Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

British War Medal 1914-20 (3) (Pte. A. Bain. 2nd S.A.I.; Cpl. B. E. Balcomb. 2nd S.A.I.; Pte. M. Roebeck, 2nd S.A.I.) Bilingual Victory 1914-19 (Pte. J. A. Van Eck 2nd S.A.I.) traces of adhesive to reverse of all, generally good very fine (4) £70-£90

This lot is to be sold as part of a special collection, The Bernard Harris Collection of Medals to the 2nd Regiment, South African Infantry.

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Arthur Bain was born on 28 February 1886, the son of Alexander Stewart Bain of Salisbury, Rhodesia. Posted to the Western Front with “C” Company, 2nd South African Infantry, he was killed in action on 19 July 1917. Aged 31 years, he is buried at La Kreule Military Cemetery, Hazebrouck, France.

Benjamin Eric Balcomb, a chemist, was born in 1893 and attested for the 2nd South African Infantry at Potchefstroom on 5 December 1915. Posted to Egypt and France from 15 April 1916, he was admitted to the 7th Canadian General Hospital on 13 April 1917 suffering from a shrapnel wound to the ankle. He was discharged at Wynberg as permanently unfit for further military service on 15 February 1919.

Michael Roebeck was born in Cape Town in 1886 and attested for the 2nd South African Infantry at Potchefstroom on 18 December 1915. Disembarked at Rouen on 14 August 1916, he was admitted to No. 11 General Hospital suffering from shock and exposure on 16 April 1917. He returned to hospital in March 1918 due to the effects of a gas shell, and was admitted again in August 1918 due to malaria. He was discharged in 1919.

John Abraham Van Eck, a farmer, was born in Cape Colony in 1895, and attested for the 2nd South African Infantry at Potchefstroom on 24 August 1915. Posted to the Western Front, he was killed in action on 11 April 1917; he has no known grave and is commemorated upon the Arras Memorial, France.

Sold with copied service records for all four recipients.