried Campbell together with Garston [sic Garstin], a subaltern of the 9th Lancers. I then went out to look for Jackson, who I heard was wounded, and found him, doing what I could for him. I got a doctor to him but I fear he died. I spent the most awful night of my life on the field, midst the dead and dying.’

At roll call that night at Les Bavay there were 6 Officers, a Warrant Officer and 199 men - a loss of 78%, most of which was caused in the withdrawal. Three Officers and 54 men were killed in action that day and a further 15 Officers and 490 other ranks reported missing, many wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel C. R. Ballard of the Norfolk Regiment later commented, ‘I had no intention of sacrificing the Cheshire - but I firmly believe now that the sacrifice saved the 5th Division. … It was due to the gallantry of these two Battalions [1st Cheshires & 1st Norfolks] that the Division was able to extricate itself.’

Campbell’s remains were later re-interred in Cement House Cemetery, Belgium.