Victory Medal 1914-19 (12076 Cpl. J. A. Wilshaw, Shrops. L.I.); Memorial Plaque (John Alexander Wilshaw) this in card envelope, extremely fine (lot) £100-140

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Bill and Angela Strong Medal Collection.

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John (Jack) Alexander Wilshaw was born and lived in Kinnersley, Shropshire and enlisted at Wellington. Serving in the 6th Battalion King’s Shropshire Light Infantry he entered the France/Flanders theatre of war on 24 July 1915. He was killed in action on 6 April 1916 and was buried at Essex Farm Cemetery, Boesinghe, Belgium. Information in a letter from a fellow soldier states that Wilshaw was killed in the act of attempting to rescue a wounded officer.

With named Memorial Scroll, in card tube addressed to ‘Mrs T. Wilshaw, The Schools, Kinnersley, Oswestry, Shropshire’; slip to accompany the Memorial Plaque; named lids of medal card boxes; note book and diary with pencil entries dating 2 September 1915- 6 February 1916; twenty letters from Jack Wilshaw to his parents, dating between 6 November 1914 and 2 April 1916, most with envelopes - seventeen of which are from France and Belgium - he speaks of his experiences at the Front and refers to his brothers, Malcolm and Duncan; a letter to a friend, dated 2 April 1916; a letter written to Jack by his father, dated 6 April 1916 - the date of his death; a letter of sympathy from a fellow serviceman, giving details of his death in action; other letters (4); a photograph of his headstone; and some copied research. Also awarded the 1914-15 Star and British War Medal.

For medals to his brother, Malcolm Buchanan Wilshaw, see lot 601.