Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

1914-15 Star (Lieut: H. Wearne. 8/Can: Inf:) good very fine £80-£100

Hugh ‘Harry’ Wearne was born in Helston on 12 May 1891, the fourth son of Dr. Walter Wearne of 21 Meneage Street, Helston, Cornwall. Educated at Epsom College, Wearne matriculated at the University of London in September 1909 and was registered as a medical student attached to the Middlesex Hospital. The loss of his father resulted in huge change for the family; his mother moved to Mullion Cove and had a local builder construct a huge bungalow called ‘Trevean’ on the hillside above the harbour, whilst Wearne determined to emigrate to New Brunswick, Canada, aboard the S.S. Corinthian.

Attesting at Valcartier on 23 September 1914, Wearne was appointed to the 8th Canadian Infantry. Posted to France from February 1915, he was appointed to a field commission in May 1915 and soon thereafter suffered a gunshot wound to the right thigh and back; evacuated to Le Treport, he spent the next two months convalescing at Lady Evelyn Mason’s Hospital for Officers in Mayfair. Transferred to Egypt in December 1915, he served two periods in hospital suffering from ill health. Wearne transferred to the Manitoba Regiment and then joined the Forestry Mission on the island of Cyprus as part of the Canadian Forestry Corps. Struck off strength on 2 May 1919, he died at Newton Abbott in 1967.