Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Three: Lance Corporal A. E. Ellis, 1st Battalion, Cameronions (Scottish Rifles), who was killed in action near La Boutillerie during the Battle of Armentières on 22 October 1914

1914 Star, with copy clasp (11030 L. Cpl. A. Ellis. 1/ Sco: Rif.); British War and Victory Medals (11030 Pte. A. E. Ellis. Sco. Rif.); Memorial Plaque (Albert Edward Ellis) good very fine (4) £240-£280

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

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Albert Edward Ellis was born in Fulham, London in 1893 and attested for the Middlesex Regiment on 10 April 1911. He was discharged, however, on 8 July 1911 - ‘not likely to become an efficient soldier’. Undeterred, he attested for the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) at Liverpool in 1913 and following the outbreak of the Great War, he sailed with the 1st Battalion for France, disembarking at Havre on 15 August 1914. Advancing on the 23 August to positions on the Mons-Condé Canal near Condé, the battalion received an order to hold the position at all costs but was ordered to retire at 2:00 a.m. on 24 August and withdrew to Jenlain.

On 13 October 1914, at the commencement of the Battle of Armentières, the 1st Scottish Rifles as part of the 19th Brigade became attached to the 6th Division - then tasked with holding a line from Radinghem to Ennetières. Dug-in at Bas Maisnil near Fromelles on 20 October and facing desperate and mutually costly attacks by the German 6th Army, the 1st Scottish Rifles were then heavily shelled on 22 October, and fell back to trenches in front of La Boutillerie where they held the position under continued heavy shell-fire accompanied by infantry attacks. 4 officers and 45 other ranks of the battalion were either killed, wounded or missing during the day’s fighting, Ellis being among those killed.

He was the son of Mrs Elizabeth Ellis of 99 Swaton Road, Bromley, Bow, London and, having no known grave, is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial, Belgium.