Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

An interesting K.C.V.O., C.M.G., O.B.E. group awarded to Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Howard Kerr, 11 Hussars, Equerry to H.R.H. the Duke of Gloucester

The Royal Victorian Order, K.C.V.O., neck badge and breast star, silver, silver-gilt, gold and enamels, the set officially numbered ‘K 670’ and contained in its Collingwood case of issue; The Order of St. Michael and St. George, C.M.G., neck badge, silver-gilt and enamels; The Order of the British Empire, O.B.E. (Civil) 1st type; British War and Victory Medals (Lieut.); Territorial Force War Medal, this named to another recipient (2864 Pte. N. Arnott, 23-Lond. R.) see footnote; 1939-45 Star; Africa Star; France and Germany Star; Defence & War Medals; Jubilee 1935; Coronation 1937; Coronation 1953; Belgian Order of Leopold, Chevalier’s breast badge with swords, silver and enamels, these last thirteen mounted as worn; Japan, Order of the Sacred Treasure, 3rd class neck badge, silver-gilt and enamels, in its damaged black lacquer case of issue; Royal Canadian Humane Association, bronze medal ‘Awarded to Howard Kerr, for Courage in the rescue of Effie Dunlop from drowning at Caribou Lake, July 1909’, complete with ‘Bravery’ top suspension brooch, generally very fine or better (18) £1600-1800

K.C.V.O. London Gazette 10 June 1948, Comptroller to the Duke of Gloucester; C.V.O. London Gazette 10 August 1942, Equerry to the Duke of Gloucester; M.V.O. IV London Gazette 10 May 1929, H.R.H’s Mission to Japan.

C.M.G. London Gazette 2 April 1935, on the occasion of the visit of H.R.H. the Duke of Gloucester to Australia and New Zealand.

O.B.E. (Civil) London Gazette 1 January 1923.

Louis William Howard Kerr was born on 25 November 1894, son of Captain Walter Raleigh Kerr. He was educated at Lower Canada College, Montreal, and Trinity College, Cambridge, and enlisted in 1913 into King Edward’s Horse. He was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the Cheshire Yeomanry in 1914, and transferred to the 11th Hussars in 1915 and joined the regiment in France in February 1916. He served with the 11th Hussars throughout the rest of the Great War and accompanied it to Egypt in 1919. Kerr clearly believed that he was entitled to the Territorial Force War Medal but his Medal Index Card specifically motes ‘Ineligible for T.F.W.M.’ which suggests that this had been a matter of some correspondence between himself and the authorities. Undeterred, he chose to mount another man’s medal in his own group and wore it throughout his career.

He was A.D.C. to Viscount Fitzalan of Derwent, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, from 1921 to 1922. He was then appointed Equerry to H.R.H. the Duke of Gloucester in 1924, and remained in the Duke’s service as Crown Equerry until 1946, as Comptroller until 1950, and as Extra Equerry until 1974. During this long period he served the Duke with outstanding devotion and accompanied him on the many journeys overseas during peace and war, including the Garter Mission to Japan in 1929, and his visit to Australasia in 1934-35. He was Personal Assistant to H.R.H. with the B.E.F. in France, 1939-40, and accompanied H.R.H. on visits to Gibraltar in 1941 and 1942; Chief of Staff to H.R.H. on tour of Middle East Forces and India and Ceylon in 1942, and was temporarily attached to U.S. Army in France, Belgium and Holland in 1944. He retired in 1950. Sir Howard Kerr died on 11 July 1977. See also Lot 956 for his miniature medals.