Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A scarce Great War M.M. group of four awarded to Corporal A. H. Gaskon, 2nd South African Infantry, who was decorated for his gallant deeds as a Lewis Gunner in the final Allied advance of 1918

Military Medal, G.V.R. (8130 Cpl. A. H. Gaskon, 2/S.A. Inf.); British War and Victory Medals (Cpl. A. H. Gaskon, 2nd S.A.I.); Africa Service Medal 1939-45 (ACF 133719 A. H. Gaskon), somewhat polished, nearly very fine or better (4)
£300-350

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Medals The Property of a Gentleman.

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M.M. London Gazette 17 June 1919.

Arthur Henry Gaskon, was born in London, was employed as a clerk by South African Railways at the time of his enlistment in the South African Expeditionary Force in December 1915, aged 20 years. Embarked for the U.K., he entered the French theatre of war as a member of the 2nd South African Infantry in July 1916, and was quickly engaged in heavy fighting on the Somme that October.

In the following year, having qualified as a Lewis Gunner, he was present in the Arras operations in April, on the Menin Road and in St. Julien in the Ypres sector in September-October, and at Cambrai in December, but was evacuated to No. 21 Casualty Clearing Station with an infected foot on the 12th, and thence to the U.K. Discharged from hospital in May 1918, he was among members of the 2nd South African Infantry selected to form the King’s Guard for duty at the Royal Pavilion, Aldershot, while the royal family was in residence there in the following month.

Rejoining his unit back in France in August 1918, Gaskon participated in the final Allied advance, was advanced to Corporal and awarded the M.M., the latter distinction being approved in the final month of the War. He was finally discharged back in the Cape in April 1919; sold with a file of research, including copied M.M. award certificate, service record and an edition of the Springbok, November 1964, in which appears a photograph of the King’s Guard, Aldershot, including the recipient.