Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Five: Lieutenant-Colonel H. E. Gresham, 1st /7th Battalion, Manchester Regiment, who was the original Commanding Officer of his battalion at the outbreak of war in 1914, and served as Commanding Officer of the Battalion in Egypt, Sudan, and at Gallipoli before being invalided from service by illness in June 1915; he later served in the Frontier Force Rifles

1914-15 Star (Lt: Col: H. E. Gresham. Manch: R.); British War and Victory Medals (Lt. Col. H. E. Gresham.); Coronation 1911, unnamed as issued; Territorial Decoration, E.VII.R., silver and silver-gilt, hallmarks for London 1908, with integral top riband bar, all mounted for display in a ‘Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Company’ glazed display case, extremely fine (5) £700-£900

Harry Edward Gresham was born in 1864, the son of the well-known industrialist and head of the firm Gresham and Craven Ltd., of Salford, Manchester. After receiving his education in Bedford and in Tours, France, he started work as a humble apprentice at his father’s ironworks in 1880, and in 1890 he joined the 4th (Volunteer) Battalion, Manchester Regiment as a second lieutenant. He made swift progress in both areas, being promoted swiftly through the civilian ranks of his firm as assistant engineer and representative in 1887, as director in 1901, and as chairman in 1905 - becoming an important designer and developer of mechanical patents in his own right. Continuing all the while as a volunteer with the Manchester Regiment, by 1901 he was captain and instructor of musketry, by 1911 he was made major of the newly created 7th (T.F.) Battalion, Manchester Regiment. Upon the outbreak of the Great War in late 1914 he was an experienced lieutenant-colonel and an important local figure with 24 years’ experience in the volunteers.

Leading his battalion for service abroad, Gresham sailed from Southampton on 10 September 1914 aboard the Union Castle liner Grantully Castle, arriving at Alexandria on 25 September 1914. Now at the age of 50, he continued on with his men to Port Sudan and thence to Khartoum in early 1915 for garrison duties in connection with His Excellency Sirdar F. R. Wingate (the battalion’s honorary Colonel, and Governor General of Sudan) before taking part in the Gallipoli landings at V Beach on 7 May 1915 as part of the 127th Brigade, 42nd (East Lancs) Division. As recorded in contemporary newspapers reports, he is known to have seen heavy action in the trenches during his first month and remained in command until the end of May, before being invalided as sick to Malta for recovery in June 1915 (presumably from cholera or malaria). Returning for further service with the Frontier Force Rifles, he continued throughout the remainder of the war and finally retired from further service on 29 July 1921, having reached the age limit. He died at Bournemouth on 29 November 1933.

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