The Jack Webb Collection of Medals and Militaria

The Regimentally important Second War K.C.B., Great War ‘Western Front’ C.M.G. group of fifteen awarded to Colonel Sir Edwin J. King, 7th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, who served with the Colonial Forces whilst still an undergraduate during the Boer War; commanded the Battalion on the Western Front during the Great War, for which he was three times Mentioned in Despatches, and later served as Honorary Colonel of the Regiment from 1925 to 1949. In addition, he was appointed Aide-de-Camp to H.M. the King; served as a Deputy Lieutenant and High Sheriff of Middlesex, and was a Bailiff Grand Cross and Chancellor of the Order of St. John

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, K.C.B. (Civil) Knight Commander’s set of insignia, comprising neck badge, silver-gilt, hallmarks for London 1939, with neck riband; Star, silver, silver-gilt, and enamel, with gold retaining pin; The Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, C.M.G., Companion’s breast badge, silver-gilt and enamel, converted for neck wear, with neck riband; The Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Bailiff Grand Cross set of insignia, comprising sash badge, silver-gilt and enamel, with heraldic beasts in angles; Star, silver-gilt and enamel, no heraldic beasts in angles; Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 3 clasps, Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal (Capt. E. J. King. 1st. Vol: Bn: Midd’x: Rgt:); 1914-15 Star (Lt. Col. E. J. King. Midd’x R.); British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leaves (Col. E. J. King.); Defence Medal (Col. Sir Edwin King Middx. H.G.) contemporarily impressed naming; Coronation 1911 (Lt. Col. E. J. King, 7th. Bn. Middlesex Regt.) contemporarily engraved naming; Jubilee 1935 (Col. E. J. King) contemporarily engraved naming; Coronation 1937 (Col. E. J. King) contemporarily engraved naming; Territorial Decoration, G.V.R., silver and silver-gilt, hallmarks for London 1917, with integral top riband bar; Efficiency Decoration, G.VI.R., 2nd issue, Territorial, reverse officially dated 1951, with three additional award bars and integral top riband bar; Service Medal of the Order of St John (Colonel E. J. King. C.M.G. A.D.C. for long and conspicuous service, 1935.); Order of the League of Mercy, breast badge, silver-gilt and enamel, mounted court-style as worn; together with a corresponding set of miniature awards, the C.M.G. badge with gold riband buckle, these also mounted court-style as worn, all housed in a purpose-built Spink, London, glazed display case, each component item fully accessible as required; together with the recipient’s 7th Battalion Middlesex Regiment ‘Battalion Twenty’ Medal, bronze (Lt. Col. E. J. King), with bronze date bars for 1910 and 1911, and silver date bar for 1912, generally good very fine and better and a most important group to the 7th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment (lot) £3,000-£4,000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Jack Webb Collection of Medals and Militaria.

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The ‘Battalion Twenty’ medal was instituted by Captain Leonard King in 1910 and was awarded to the members of the 7th Battalion who fired for the Middlesex Shield. The dated bars were awarded in bronze for each year in which the recipient took part, and in silver for those years in which the 7th Battalion were victorious.

K.C.B. (Civil) London Gazette 1 January 1944.

C.B. (Civil) London Gazette 8 June 1939.

C.M.G. London Gazette 3 June 1916.

Order of St. John, Bailiff Grand Cross London Gazette 1 January 1946.

