Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Memorial Plaque (William Sydney Fitzpatrick) polished, light traces of verdigris, very fine £100-£140

M.M. London Gazette 17 April 1917.
The original Recommendation, dated 10 February 1917, states: ‘In the attack on enemy trenches East of Gueudecourt on the night of 4-5 February 1917, Sergeant Fitzpatrick’s Platoon being without an Officer, he led it to the assault with great dash and resolution. Throughout a number of counter-attacks and until his Company was relieved on the night of 9-10 February, he was constantly at his post, always on the alert. On one occasion he went out into No-Man’s Land to reconnoitre and seeing one of the enemy, chased him and brought him in at the point of the revolver. His work has been uniformly good throughout.’

William Sydney Fitzpatrick attested for the Australian Imperial Force, and served with the 13th Infantry Battalion during the Great War, embarking from Melbourne on 22 December 1914. Commissioned Second Lieutenant, he was killed in action on the Western Front on 11 June 1917, and is buried in Wulverghem-Lindenhoek Road Military Cemetery, Belgium.