Naval Medals from the Collection of the Late Jason Pilalas (Part I)

The Great War Royal Naval Division operations D.S.O. group of six awarded to Commander E. M. Lockwood, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, who escaped from captivity in early 1915, fought at Gallipoli, and then sustained serious wounds as C.O. of Hawke Battalion in ‘the final 100 days’ on the Western Front
Distinguished Service Order, G.V.R., silver-gilt and enamels, with integral top riband bar; 1914 Star, with clasp (L7/3308. E. Lockwood, Act. A.B. R.N.V.R., Benbow Bttn R.N.D.); British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leaves (Commr. E. M. Lockwood. R.N.V.R.); Defence and War Medals 1939-45, mounted as worn, good very fine (6) £3,000-£3,600

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Naval Medals from the Collection of the Late Jason Pilalas.

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D.S.O. London Gazette 30 May 1919: ‘For distinguished service in connection with military operations in France and Flanders.’

Edward Marston Lockwood was born in Hackney, London on 29 April 1889 and was employed in the publishing business at the time of his joining the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve as an Ordinary Seaman on 5 August 1914.

Drafted to the Royal Naval Division, he was commissioned as a Temporary Sub Lieutenant on 7 October 1914, and embarked for Antwerp. Two days later the city fell to the Germans and Lockwood made his way to Holland, where he was interned. However, as noted on his service record, he was a reluctant internee, making a home run from Groningen and arriving back in England on 11 January 1915.

Advanced to Lieutenant, he was drafted to Hawke Battalion as a platoon commander in ‘A’ Company and embarked for Gallipoli, the commencement of a torrid time. Sunstroke aside, his service record reveals two periods of hospitalisation in June-November 1915, latterly with jaundice.

On a brighter note, it was on the peninsula that he first met A. P. Herbert (1890-1971), the well-known English humourist, novelist, and playwright, for he too had joined the R.N.D. on the outbreak of hostilities and been commissioned in Hawke Battalion. He later served as Adjutant during Lockwood’s period of command of the battalion in France, when the latter is noted as having ‘upheld the cause of the Hawke Battalion, and of A. P. Herbert in particular, at Brigade Headquarters on every occasion when a crisis seemed to be in the air.

Meanwhile, of his first tour of duty in the trenches in Gallipoli in early June 1915, Lockwood wrote:

‘We were kept busy in our trenches day and night, digging and improving the line. Wiring kept us busy at nights, and it was an unpleasant business, for the Turks believed in a constant rapid fire by machine guns and rifles; though most of this was badly aimed and much of it fell behind our lines, it was not a savoury business to be out in front night after night.’

Advanced to Lieutenant-Commander in late November 1915, Lockwood’s jaundice occasioned his evacuation to the U.K. and it was not until May 1916 that he was declared fit for duty.

He rejoined Hawke Battalion in France shortly afterwards, where it moved to the frontline at Souchez in July 1916, prior to its costly part in the attack on Bancourt-sur-l’Ancre in mid-November. The battalion was back in action at Pozieres in February 1917, where Lockwood was gassed on the 5th but chose to remain on duty.

Having then been loaned to the Canadians in a staff role from July 1917, he resumed his duties as second-in-command of Hawke Battalion in the Hamel sector in France in May 1918. The months of May, June and July were spent in the trenches opposite Hamel and on the Auchonvillers Ridge and by early August the way was clear for the second battles of the Somme. On 24 August, Hawke Battalion advanced from its position to the neighbourhood of Logeast Wood and Loupart Wood, and by the evening of the 25th, after strong resistance, the battalion occupied an important position at the ‘Yellow Cut’ near Bapaume.

Lockwood was wounded on the 28th but remained on duty and, in early September, he was appointed to the command of the battalion in the temporary rank of Commander. It was a short-lived appointment, for he was again wounded on 27 September 1918, this time by a bullet to his head. In fact, as revealed by his service record, he was placed on the ‘dangerous list’ at 14 General Hospital at Wimereux and was not deemed well enough for embarkation to England until the end of October, where he was admitted to the Empire Hospital.

At length, following a number of medical boards, he was declared ‘permanently unfit’ and demobilised in October 1919. Of some consolation, perhaps, was the announcement of the award of his D.S.O., which he received from the King at Buckingham Palace in the same month. He was also twice mentioned in despatches.

Sold with copied research including record of service.