Orders, Decorations and Medals

Three: Lieutenant J. T. Waite, East Kent Regiment

1914-15 Star (Lieut., E. Kent R.); British War and Victory Medals (Lieut.) nearly extremely fine (3) £180-220

Lieutenant Joseph Thorp Waite was killed in action in the Persian Gulf on 21 January 1916 whilst serving with the 1/5th Battalion, East Kent Regiment. His name is commemorated on the Amara War Cemetery, Iraq. Sold with copy of a detailed obituary, including photograph of recipient, from which the following is extracted. ‘Even before the war his spirit of adventure was one of his most marked characteristics, and he eagerly accepted the opportunity of service abroad which a medical appointment with the Colonial Office afforded him in Northern Nigeria. In this outpost of empire his administrative capacity had wider scope than was possible at home. His activities were by no means confined to the practice of his profession, since he frequently found himself obliged to undertake duties of a legal and military nature. It was in the last named capacity that, with a handful of men from the West African Field Force, he entered a native town and removed therefrom two chiefs whose views on the disagreeable necessity of paying taxes did not coincide with those of the Colonial Office. This adventure called for a display of that firmness of purpose and unobtrusive daring which Lieutenant Waite possessed in a remarkable degree...At the outbreak of war he proceeded with the 5th Battalion of the East Kent Regiment to Kamptee, Central Provinces, India, where he continued the training of his gunners, and in November 1915 left for Mesopotamia, forming part of General Aylmer’s relief force. After surviving the terrible fighting of January 6th to 10th, in which the regiment earned the high praise of the Brigadier, Lieutenant Waite fell at the head of his men in a desperate attack upon an enormously strong Turkish position.