Baldwin & Sons
Auction 101 28 September 2016
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ORDERS, DECORATIONS AND MILITARY MEDALS, Single Orders and Decorations for Gallantry, A Great War Military Medal and "Trench Raid" Bar, awarded to Lance Corporal J.A. Mitchell, 6th Battalion Gordon Highlanders; Military Medal and 2nd award bar GVR (11767 L. Cpl J.A. Mitchell. 6/Gord: Hdrs. T.F.). Toned, very fine.
Military Medal London Gazette, 26 April 1917
Bar to the Military Medal London Gazette, 18 June 1917
At 6.10am on the morning of 5 March 1917, 300 men and 13 Officers took part in a Trench Raid at Roclincourt. "At zero minus 1 the artillery opened and punctually one minute later the first wave of raiders rushed over No-man's Land and for the most part got into the German Trenches before the defenders could get out of their dug-outs, the second wave followed 50 yards behind the first with the objective of the German second line 70 yards further on. Considerable fighting took place in the German trenches – sixty German dead were counted and 21 prisoners captured including one officer, one machine-gun was brought back, one was smashed by a shell and 1 Anti-Aircraft gun was destroyed by bombs. Large mobile charges of ammonal and Stokes bombs were used to wreck shelters. In some cases, tins of petrol provided beforehand and perforated by the bayonet were flung down the dug-out stairs, followed a second later by a phosphorus bomb which ignited the petrol and made the dug-out a blazing inferno". That afternoon Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haigh inspected the men who had taken part in the raid near Arras, the men parading in the dress and equipment they had worn in the attack. 54 men of the raiding party were killed, wounded or missing, 2 Military Crosses, 1 Distinguished Conduct Medal, 6 Military Medals and one Bar to the Military Medal were conferred upon the raiding party.
Sold with copied War Diary and Battalion History of the 6th Gordons in France and Flanders, MiC, and London Gazette entries.
Estimate: £300-500
Military Medal London Gazette, 26 April 1917
Bar to the Military Medal London Gazette, 18 June 1917
At 6.10am on the morning of 5 March 1917, 300 men and 13 Officers took part in a Trench Raid at Roclincourt. "At zero minus 1 the artillery opened and punctually one minute later the first wave of raiders rushed over No-man's Land and for the most part got into the German Trenches before the defenders could get out of their dug-outs, the second wave followed 50 yards behind the first with the objective of the German second line 70 yards further on. Considerable fighting took place in the German trenches – sixty German dead were counted and 21 prisoners captured including one officer, one machine-gun was brought back, one was smashed by a shell and 1 Anti-Aircraft gun was destroyed by bombs. Large mobile charges of ammonal and Stokes bombs were used to wreck shelters. In some cases, tins of petrol provided beforehand and perforated by the bayonet were flung down the dug-out stairs, followed a second later by a phosphorus bomb which ignited the petrol and made the dug-out a blazing inferno". That afternoon Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haigh inspected the men who had taken part in the raid near Arras, the men parading in the dress and equipment they had worn in the attack. 54 men of the raiding party were killed, wounded or missing, 2 Military Crosses, 1 Distinguished Conduct Medal, 6 Military Medals and one Bar to the Military Medal were conferred upon the raiding party.
Sold with copied War Diary and Battalion History of the 6th Gordons in France and Flanders, MiC, and London Gazette entries.
Estimate: £300-500