Re-engraved name, claw repinned ; King’s South Africa 1901-02, 2 clasps, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902 14168 Corpl: J. Official impressed; 1914-15 Star T1SR-482 C. ; British War and Victory Medals T1SR-462 C. ; Army Meritorious Service Medal, G. ; Coronation 1935; Impressed official named, Corps of Commissionaire Medal (hallmarked silver Birmingham 1905), silver, unnamed as issued, WW2 Defence unnamed as issued. Some wear to naming, contact marks and wear to high spots dark patina pre WW1, good fine / very fine, WW1 medals traces of lacquer, Good very fine/extremely fine, see pictures for condition. Supplied with a large amount of copied history. Victorian QSA KSA WW1 MSM WW2 medal group Sgt Hatherley Dragoon Guards late ASC. Some wear to naming, contact marks and wear to high spots on pre WW1 medals, good fine / very fine, WW1 medals traces of lacquer, Good very fine/extremely fine, see pictures for condition. Supplied with a large amount of copied history of this boy soldier, for further research James Hatherely, Born Kensington London abt 1871, Attested about 1886 for the 1st Dragoon Guards at Canterbury, trade “Musician” aged just 14 years 10 months as “Boy”, promoted Private Hatherley when 18 years old. He was posted to India with the Dragoon Guards in 1887-91 almost 4 years. He married his wife Emma in 1903 in Farnham, Surrey, while serving in the army and they had several children. He was awarded Long Service good conduct medal July 1907, completed almost 25 years in army when discharged end of service October 1910. The Corps of Commissionaires medal is awarded for long and exemplary service in the Corps, so he must have worked as a Commissionaire, (security job). The Corps of Commissionaires was established in February 1859 by Captain Sir Edward Walter with the aim of providing employment for ex-servicemen returning home from duty. Since 1901, the reigning sovereign is Chief Life Governor. He re-enlisted WW1 aged 42 for the ASC, rank Corporal 8th Sept 1914, quickly promoted to Sergeant 18th Sept and by 1915 was promoted Quartermaster Sergeant, involved in Horse Transport and supply, 42nd Division train, No428 Horse Transport Company. In May 1917 he was taken ill with suspected appendicitis while Company Quartermaster Sergeant. He was demobilised just after end of war to Z Reserve March 1919, having served about 30 years in the regular army. The MSM, Meritorious Service Medal, is a silver medal for distinguished service, devotion to duty, or for gallantry, principally by non-commissioned officers of all of the British armed forces and of Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service. The Defence Medal is a campaign medal instituted by the United Kingdom in May 1945, to be awarded to subjects of the British Commonwealth for both non-operational military and certain types of civilian war service during the Second World War. Interesting medal group, history of a man who served his country well for many years. Some copy medal roll extracts, part military history and reference from commanding officer included, for further research. During the Boer war Lord Roberts points out the difficulty of getting up supplies by trains, and says, “Again the supply of the army after leaving Bloemfontein was a matter of very grave anxiety, and it was only by the devotion and zeal of the Army Service Corps officers that the supplies were brought from the rail-head to the troops in sufficient time to supply their daily wants”. After mentioning the fact that until September 1900 the army was dependent on 95 old engines, while the Orange River Colony and Transvaal found in peacetime 250 engines were necessary for their daily use, Lord Roberts says: In the above I have only referred to the work done in supplying the troops based on the Cape Colony. The Natal Army has reason also to be entirely satisfied with the manner in which it has been supplied, and the occasions have been rare when any portion of this army have had anything but full rations. These services reflect the greatest credit on Colonel W Richardson, CB, and Colonel E W D Ward, CB, directors of supplies, and the Army Service Corps serving under them. Tommies going over the top WW1. In the Great War, the vast majority of the supply, maintaining a vast army on many fronts, was supplied from Britain. Using horsed and motor vehicles, railways and waterways, the ASC performed prodigious feats of logistics and were one of the great strengths of organisation by which the war was won. RASC Trucks WW1 1914-18. Motor transport was still very new and only just becomming a more reliable means of transport. Unfortunately many roads were often too difficult to get a 2 wheel drive vehicle through the muddy, boggy, uneven and steep terrain. The ASC, Army and Royal Artillery were heavily reliant on trains, waterways and horses for transport of supplies and men to the front. WW1 War horses working hard Between 1914 and 1918 Britains war effort was dependent on its horses. At the start of the war, horse power was still a key method of moving the army and its supplies to destinations across Europe. The volume of military stores and rations required at the front was much greater than it had been in earlier conflicts. Even though the importance of the cavalry was in decline and motorised transport was becoming more reliable, trench warfare meant that provisions had to be brought in from a distance and very often over ground that wasnt suitable for other means of transport. There was an urgent demand for large numbers of draught- and packhorses, mules and other animals. Prior to the First World War the British army possessed around 25,000 horses; by the middle of 1917 this had increased to around 600,000, plus camels and oxen. The role of the Royal Army Service Corps in the field falls into two main parts, supply and transport. Supply