Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A fine and impressive D.C.M. awarded to Acting Corporal A. Quick, 12th (The Prince Consort’s Own) Battalion, Rifle Brigade, an exceptionally gallant 19 year-old ‘Salford youth’ who was recommended for the Victoria Cross and decorated in 1916 for conspicuous bravery on the Western Front. Previously buried alive, he was killed in action just two weeks after his D.C.M. was gazetted, when the front line trench in which he sheltered was obliterated by German shellfire



Distinguished Conduct Medal, G.V.R. (S-714 A.Cpl. A. Quick. 12/Rif: Bde:); Memorial Plaque ‘Alfred Quick’; Memorial Scroll ‘L/Cpl. Alfred Quick Rifle Brigade’, the first mounted in an attractive glazed wooden frame, edge bruise, polished, nearly very fine; the Plaque and Scroll better (3) £1,500-£2,000

D.C.M. London Gazette 30 March 1916:
‘For conspicuous gallantry when in charge of a grenadier section. During an enemy attack, when parties of enemy bombers had got into our trench, he bombed out two parties one after the other with great coolness and courage. Next day he was buried by a trench mortar, but stuck to his post.’

Alfred ‘Alf’ Quick was born in 1897 in Salford, Lancashire, the only child of fish salesman Thomas Quick. Educated at Salford Grammar School, he was among hundreds of teenage lads from Higher Broughton to enlist in one of Lord Kitchener’s ‘New Armies’ in the first months of the war. Attesting for the 12th Battalion, Rifle Brigade, Quick was soon sent to infantry training in Winchester, being later transferred to Witley in February 1915 and Larkhill in April 1915.

Departing Southampton Docks aboard the S.S. Viper on 21 July 1915, Quick and the men of the 12th Battalion marched to rest camp in the St. Omer region as part of the 20th (Light) Division. Here they took instruction in trench bombing and attended a lecture on machine guns at Wisques convent; for the nuns of the Abbaye Notre-Dame de Wisques, whose lives were devoted to the ‘Search for God’ and ‘the offer of praise in Gregorian chant, prayer, work and silence’, the patter of dozens of men and officers walking the cloisters and taking instruction on the Vickers and Lewis machine guns must have put considerable strain upon their vows.

Posted to Loos, Quick and his comrades soon faced the full horrors of the German war machine, including gas attacks. Heavily engaged on the first day of the Battle, the Battalion War Diary records the detonation of a large British mine in the enemy’s salient at 5.48 a.m, alongside a prolonged and intense artillery bombardment: ‘All companies suffered very heavily whilst crossing no-man’s land, the German enfilade rifle and machine gun fire proving especially troublesome’. At 10.35 a.m. a message came through from Captain Holland, who had assumed command of “B” Company amidst heavy fighting, stating that his ‘supply of bombs had entirely run out’ and that unless the machine guns to his left could be silenced, he would be forced to retire. Far worse, the Bareilly Brigade on their right flank had entirely given way, ‘and the supply of bombs for the Brigades grenadier Company broke down, and no bombs were available’.

Taking advantage of Allied supply issues, the German defence proved particularly stubborn, with large numbers of bodies lying in irrecoverable positions near the German trenches. Furthermore, retaliatory shelling was becoming extremely troublesome for the medical personnel operating behind the lines who were attempting to cope with huge numbers of wounded and shell-shocked young men; after receiving a direct hit on his R.A.P. at Fauquissart which wounded his assistant and killed a number of patients, the Battalion Medical Officer, Captain George A. Malling, continued to attend to over 300 men in increasingly desperate conditions. He was later decorated by King George V with a richly deserved Victoria Cross at Buckingham Palace on 15 January 1916.

Relieved in the front line trenches on 3 October 1915, Quick and his comrades moved to billets at Epinette Farm where they were able to take rest, wash, and attend to their wounds. Ten days later, the British artillery began to liven up the enemy trenches near Chappigny Farm with the intention of inducing the Germans to believe an infantry assault was forthcoming. The rouse worked, but somewhat backfired upon the men of the 12th Battalion: ‘The enemy replied very vigorously, firing H.E. along the front line and support and communication trenches. They also swept the front parapet with a very heavy machine gun fire.’ Such mind games made the Germans ‘jumpy’ and they began to place increasing importance in bombing the support trenches. The subsequent rates of attrition proved their tactics correct, Quick’s Battalion being patched up with drafts of 96 and 104 men on the 6 and 7 of November 1915 respectively.

Transferred to Poperinghe on 11 February 1916, the 12th Battalion spent the late winter guarding five bridges and the west bank of the Fargate canal. A significant German bomb attack on trenches F34 and F35 in the early hours of 12 February 1916 left five enemy dead, but repeated attacks in the early morning gloom soon made inroads. As bomb supplies ran out once again, Second Lieutenant Gubble counter attacked with two sections, but his good work was soon brought to a standstill by German artillery, the Battalion War Diary noting: ‘& we had to withdraw as the trench [F35] got blown in.’ The attacks that night cost the 12th Battalion 1 officer killed and 3 wounded, with 22 other ranks killed, 88 wounded and 39 missing. The following day, Lieutenant Colonel Maddocks wrote a letter to the Brigade thanking all ranks on a most successful action of both artillery and infantry. It added: ‘The Commanding Officers of the units concerned have been requested to submit the names of all individuals whose conduct in connection with this affair is deserving of immediate reward.’

Having repeatedly proven himself in time of great peril, Quick soon gained the attention of his superiors, the Manchester Evening News of 3 April 1916 recording that he was recommended for a commission by his Commanding Officer. Alas, he was killed in action not long thereafter on 14 April 1916, the events of that day being carefully detailed once more:
‘14th. A very quiet day indeed. Practically no firing. At 6.40 p.m. a combined trench mortar & artillery programme was carried out against the German bombing post & F34. The bombardment lasted half an hour and was most successful, large quantities of sandbags, timber etc being thrown up. The German reply on the whole was feeble, a considerable amount of trench mortar fire was directed against the left of the line but this fell almost entirely behind the trench lines. The Old & New British Trench, Fargate & Canal Bank were slightly shelled, S32 however was very heavily shelled & the trenches badly damaged. Casualties 6 men killed, 2 wounded.’

The official report from the Rifle Record Office at Winchester confirms Quick’s death on 14 April 1916 alongside Sergeant T. W. Howell, Acting Corporal H. J. Aptead and Rifleman Ayton. He is buried at Essex Farm Cemetery, and further commemorated upon the ‘Old Salfordians’ School Memorial and at the Adelphi Lad’s Club, Salford.

Sold with the named tube of transmittal for the Memorial Scroll, addressed to Mr. J. Quick, 9 Yew St., Broughton, Manchester’, and four hallmarked silver fob medals, three with gold shields to obverse, engraved to ‘S.S.S.B. First One Mile A. Quick; S.S.S.B. First Jousting, A. Quick; S.S.S.B. First 1911 One Ml Handicap Under 15 A. Quick; A. A. 2nd Div. Runners Up 1913-4, the top loop missing from first, otherwise in good condition, attractively mounted alongside DCM in frame.