Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

An unusual Great War pair awarded to Lieutenant A. V. Gash, Royal Air Force, late Royal Naval Reserve and Royal Naval Air Service, who served as Victualling and Pay Officer at No. 6 Kite Balloon Station at Bizerta, Tunisia, in 1918, and was awarded the Tunisian Order of Nichin Iftikhar by the Bey of Tunis

British War Medal 1914-20 (Lieut. A. V. Gash. R.A.F.); Tunisia, French Colonial, Order of Nichan Iftikhar, Officer’s breast badge, 70mm including bow suspension x 51mm, silver and enamel, Mohammed el-Nasir (1906-22) cipher at centre, unmarked, with rosette on riband, mounted for wear, nearly extremely fine; the recipient is not entitled to a Victory Medal and consequently this is his full entitlement and a rare combination (2) £600-£800

One of only 44 Tunisian awards awarded to British personnel during the Great War.

Tunisian Order of Nichan Iftikhar, Thrid Class (Officer) London Gazette 23 August 1919:
‘For valuable services rendered in connection with the war at Bizerta’.

Albert Victor Gash was born at Swansea on 10 September 1890 and was commissioned into the Royal Naval Reserve as a temporary Assistant Paymaster on 11 February 1918; having transferred to the Royal Naval Air Service, he became a founding member of the Royal Air Force as a Lieutenant and Paymaster on 1 April 1918. Shortly afterwards he was posted to the Mediterranean as Victualling and Pay Officer with No. 6 Kite Balloon Station on the North African coast at Bizerta in Tunisia; the purpose of the Kite Balloon Station was to sight submarines, deter their ability to surface, and to restrict their ability to attack Allied shipping. For his services during the Great War he received the British War Medal and was awarded the Tunisian Order of Nichan Iftikhar; he was not entitled to the Victory Medal and consequently this is his full medallic entitlement.

Posted home following the cessation of hostilities, Gash contracted pneumonia in April 1919. Recovering, he was granted a short service commission in the Royal Air Force as a Flying Officer in the Administrative Branch on 24 October 1919, transferring to the Reserve on 24 October 1922. He relinquished his commission on 24 October 1926, and died in Ealing on 29 June 1957.

Sold with a small newspaper cutting and copied research, including an Article by Marc Parren on Kite Balloon Station No. 6 at Bizerta.