A Rare Light Armoured Car Battery M.M. Group of Four to Private J. A. Sanders, 1st Life Guards attached Machine Gun Corps Motor Battery, Military Medal, G.V.R. (No 1 By: L.A.C.B. M.G.C.-M.B.); 1914-15 Star (Tpr: J.A. Saunders. 1/L./Gds:); British War and Victory Medals M.I.D. Oakleaf (Tpr. J.A. Sanders. 1/L. Gds), very fine, in a glazed wooden display case, together with related Royal Life Saving Society's bronze medal (J.A. Sanders 1928), Norfolk County Police silver sports medal (J Sanders Holmes Shield 1928), an identity disc and chain (N.C.P. P.C.75) and seven other items including two City of Norwich white metal Jubilee Medals, 1887, 1897 (4)

MEDALS FROM THE HAL GIBLIN COLLECTION Built up over a period of more than twenty years, the collection represents all aspects of the Great War. In most cases, the medals (many with photographs and personal details of the recipients) are the only tangible memorials to those who fought and died in the various theatres of war of that great conflict. From the very early days at Mons and Le Cateau, on to the Marne and the Aisne; the 'race to the sea', that culminated in an entrenchment of the opposing armies that was to last more than four years through the three great battles of Ypres, the carnage of the Somme, the Kaiser's last throw on 21st March, 1918, before the advance to the final victory; the first use of chemical weapons by both sides - gas attack and liquid flame; aerial warfare from the earliest pioneering days through to the relative sophistication of Scout Aeroplanes and Bomber Squadrons; the twilight of a former elite - the cavalry; the introduction of mechanised warfare - tanks and armoured cars. All of these mementous events are represented by the medals of the men who were there. The tragedy of Gallipoli - the landings, from the famous S.S. River Clyde, Lancashire and Y Beaches and on to Suvla Bay and the evacuation; Mesopotamia, Palestine and the desert campaign; The Balkans and Russia; Africa - from the crocodile infested rivers in the East to the dense jungles of the West; the greatest pitched sea battle since Trafalgar at Jutland; Submarine warfare and the invaluable contribution of the Merchant Navy. The service and sacrifice of a special, but tragic, generation all encapsulated in this collection of their Medals and Awards. THE CAVALRY

Details

A Rare Light Armoured Car Battery M.M. Group of Four to Private J. A. Sanders, 1st Life Guards attached Machine Gun Corps Motor Battery, Military Medal, G.V.R. (No 1 By: L.A.C.B. M.G.C.-M.B.); 1914-15 Star (Tpr: J.A. Saunders. 1/L./Gds:); British War and Victory Medals M.I.D. Oakleaf (Tpr. J.A. Sanders. 1/L. Gds), very fine, in a glazed wooden display case, together with related Royal Life Saving Society's bronze medal (J.A. Sanders 1928), Norfolk County Police silver sports medal (J Sanders Holmes Shield 1928), an identity disc and chain (N.C.P. P.C.75) and seven other items including two City of Norwich white metal Jubilee Medals, 1887, 1897 (4)

Lot Essay

INDENTM.M. London Gazette 17.4.1917. "Egypt"

The Motor Machine Gun Service absorbed by the Machine Gun Corps in October 1915 became "Machine Gun Corps (Motors)". Rolls Royce Armoured Cars mostly Ex-Naval vehicles were organised into units of four cars each and were referred to initially as "Armoured Motor Batteries" then "Light Armoured Car Batteries" and finally as "Light Armoured Motor Batteries" when each unit was expanded to eight cars.

Two Cars from No. 1 Battery, Light Armoured Car Brigade joined the "Hedjaz Armoured Car Section" in December 1917 and operated under the command of Lieut. Colonel T.E. Lawrence; the other half of No. 1 Battery arrived in the Hedjaz in June 1918. After Lawrence's forces were disbanded, the Battery reformed and operated in Palestine in November and in Persia early in 1919. No. 1 Light Armoured Car Battery was absorbed into No. 4 Armoured Car Company, The Tank Corps in June 1920.

More from Medals

View All