Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

British War Medal 1914-20 (6) (34199 Pte. H. Griffiths. S. Wales Bord.; 15396 Pte. W. Johns. S. Wales Bord.; 20654 Pte. S. Joyce. S. Wales Bord.; 25359 Pte. O. Owen. S. Wales Bord.; 41903 Pte. W. S. Shopland. S. Wales Bord.; 3896 Pte. F. J. Emmanuel. Monmouth. R.) edge bruising, generally very fine or better (6) £100-£140

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Medals to the South Wales Borderers.

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Herbert Griffiths attested for the South Wales Borderers on 28 February 1916, and served with the 11th (2nd Gwent) and 12th (3rd Gwent) Battalions. He was discharged 21 June 1918 being no longer physically fit for war service.

William Johns was born in Newport, Monmouthshire, and attested for the South Wales Borderers. He served with the 4th Battalion during the Great War in Mesopotamia, and died on 9th June 1916. At that time, his battalion was stationed at Sheikh Saad where ‘the conditions caused the sick rate to be appallingly high and the mortality heavy’. He is buried in Amara War Cemetery, Iraq.

Seward Joyce was born in Frome, Somerset, in 1874 and, having previously served in the Somerset Light Infantry Militia, attested for the South Wales Borderers on 28 December 1914. He was promoted Sergeant Drummer on 8 November 1915 and served with the 10th (1st Gwent) Battalion during the Great War on the Western Front from 4 December 1915. He was wounded three times in 1916, on 6 February, 18 May, and 10 July, the last when the battalion was in action at Mametz Wood on the Somme, and was admitted to No. 5 General Hospital, Rouen before returning to England. Remaining in England he transferred to the Monmouthshire Regiment on 17 May 1917, and subsequently to the 23rd Battalion, Cheshire Regiment on 22 July 1917. He was discharged on 1 March 1918.

Owen Owen attested for the South Wales Borderers, and served with the 11th (2nd Gwent) and 6th Battalions.

William Stanley Shopland was born in Cardiff in July 1899 and attested for the South Wales Borderers on 8 November 1916. He served with the 10th (1st Gwent) Battalion during the Great War, was wounded, and subsequently transferred to the Training Reserve Battalion before being discharged on 21 November 1919, receiving a Silver War Badge.

Francis John Emanuel was born in Abertillery, Monmouthshire in 1897 and served during the Great War with the Monmouthshire Regiment before transferring to the 5th Battalion, South Wales Borderers. He died on the Western Front on 3 November 1918 and is buried in St. Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen, France.

Sold with copied Medal Index Cards and other research.