Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A Great War D.S.O. group of seven awarded to Lieutenant-Colonel R. H. Palmer, C.O. of the 49th Battalion, Canadian Infantry, late Lord Strathcona’s Horse

Distinguished Service Order, G.V.R., silver-gilt and enamel; Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 4 clasps, Natal, Orange Free State, Belfast, South Africa 1901 (341 Pte. R. H. Palmer, Ld. Strathcona’s H.); 1914-15 Star (Major R. H. Palmer, 49/Can. Inf.); British War and Victory Medals, M.I.D. oak leaf (Lt. Col. R. H. Palmer); Jubilee 1935; Belgium, Croix de Guerre 1914-18, enamel wreaths on the first chipped in places, the second with re-pinned suspension claw, contact marks and polished, good fine, the remainder generally very fine or better (7) £1600-1800

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Medals to the Canadian Expeditonary Force 1914-1918.

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D.S.O. London Gazette 1 January 1917.

Robert Henry Palmer, who served in Lord Strathcona’s Horse during the Boer War, was appointed a Lieutenant in the 101st Regiment (The Edmonton Fusiliers) in December 1914.

Embarked for France in the following year, where he joined the 49th Battalion, Canadian Infantry, he assumed command of his battalion as a Lieutenant-Colonel in February 1917, and led it throughout the Vimy Ridge operations where, in his own words, ‘My right front company lost practically all its effective strength before it crossed the rear junction, a matter of not more than 35 thirty-five yards’ (A City Goes to War refers).

Known to his troops as “The Old Man”, he was ‘one of the old school, straightforward, a fighter and a soldier, with a spirit of independence which frequently got him into trouble’ (A City Goes to War refers). He was, nonetheless, awarded the D.S.O. and thrice mentioned in despatches (London Gazettes 4 January 1917, 28 May 1918 and 8 July 1919 refer), in addition to gaining the Belgian Croix de Guerre (London Gazette 24 May 1919 refers).

Sold with research, including a copied group photograph of the officers of the 49th Battalion taken at Mons in November 1918.