Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A rare Great War D.C.M., M.M. and Bar group of five awarded to Sergeant J. R. F. Robertson, Bedfordshire Regiment

Distinguished Conduct Medal, G.V.R. (14854 Sjt. J. R. F. Robertson, M.M., 2/Bedf. R.); Military Medal, G.V.R., with Second Award Bar (14854 Pte. J. R. F. Robertson, 7/Bedf. R.); 1914-15 Star (14854 Pte. J. R. F. Robertson, Bedf. R.); British War and Victory Medals (14854 Sjt. J. R. F. Robertson, Bedf. R.), occasional edge bruising, contact marks and polished, thus generally good fine (5) £2500-3000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Medals to Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiments.

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D.C.M. London Gazette 2 December 1919:

‘On 4 November 1918 during the attack on Preux-au-Bois, he displayed marked gallantry and initiative in handling his platoon. He outflanked enemy machine-guns with great skill, and his persistence in pushing forward was one of the greatest value to the troops on his flank. On one occasion, when an enemy machine-gun had to be attacked frontally, and the No. 1 of the Lewis gun was killed, he seized the gun, moved forward to a commanding position, and forced the enemy gun crew to retire, thus enabling his company to enter the village. His fine action contributed largely to the success of his company.’

M.M. London Gazette 18 July 1918.

Bar to M.M. London Gazette 13 September 1918.

John R. F. Robertson, who was from Peckham, London, first entered the French theatre of war with the 7th Battalion in late July 1915, and would have seen action on the Somme in the following year, including a fierce hand-to-hand encounter at the Schwaben Redoubt on 28 September 1916, when 2nd Lieutenant T. E. Adlam won the V.C.; the Bar to his M.M. probably reflected gallant deeds in the operations around the Grozat Canal in late March 1918.