Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A fine Great War 1918 M.M. group of three awarded to Lance-Corporal W. J. Burdass, 10th (Service) Battalion (Grimsby Chums) and 1/5th (Territorial Force) Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment, whose gallantry at Gorre in May 1918 is given due attention in the battalion history

Military Medal G.V.R. (242506 L. Cpl. W. J. Burdass 1/5 Linc: R.); British War and Victory Medals (1220 Pte. W. J. Burdass. Linc. R.) small dent to rim on M.M. generally good very fine (3) £280-£320

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Great War Military Medals to the Lincolnshire Regiment.

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M.M. London Gazette 7 October 1918

William John Burdass was born in 1894 at Melton Ross, Lincolnshire and was resident at Appleby, Doncaster when he enlisted in the 10th (Service) Battalion (Grimsby Chums), Lincolnshire Regiment on 4 January 1915 at Grimsby. He arrived in France with the Grimsby Chums on 9 January 1916. After being hospitalised with Diptheria on 11 June 1916, he was repatriated to England on 26 July 1916 and upon recovery he was posted to the 1st Battalion on 1 January 1917. He was then posted to the 1/5th Battalion on 16 Feb 1917, remaining with them for the remainder of the war. His conspicuous gallantry at Gorre on 26 May 1918 led to the award of his Military Medal as detailed in the Battalion History:
‘At 3.30am on May 26th a party of the enemy 15 to 20 strong, crept up to within a few yards of one of A Company posts, under cover of a ditch and long grass, and attempted to rush the post, firing revolvers and throwing bombs, and shouting “hands up”. Lance-Corporal W. J. Burdass, although the enemy were almost on the top of the post, immediately got his Lewis gun into action, killed two of the enemy, both N.C.O.s, and assisted by rifle fire from the other men at the post drove the enemy back; he was awarded the Military Medal for conspicuous gallantry, as his coolness and prompt action certainly saved the garrison from suffering severe casualties before the enemy could be driven off.’ (The History of the 5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment by T.E. Sandall refers.)

Burdass was reported wounded in the War Office weekly casualty list on 14 January 1919 and his service records show that he had been gassed on 11 November 1918, the day of the armistice, when his Battalion was holding an outpost line near Semeries with the Germans in full retreat. He was discharged Class Z on 22 March 1919.