Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria, to include the Brian Ritchie Collection (Part III)

Pair: Senior Unit Administrator M. V. Brodie of Brodie, Queen Mary’s Auxiliary Army Corps

British War and Victory Medals (M. V. Brodie of Brodie) extremely fine (3) £60-80

Margaret Francis Vere Brodie of Brodie was born on 21 January 1881, the eighth child of Hugh Fife Ashley Brodie of Brodie and Lady Eleanor , third daughter of the 2nd Earl of Ducie. She served overseas in the Great War with the Queen Mary’s Auxiliary Army Corps. She held the rank of Administrator and was appointed Unit Administrator on 3 October 1918. After the war she was attached to the staff of the Provost Marshal of the British Army of Occupation at Cologne and was involved in passport control and anti-smuggling work. On returning home for demobilization, she was asked to return to France to take charge of the last unit of the Q.M.A.A.C. based there. Accepting, and with the rank of Senior Unit Administrator, she went to the Army H.Q. at St. Pol, in charge of the unit dealing with war graves registration. Brigadier-General L. J. Wyatt, D.S.O. was General Officer in charge of troops in France/Flanders and director of the War Graves Commission. Miss Brodie of Brodie often accompanied the General on his tour of the cemeteries. It was General Wyatt who was given the task of selecting a body for the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey. Miss Brodie of Brodie was one of the few people who knew what was about to happen, having been asked to type some letters regarding the arrangements. Brigadier-General Wyatt made the selection from the bodies of four unknown British soldiers, each taken from one of four great battle areas. One was selected for Westminister Abbey, the other three were interred in St. Pol Military Cemetery. Miss Brodie of Brodie and the Q.M.A.A.C. unit remained at St. Pol until September 1921 when they returned to England for demobilization. On 18 October 1922 she married Major John Lloyd Maunsell-Thomas, R.E. She died on 10 January 1971. Sold with copied research and a modern badge of the Brodies and a sample of their tartan.