embraces the provision of food, petrol and lubricants, fuel and light, hospital supplies and disinfectants. Transport is concerned with the conveyance of the above supplies, together with ammunition, engineer stores, ordnance stores and post, from railhead, or from base if no railhead exists, to all units of a field force. In addition RASC units are provided for the carriage of infantry, tanks and heavy bridging equipment. The mechanical transport of medical and certain other units is also found and operated by the RASC. To enable these services to be undertaken effectively, the RASC are responsible for the provision, repair, and maintenance of their own mechanical transport. General Transport Companies are allotted to divisions for the transport of ammunition, supplies and petrol. Similar companies are allotted to higher formations and for employment in Line of Communication areas as required. Personnel of the RASC are trained to fight as infantry and RASC units are responsible for their own local defence. DIVISIONAL RASC The role of the RASC companies was to keep the front line units supplied. In order to do this there were three different operations which were carried on simultaneously. By the end of the campaign it was usual to have a company assigned to supplies, another to petrol and a third to ammunition. Early in the campaign it was more usual to have companies serving brigades and have those companies each assign a platoon to supplies, petrol and ammunition. Cleary the brigade company allowed the brigade to operate independently and was well suited to the rapid advances of armoured divisions. The Home Guard in 1940 were an armed uniformed civilian militia, entirely distinct from the regular armed forces. Volunteers originally had no recognised military rank, were not subject to military discipline and could withdraw (or be withdrawn by their employers) at any time. In 1941, nominal ranks were introduced for Home Guard’officers’, and in 1942, limited conscription was implemented intended for circumstances where Home Guard forces were taking over functions from regular forces (chiefly coastal artillery and anti-aircraft batteries), and non-officer volunteers became’privates’. Volunteers remained legally civilians and failure to attend when ordered to do so was punishable by civilian authorities. Nevertheless, the British Government consistently maintained that as Home Guard service was strictly to be undertaken only in approved uniform. Recruits were underaged, not A1 fit or too old for for regular army service (Regular army age 18-41 during WW2) upper age limit for Home Guard service was 65 but not strictly enforced. The Home Guard had a number of secret roles. That included sabotage units who would disable factories and petrol installations following the invasion. Members with outdoor survival skills and experience (especially as gamekeepers or poachers) could be recruited into the Auxiliary Units, an extremely secretive force of more highly trained guerrilla units with the task of hiding behind enemy lines after an invasion, emerging to attack and destroy supply dumps, disabling tanks and trucks, assassinating collaborators, and killing sentries and senior German officers with sniper rifles. They would operate from pre-prepared secret underground bases, excavated at night with no official records, in woods, in caves, or otherwise concealed in all sorts of interesting ways. It is a common fallacy that the Home Guard never fired a shot in anger during the whole of the Second World War. In fact, individual Home Guardsmen helped man anti-aircraft guns as far early as the Battle of Britain during the summer of 1940. By 1943, the Home Guard operated its own dedicated batteries of anti-aircraft guns, rockets, coastal defence artillery and engaging German planes with their machine guns. They are credited with shooting down numerous Luftwaffe aircraft and the V-1 flying bombs that followed them in the summer of 1944. The Home Guard’s first official kill was shot down on Tyneside in 1943. The Home Guard in Northern Ireland also took part in gun battles with the IRA. A major new function emerged for the Home Guard after the German bombing campaign, the Blitz, in 1940 and 1941; resulting in large numbers of unexploded bombs in urban areas. Home Guard units took on the task of locating unexploded bombs after raids and, if such bombs were found (often after several months or years), would commonly assist in sealing off the danger area and evacuating civilians. Most Home Guard wartime fatalities occurred in the course of that task. Aside from deaths in accidents, the Home Guard lost a total of 1,206 members on duty to unexploded bombs, air and rocket attacks during the war. I will use 1st class recorded on lower value items but please be patient if your item is delayed, the post is very safe and items are tracked, thanks for understanding. China, Russian Federation, Australia and New Zealand particularly bad at the moment due to countries closing boarders, restricting flights, social distancing measures etc. These rules may be relaxed, May, June, July in stages and post will start moving again. Thanks for your patience and understanding during these strange times, stay safe and well. Tailor your auctions with Auctiva’s. Track Page Views With. Auctiva’s FREE Counter. The item “Victorian QSA KSA WW1 MSM WW2 medal group Sgt Hatherley Dragoon Guards late ASC” is in sale since Saturday, May 9, 2020. This item is in the category “Collectables\Militaria\World War I (1914-1918)\Other World War I Militaria”. The seller is “theonlineauctionsale” and is located in Offchurch. This item can be shipped worldwide.
- Country/Region of Manufacture: United Kingdom
- Country/ Organization: Great Britain
- Issued/ Not-Issued: Issued
- Type: Medals & Ribbons
- Conflict: Boer War (1899-1902)
- Service: Army
- Era: 1816-1913
