Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A Great War ‘Western Front’ D.S.O. group of nine awarded to Lieutenant-Colonel R. D. Lake, Northamptonshire Regiment, who was twice Mentioned in Despatches for his services during the Great War, and received a further ‘Mention’ in 1940 with the British Expeditionary Force, fighting his way out through northern France all the way to Brittany

Distinguished Service Order, G.V.R., silver-gilt and enamel, with integral top riband bar; 1914 Star, with copy clasp (Lieut: R. D. Lake. North’n R.); British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leaves (Major R. D. Lake.); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star, 1 clasp, France and Germany; Africa Star; Italy Star; War Medal 1939-45, with M.I.D. oak leaf, minor green enamel damage to wreath on reverse of DSO, contact marks to BWM, generally very fine (9) £1,600-£2,000

D.S.O. London Gazette 1 January 1918.

Ronald Duwe Lake was born in Bury St. Edmund’s on 9 May 1891 and was educated at Uppingham School and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Northamptonshire Regiment on 4 March 1911, and was promoted Lieutenant on 27 May 1912. He served with the 2nd Battalion during the Great War on the Western Front as a Regimental Staff Officer from 6 November 1914, and was promoted Captain on 28 April 1915. For the majority of the War he held various Staff posts, including Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General, 9th Army Corps, from 10 February 1917, and was advanced temporary Major on 25 February 1918. His final Great War appointment was as Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General to the 63rd Royal Naval Division from 4 August 1918, and he held this post during the 63rd Division’s key final battles on the Western Front. For his services during the Great War he was twice Mentioned in Despatches (London Gazettes 7 November 1917 and 16 March 1919) and was created a companion of the Distinguished Service Order, being presented with his D.S.O. by H.M. the King at Buckingham Palace on 7 June 1919. Reverting to the Northamptonshire Regiment, he served as Adjutant of the 5th Battalion from March 1920, before retiring with the rank of Major on 11 April 1923, and was posted to the Reserve of Officers.

Lake was recalled for service during the Second World War, and served as a Staff Captain with the British Expeditionary Force in France from 9 March 1940. When the Dunkirk evacuation occurred, he fought his way out of France through Nantes, Brittany, receiving a further Mention in Despatches (London Gazette 21 December 1940). Advanced Lieutenant-Colonel, he subsequently commanded troops on convoy duties, and died in August 1950.

Sold with the recipient’s two Mentioned in Despatches Certificates from the Great War, these both mounted on board, and copied research.