Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A rare Great War O.B.E. group of five awarded to Dental Surgeon Lieutenant H. J. Corin, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, later Honorary Major, Royal Air Force, who was one of only a handful (believed to be fewer than 10) of Dental Surgeons to receive the 1914-15 Star

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, O.B.E. (Military) Officer’s 1st type breast badge, silver-gilt, hallmarks for London 1918; 1914-15 Star (Dent. Surg. H. J. Corin. R.N.V.R.); British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leaves (Dent. Surg. Lt. H. J. Corin. R.N.V.R.); Belgium, Kingdom, Order of the Crown, Chevalier’s breast badge, silver and enamel, with A.I.R. silver palm to riband, mounted as worn; together with the recipient’s related miniature awards, blue enamel damage to obverse central medallion on last, otherwise good very fine, the 1914-15 Star rare to a Dental Surgeon (5) £800-£1,000

The April 1915 Navy List records only 7 Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Dental Surgeons, and the August 1917 Navy List records 19 Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Dental Surgeons. Consequently, it is likely that the number of 1914-15 Stars awarded to Dental Surgeons in the R.N.V.R. is under 10.

O.B.E. London Gazette 1 January 1919.
The original recommendation states: ‘Has given dental services since beginning of war, in connection with Air Stations Dunkirk.’

M.I.D. London Gazette 26 April 1918.

Belgium, Order of the Crown, Chevalier London Gazette 21 September 1919.

Herbert John Corin was born in Forest Hill, London, in 1880, and qualified at Guys Dental School in 1900. By 1910 he had his own private practice at 9 Old Burlington Street, London, W1. He became an Honorary Dental Surgeon with the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve attached to the Royal Naval Air Service. He served at the Air Station in Dunkirk during the Great War from October 1914 - his Medal Index Card questions his eligibility for a 1914 Star. During the Great War he would travel from Dover to La Panne in Belgium to work on servicemen with facial injuries, and was also personal dentist to the King of the Belgians who lived at La Panne during the war.

A founder member of the Royal Aero Club, on the formation of the Royal Air Force on 1 April 1918 Corin became an Honorary Major. he relinquished his commission in April 1920 and resumed his private practice, where he had a number of high profile clients including Princess Alice, the Duke of Westminster, and the Earl of Athlone. The 1935 Dental Directory records him as Consultant Dental Surgeon, Belgian Field Hospital Furnes and Hoogstaede, as well as Honorary Dental Surgeon, St Vincent de Paul Orpahan. He died in Chichester, Sussex, on 28 August 1965.

Sold together with the Commission Document appointing the recipient a Dental Surgeon in the R.N.V.R., dated 1.4.1915, in OHMS transmission tube; the Bestowal Document for the O.B.E., in Central Chancery envelope; the recipient’s Mentioned in Despatches Certificate; and the Bestowal Document for the Belgian Order of the Crown; as well as a large quantity of photographs from the Great War, many featuring the recipient.