Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

1914-15 Star (2. Lieut: D. M. Griffin. L’pool R.) patches of staining, top loop somewhat out of shape, very fine £120-£160

Douglas Morley Griffin was born in Hampstead, London, on 1 August 1889, the only son of Professor William Hall Griffin, biographer of the Victorian poet and playwright Robert Browning. Admitted as King’s Scholar to Westminster School in 1903, Griffin proved a successful athlete and represented the school in gymnastics. As a member of the O.T.C., he enjoyed shooting competitions and exceeded the school’s ‘highest hopes’ in 1907 with an excellent performance at Bisley training camp, whereupon he was raised Lance Corporal. Upon his father’s death in 1907, it soon became impossible for his mother to pay the fees necessary for him to continue in private education. The school archive notes: ‘He was a boy of character, and faced misfortune with the courage which he afterwards showed in the war.’

Taking part-time employment at an architect’s office in Liverpool, Griffin attended the University of Liverpool and qualified M.R.I.B.A. in 1910, and A.R.I.B.A. in 1914. Enlisting in September 1914, he was appointed to a commission in the 18th (2nd City) Battalion, King’s Liverpool Regiment, and served on the Western Front from 7 November 1915. He died at Abbeville on 16 July 1916 of wounds received in action during the Battle of the Somme on 9 July 1916, his Battalion being heavily engaged at around that time in efforts to capture the village of Montauban and press the enemy back towards Trones Wood. He is buried in Abbeville Communal War Cemetery, France.