A Collection of Medals to Recipients of the 1914 Star

Three: Able Seaman L. H. G. Young, Benbow Battalion, Royal Naval Division, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, who was wounded and taken Prisoner of War at Antwerp on 10 October 1914

1914 Star, with copy clasp (B.2 1159. L.H.G. Young, A.B. R.N.V.R. Benbow Bttn. R.N.D.); British War and Victory Medals (B.2 -1159 L. H. Young. Act. A.B. R.N.V.R.) nearly very fine (3) £200-£240

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Medals to Recipients of the 1914 Star.

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Leonard Henry George Young was born at Westbury-on-Trym, Gloucestershire on 2 January 1895. He served during the Great War on the Western Front with the 2nd (Benbow) Battalion, 1st Brigade, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and was wounded and captured by the Germans on 10 October 1914 Exearde, near St. Nicholas, outside Antwerp:
‘I formed part of a force which was retiring from Antwerp. We boarded a train which contained refugees. After travelling some little distance the train was derailed and we were attacked by Germans. We defended ourselves, but in the fighting I was shot in the head and rendered insensible. When I came to I found myself a prisoner in a church, where we were kept for 3 days. We were then marched to Termonde, and entrained some 8 to 900 of us in cattle trucks, 30 to 40 in each truck. We were jeered at by the people at the stations. On the journey we were given some soup, sausage and a piece of black bread. At Hanover I asked the guard for some water. He called a Red Cross nurse to bring some, which she did, but finding it was wanted for me, she threw it in my face. We were 3 days in the train, and finally arrived at Döberitz. This was the main camp for the British and French.’ (extract from Young’s debrief examination, 2 May 1918).

At Gefangerenlager, Döberitz he was intermittently sent on working party commandos and occasionally hospitalised with bouts of epilepsy resulting from his head wound. In December 1917 he was given a medical certificate to the effect that he was unfit for work and was exchanged to England on 2 May 1918, following which, on 10 July 1918, he was discharged as unserviceable, suffering from neurasthenia.