Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Three: Lance-Corporal H. V. Steedman, 1st Battalion, Scots Guards, who was killed in action when his battalion was overwhelmed by the Prussian Guard near Gheluvelt Wood, during the First Battle of Ypres, on 11 November 1914

1914 Star (6035 L. Cpl. H. V. Steedman. S. Gds.); British War and Victory Medals (6035 Pte. H. V. Steedman. S. Gds.) nearly extremely fine (3) £200-£240

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

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Herbert Valentine Steedman was born in 1891 at Penge, Surrey and attested for the Scots Guards in London as a Boy in 1905. He was in Egypt from September 1912 until January 1913 and following the outbreak of the Great War he served on the Western Front with the 1st Battalion from 13 August 1914. Having fought on the Aisne in September, the 1st Scots Guards entrained for Hazebrouck and saw heavy action at Zandvoorde and Gheluvelt in late October.

Dug in between Gheluvelt and Veldhoek in early November, the battalion held their position under continuous bombardment and attack. The regimental history records that the Prussian Guard then attacked through Veldhoek on 11 November and captured some trenches of the 1st Brigade. Holding a farm near Gheluvelt Wood, the 1st Scots Guards were then overwhelmed after a period of heavy fighting and the only survivors - Captain Stracey and 69 men - withdrew to Hooge.

Private Steedman was reported missing on 11 November 1914 and later confirmed killed in action. He was the son of the late James and Margaret Steedman and the husband of Ada M. Hughes (formerly Steedman), of Beckenham Park Lodge, Beckenham Hill, Kent. Having no known grave, he is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Belgium.