Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A Great War ‘Ministry of Munitions’ M.B.E. group of four awarded to Major C. Leese, Army Service Corps, who flourished as a winter sportsman in the Alpine climate of Switzerland but whose health suffered in the damp and exposed conditions of the Western Front

A gifted amateur golfer, he repeatedly showed his prowess in the Amateur Championship but was often thwarted by Joyce Wethered and her equally successful brother Roger

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, M.B.E. (Military) Member’s 1st type breast badge, silver, hallmarks for London 1917; 1914 Star (2. Lieut: C. Leese. A.S.C.); British War and Victory Medals (2. Lieut. C. Leese.) nearly extremely fine (4) £300-£400

M.B.E. (Military) London Gazette 1 January 1918.

Clive Leese was born in Woking on 24 April 1885, the fourth son of Sir Joseph Francis Leese, K.C., M.P., 1st Baron Leese, of Send Holme, near Guildford. As Queen’s Council and Member of Parliament for Accrington from 1892 to 1910, his father was a hugely influential figure who was known in particular as a keen advocate for women’s suffrage. His mother was similarly exalted as a sportswoman; according to The Lancashire Daily Post of 28 January 1907, the only thing that could hold Lady Mary Constance Leese back from the ski slopes of Davos was ‘a severe case of influenza’. Clive Leese proved just as talented - at least his mother’s equal in winter sports - most notably in winning a third place finish in the English Figure Skate Bowl in 1905 and victory at Davos in 1907.

The outbreak of the Great War saw Leese appointed Lieutenant in the Army Service Corps in the London Gazette of 19 September 1914. Posted to France from 5 October 1914, he witnessed early service at the Advanced Motorised Transport Depot. Evacuated home with an attack of pleurisy, the Proceedings of a Medical Board held at Caxton Hall on 4 February 1915 noted: ‘suffered from cold & exposure on active service with Expeditionary Force’. Raised Acting Major on 9 November 1916, Leese was seconded to the Ministry of Munitions. His name was later brought to the notice of the Secretary of State for War for ‘valuable services rendered in connection with the war’ and he was awarded the M.B.E. (Military).

Demobilised on 22 February 1919, Leese took employment as a solicitor in the family firm of Fairfield, Leese and Munns of 31, Old Jewry, London. He further dedicated his free time to amateur golf and became firm friends with some of the leading exponents of the game, most notably Joyce and Roger Wethered, the former being recognised as perhaps the greatest ‘lady golfer’ of her generation. Having initially dipped his toes at the 1905 Amateur Championship at Prestwick, Leese made it to the last 16 at St. Andrews in 1907. In 1921 he made short shrift of a Cambridge Varsity singles opponent, and in 1923 he and Mr. G. D. Forrester inflicted a ‘crushing defeat’ upon an Oxford and Cambridge Society pairing. Representing Woking Golf Club, Leese later lost a mere 2 and 1 to the Wethereds; a lucky escape given that Joyce and Roger were later described as ‘cruel’ to a Kentish brother and sister pair. Even the great Bobby Jones of Augusta National fame was keen to note of Joyce: ‘I have not played golf with anyone, man or woman, amateur or professional, who made me feel so utterly outclassed’. The following year, Leese once again reached the last 16 of the Amateur Championship, but received an utter drubbing (7 and 6) at the hands of Roger Wethered over the Old Course. According to Sketch on 4 June 1924:
‘Out in a grand score of 33 strokes, magnificent play by Wethered left Leese looking to the heavens, likely wondering what on earth he could do to alleviate the pain.’

Leese spent the 1920s as a regular Surrey County golfer and won the prestigious Royal Mid-Surrey Scratch Medal in 1928. He later served as Chairman of the Chiswick Sports Association, but his life was cut short on the operating table in November 1932. The Leese Baronetcy subsequently passed to his eldest brother and thence to Sir Oliver William Hargreaves Leese, K.C.B., C.B.E., D.S.O.; for the next decade the Leese name remained in the press, but instead of filling the sporting back pages in the footsteps of Clive and his mother, Sir Oliver garnered headlines as Commander of XXX Corps in North Africa and Sicily, before taking over the reins of Eighth Army in succession to Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery of Alamein.