Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A ‘First Day of the Somme’ Officer Casualty Victory Medal awarded to Second Lieutenant R. W. Twining, Devonshire Regiment, late Royal Devonshire Yeomanry, who was buried alive at Wailly by a German artillery barrage and exhumed by his comrades later that day

Victory Medal 1914-19 (2. Lieut. R. W. Twining) nearly very fine £200-£240

Richard Wake Twining was born in Salcombe, Devon, on 8 May 1895, the only son of Canadian-born Dr. Vincent Twining. An able and gifted boy, Twining was sent to Epsom College on 1 May 1908, being a boarder of Fayrer House. Excelling academically, he progressed to Carr House in the Upper School and saw two seasons with the rugby 1st XV. In July 1913, he passed the first exam for a medical degree and in October 1913 went up to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, following in the medical footsteps of his father and grandfather. Serving two months with “C” Squadron of the Royal Devonshire Yeomanry, Twining was discharged to a commission with the Devonshire Regiment on 19 November 1914. He served nine months at Beaumont Barracks, Aldershot, before transferring at his own request to the 1st Battalion and crossing the Channel to France on 14 April 1916.

For the people of Devon, 1 July 1916 is forever associated with the slaughter of the 8th and 9th Battalions at Mansel Copse. As his comrades were cut down by enemy machine guns, Twining and the men of the 1st Battalion launched a feint or ‘dummy attack’ at Wailly to the south of Arras. It was here that he was buried during a German counter-barrage, later confirmed in a witness statement by Second Lieutenant J. R. H. Tweed, 3rd Battalion, attached 1st Battalion, Devonshire Regiment. He was aged just 21. More sorrow was to come to the family, however, when his cousin, Mary Twining, a former V.A.D. nurse, was found at the foot of the cliffs at Bolt Head in 1919.