Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

British War Medal 1914-20 (243270 Pte. G. O. Despres, Hamps. R.), good very fine £40-50

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Small Collection of Awards to Channel Islanders.

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George Owen Despres was born in the parish of St. Ouen, Jersey, in 1891, and originally enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps in July 1911, a relatively short-lived career on account of his discharge for intemperance in July 1914. But he rejoined the Colours in the Great War, when he was awarded the British War and Victory Medals for his services in the Hampshire Regiment. Local records also reveal that he re-enlisted in the Royal Militia Island of Jersey in April 1940, shortly before the German occupation, which then became the 11th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment - his 1940 attestation papers are available from the Jersey Heritage Trust Archives; sold with copied research.