Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The Victory Medal awarded to Private C. W. Sims, London Regiment, who was killed in action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, 1 July 1916

Victory Medal 1914-19 (2747 Pte. C. W. Sims. 5-Lond. R.) minor edge nicks, good very fine £70-£90

Charles William Sims attested for the London Regiment at Edmonton, Middlesex, and served with the 5th (City of London) Battalion (London Rifle Brigade) during the Great War on the Western Front. He was killed in action on the first day of the battle of the Somme, 1 July 1916. On this date the battalion was tasked with attacking the enemy positions at Gommecourt, and were subsequently driven out of the enemy’s trenches with great loss. In his report of the battle, Lieutenant-Colonel A. S. Bates gave the strength of the battalion at the time of assembly for action as 23 officers and 803 other ranks, and at 5:00 p.m. back in the British line he counted just 89 unwounded men. Sims was amongst those killed, and he is buried in Gommecourt British Cemetery No. 2, Hebuterne, France.