A fine collection of 1914 Stars to the Cavalry

Three: Private C. S. Merrett, North Somerset Yeomanry, killed in action, Second Battle of Ypres, 13 May 1915

1914 Star (582 Pte., 1/1 N. Som. Yeo.); British War and Victory Medals (548 Pte., N. Som. Yeo.) mounted court style for display, nearly extremely fine (3) £350-450

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A fine collection of 1914 Stars to the Cavalry.

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The North Somerset Yeomanry entered France on 3 November 1914 as part of the 6th Cavalry Brigade, 3rd Cavalry Division.

Private Charles Stuart Merrett, North Somerset Yeomanry, entered the France/Flanders theatre of war on 2 November 1914. He was killed in action on 13 May 1915, aged 18 years, during the Second Battle of Ypres. He was buried in the Merville Communal Cemetery. Charles Stuart Merrett was the son of Charles and Isabella Merrett, of 2 Ashley Villa, Box, Chippenham, Wiltshire.

A published account of action involving the North Somerset Yeomanry on 13 May 1915 reads:

‘Three hundred men of the North Somerset Yeomanry took over the front line on the left of Bellwaarde Lake on the 12th, and accommodated themselves in the shallow holes among the trees which fringed the lake. This position, they were told, they must hold at all costs. The 13th found the men soaked to the skin, for rain had fallen without ceasing for two days. At 1 o'clock in the morning they were warned that the enemy might attack later in the day. There was no protection in the scooped-out holes in which they crouched, and when they asked for sandbags to build up parapets they were told there were none.
At 4 a.m. the enemy bombardment began. Shell after shell burst in the trenches. Men were buried, while others crept out of their shattered ditches and manned the craters the high explosives had made. The dead lay about in all directions. At 5.15 a.m. the shelling ceased, but half-an-hour later the heavens opened once more, and iron and lead rained down with redoubled fury.

The thunder continued long after a feeble dawn had made its appearance. At 7 a.m. the line on the left had fallen back, but the North Somersets with the 3rd Dragoons Guard still clung to their craters and ditches, dazed and shattered though they were. Not one thought of death that was imminent; they knew only that they must hang on at all costs, for such were their orders. About 8.30 the enemy swarmed out of his trenches, confident that few men could live through such a cannonade. Few there were, indeed, but the little groups of Yeomen were not dismayed. German bombers were met with bombs, and the wounded picked up their rifles and fired incessantly. The enemy fell back, and, angered at the repulse, his guns began the shelling once more. At 11 a.m. the bombardment lessened, and the Germans began to concentrate on the left where the line had weakened. Here most of the fighting for the remainder of the day occurred, and, because the North Somersets had held their ground, the Royal Horse Guards were able to restore the line in the afternoons. About midnight the North Somersets were relieved having lost more than half their number.’