Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A Great War 1916 ‘Battle of Ginchy’ D.C.M. group of three awarded to Sergeant A. Smith, 9th (Service) Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers, whose meritorious deeds also resulted in the award of the 16th (Irish) Division Gallant Conduct Certificate

Distinguished Conduct Medal, G.V.R. (8222 Sjt: A. Smith. 9/R. Dub: Fus:); British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leaves (8222 Sjt. A. Smith. R. D. Fus); together with a Silver War Badge, the reverse numbered ‘B151301’, medals mounted as worn and contained in a fitted leather case, good very fine (3) £800-£1,200

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

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D.C.M. London Gazette 20 October 1916:
‘For conspicuous gallantry in action. When all his officers had become casualties, he rallied the remains of the platoon and led them forward to the final objective.’

Arthur Smith was born in 1893 and first attested for the Royal Dublin Fusiliers in 1910. He served in the rank of Sergeant with the 9th (Service) Battalion during the Great War on the Western Front and was decorated for gallantry at Ginchy on 9 September 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. On this day, Ginchy was captured by the 16th Division and several German counter-attacks were defeated. The loss of Ginchy deprived the Germans of observation posts, from which they could observe all of the battlefield and eliminated the salient at Delville Wood, which had been costly to defend, due to observed German artillery-fire from three sides. Smith’s battalion, as part of the 48th Brigade helped clear the western part of the village. In addition to the award of his D.C.M., Sergeant Smith also received a ‘16th (Irish) Division’ Gallant Conduct Certificate for Ginchy. He was discharged on 20 February 1919 on account of being permanently unfit due to aggravated melancholia, his address at the time of discharge being, ‘3 Charlemont Row, Harcourt Road, Dublin.’

Neither M.I.D. or Silver War Badge entitlement confirmed.

Sold with the recipient’s Irish Brigade Gallant Conduct Certificate, on folded card backed parchment, upper section cut away, signed by ‘W. B. Hickie’, Major-General, Commanding 16th Irish Division, reading, ‘No. 8222 Sgt. A. Smith. D.C.M. 9th Royal Dublin Fusiliers, I have read with much pleasure the reports of your regimental commander and brigade commander regarding your gallant conduct and devotion to duty in the field on Sept. 9th 1916 and have ordered your name and deed to be entered in the record of the Irish Division’.

Note: Major General Hickie instituted the 16th (Irish) Division Gallant Conduct Certificate in February 1916, announcing it during an inspection of battalions returning from a period of instruction in the trenches alongside more experienced units. On 17 February, whilst praising the performance of the 9th Royal Munster Fusiliers, he is known to have declared that whenever the name of a man came before him for having performed a meritorious deed he would have the fact recorded “…on a parchment sheet specially prepared in Dublin, so that a heritage worth preserving might be passed onto future generations to the glory of the Irish Brigades in France in 1916.”

Hickie’s parchment certificate was always awarded in addition to, rather than instead of, any other decoration that was awarded. It was produced in two versions. The first type, of which Smith’s certificate is an example, was awarded between February 1916 and the early Summer of 1917 and was inscribed across the top with ‘The Irish Brigade’ in Celtic script together with a green shamrock. This upper section is missing from Smith’s certificate.

After the Battle of Ginchy, the award of the parchment certificate was accompanied by a hollow, dark green felt diamond, know as the ‘Ginchy Diamond’, to be worn on the right upper sleeve of the uniform.