Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Pair: Private W. T. James, 1st Regiment, South African Infantry, late South African Field Telegraph and Postal Corps
1914-15 Star (Pte. W. T. James S.A.F.T. & P.C.); British War Medal 1914-20 (Pte. W. T. James. 1st. S.A.I.) glue residue to the reverse of both, the Star a little polished, nearly very fine

Pair: Private A. F. A. Leigh, 1st Regiment, South African Infantry
1914-15 Star (Pte. A. F. A. Leigh 1st. Infantry); Bilingual Victory 1914-19 (Pte. A. F. Leigh. 1st. S.A.I.) glue residue to reverse of both, good very fine

Pair: Private T. Winter, 1st Regiment, South African Infantry
British War and Bilingual Victory Medals (Pte. T. Winter. 1st. S.A.I.) glue residue to the reverse of both, good very fine (6) £100-£140

This lot is to be sold as part of a special collection, The Bernard Harris Collection of Medals to the 1st Regiment, South African Infantry.

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Walter Thomas James, a telegraphist, was born in Exeter around 1875 and initially with the Eastern Force as a Signaller in the S.A. Field Telegraph and Postal Corps. He later attested for the 1st South African Infantry at Potchefstroom on 17 September 1915 and arrived on the Western Front in time for the opening exchanges of the Battle of the Somme. Wounded in action 20 July 1916, his service record notes an injury to the left thigh; evacuated from Boulogne to the City of London Military Hospital, the wound ended his campaign and he was demobilised at Wynberg on 28 November 1917.

Alan Frederick Arthur Leigh was born in Durban in 1894, the son of Mrs. K. Leigh of Pietmaritzburg, Natal. He initially served with the Durban Light Infantry in German South West Africa before attesting for the 1st South African Infantry on 7 March 1917. Posted to the Western Front, he was killed in action on 20 September 1917 in Belgium and is commemorated upon the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Belgium.

Thomas Winter embarked from Cape Town to England per Dunvegan Castle on 13 September 1917. Posted to the Western Front with the 1st South African Infantry, he is recorded as missing in action on 24 March 1918 during the opening stages of the German Spring Offensive. Confirmed in May as a Prisoner of War, he was repatriated on 20 December 1918 and disembarked at Cape Town per Cawdor Castle on 24 April 1919.

Sold with copied service record for all three recipients and a fine copied photograph of Private Leigh in uniform.