Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Pair: Private L. J. Cross, Berkshire Yeomanry, who was killed in action during the Battle of Jerusalem, on 27 November 1917
British War and Victory Medals (2871 Pte. L. J. Cross. Berks. Yeo.) slight edge knocks and contact marks, otherwise very fine

Pair: Private H. Clark, Leicestershire Regiment, who was taken prisoner on the Western Front on 24 March 1917
British War and Victory Medals (6196 Pte. H. Clark. Leic. R.) in named card box of issue and outer packaging, nearly extremely fine (4) £80-£100

Leeman J. Cross was born in Cottisford, Northamptonshire and attested at Brackley, Northamptonshire for the Berkshire Yeomanry for service during the Great War. He was killed in action on 27 November 1917, during the Battle of Jerusalem. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Jerusalem Memorial.

Herbert Clark attested for the Leicestershire Regiment on 10 May 1916 and served with the 2nd/4th Battalion during the Great War on the Western Front, where he was taken Prisoner of War on 24 March 1917. The following article appeared in The Yorkshire Evening News on 4 July 1918:
‘Fifteen weeks of suspense - Fifteen terrible weeks of anxiety have been followed by glad tidings to York parents. On March 24th last Private Herbert Clark, Leicestershire Regiment, youngest son of Mr. & Mrs. Clark, 36 Thorpe Street, Searcroft Road, was posted missing. All efforts to trace him had failed, but this morning’s post brought a card from him, dated May 26th, which showed that he is a prisoner of war at Limburg, Germany. Private Clark, at the time of writing, was quite well. He must have written previously to his parents, acquainting them with his whereabouts, as on the card he states that he presumed they had received a letter he sent them. That letter has not yet come to hand, a fact that has intensified the stress under which the parents have been living. Private Clark is 20 years of age, he enlisted in May 1916, and had been on active service since February 1917. In civil life he was a clerk in the District Superintendent’s Office, North Eastern Railway. His brother, Private Arthur Clark, has been at the front with the Liverpool Regiment since December, 1916.’

Sold together with original newspaper clipping, typed transcript of same, original certificate of Transfer to Reserve, and original facsimile named letter from H.M. the King sent to returned prisoners, post war.