Sir Edwin James King was born in 1877 and was educated at Cheltenham College and Christ Church, Oxford. A member of Lincoln’s Inn, he was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the 3rd Middlesex Rifle Volunteers on 4 November 1896, and was promoted Lieutenant the following year. In 1898 the 3rd Middlesex Rifle Volunteers became the 1st Volunteer Battalion, Middlesex Regiment. King served with the Colonial Forces in South Africa during the Boer War- ‘still an undergraduate when the Boer War started, he left for South Africa on board the Pembroke Castle on 27 January 1900, and on arrival in Cape Town was posted to the Duke of Edinburgh’s Own Volunteer Rifles. He served on the Lines of communication in Cape Colony until 14 May, when his regiment joined Sir Charles Warren’s Griqualand Field Force at Belmont. After taking part in the suppression of the rebellions in Griqualand and Bechuanaland, he was, on 20 July 1900, transferred to the Imperial Yeomanry Scouts, a Colonial Corps composed of men speaking Dutch and Kaffir, and with a body of Basutos and Zulus attached for intelligence duties. His troop was attached to the 2nd Mounted Brigade under Major-General the Earl of Erroll, forming part of Sir Frederick Carrington’s Rhodesia Field Force. After taking part in the operations in the Western Transvaal, he was attached to Lord Erroll’s staff on 5 September, a position which he held until 30 October, when he was given permission to return to England, it being thought that the war was over. He embarked on the Moor at Cape Town on 14 November 1900. (The History of the 7th Middlesex, by the recipient refers).

Promoted Captain in 1901, King was appointed Commanding Officer of the 1st Volunteer Battalion, Middlesex Regiment on 1 November 1907, with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. His first duty was to carry through the transfer of the battalion to the Territorial Force, and on 1 April 1908 the Battalion was re-titled the 7th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment. The transfer was a great personal success for the new Commanding Officer, with over 63% of the old Volunteers opting to transfer into the Territorial Force (with the new conditions of service), the highest percentage of any London-based battalion.

King commanded the 7th Battalion for the majority of the Great War, landing with the Battalion at Le Harve on 12 March 1915, and entered the trenches for the first time on 25 March. For the next two and a half years he commanded the Battalion, but by late 1917 ‘it became apparent that he no longer possessed the physical strength necessary for service in the field. On 23 October 1917 he finally relinquished command of the battalion, and proceeded to the base at Étaples to be allotted other duties. But before leaving he issued the following Farewell Order:
“It is with feelings of great regret that the Commanding Officer has to bid farewell to the battalion, which he has now commanded for ten years, in order to take up another appointment. He desires to express to all ranks his deep appreciation of the gallant conduct and devotion to duty which they have repeatedly shown under his command in numerous engagements in Flanders, before Gommecourt, on the Somme, and at Arras. In wishing the battalion good-bye and good fortune, he feels confident that it will ever show the same gallantry and devotion to duty that has brought it such honour and credit during the present War”.’ (ibid).

On 25 February 1918 King was promoted Colonel and posted to the staff of XV Corps as Commandant of Labour. For his services during the Great War he was three times Mentioned in Despatches (London Gazettes 1 January 1916, 15 June 1916, and 5 January 1917), and was appointed a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. Following the cessation of hostilities he was employed with the Clearing-up Force, and in March 1919 he was appointed Commander of the Lille Sub-Area, and then subsequently Commander of the Ypres Sub-Area. Having been awarded the Territorial Decoration in 1918, he returned to England and was demobilised in April 1920. He was later appointed Honorary Colonel of the 7th Battalion on 13 August 1925, a position he held until 1949, an almost continuous 50 year association with the Battalion.

King was appointed Aide-de-Camp to H.M. the King in 1931, and served as Chairman of the Territorial Army and Air Force Association of the County of Middlesex in the inter-War years, and during the Second World War. For his services in this role he was created a Companion of the Civil Division of the Order of the Bath in 1939, being advanced to Knight Commander of the same Order in 1944. Following the outbreak of the Second World War he was re-commissioned Colonel, and was appointed a Zone Commander of the Middlesex Home Guard in 1940. A Deputy Lieutenant of Middlesex, and sometime High Sheriff of the County, King was also an influential figure of the Order of St. John, serving as Chancellor of the Order from 1945 to 1951, and was appointed Bailiff Grand Cross of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in 1946. Awarded the Efficiency Decoration with three clasps (all London Gazette 16 February 1951), he died on 11 July 1952.

For the Order of St. John insignia awarded to the recipient’s wife, see Lot 117.