Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Three: Second Lieutenant L. G. Sharp, Royal Fusiliers
1914-15 Star (STK-525 L.Cpl. L. G. Sharp. R. Fus:); British War and Victory Medals (STK- 525 Pte. L. G. Sharpe [sic]. R. Fus.) very fine and better

Pair: Private W. Cater, 20th (Shoreditch) Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, who was killed in action on the Western Front on 8 January 1918
British War Medal 1914-20 (G.14973 Pte. W. Cater& [sic] Midd’x R.); Victory Medal 1914-19 (G-14973 Pte. W. Cater. Midd’x R.) mounted as worn, the VM officially re-impressed, good very fine (5) £80-£100

Lionel Grahame Sharp was born in Clapham in 1897 and spent his childhood at Bramblehurst, Old Lodge-lane, Purley. He enlisted for the 10th (Stockbrokers) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers following the outbreak of the Great War, joining one of Lord Kitchener’s original ‘Pals’ Battalions recruited from the financial community of the City of London. Posted to France 31 July 1915, Sharp likely witnessed extensive action at the Somme and the Ancre, at Arras and Ypres, during the German Spring Offensive, and in the final Hundred Days Offensive. The latter occasion proved a great success; when his battalion was finally relieved on 27 August 1918, it had advanced 7 miles in five days of action, capturing 1366 prisoners, 75 machine-guns and 1 field gun.

Sent back in the line 23 October 1918 for the second day of the set-piece attack known as the Battle of the Selle, Sharp likely ended his campaign on the Sambre with the capture of the French village of Louvignies. Returned to England, he is recorded on 7 January 1919 as a Cadet at No. 20 O.C. Battalion, Haig Hutments, Tweseldown Camp, Fleet, Hampshire. He was later appointed to a commission on 3 February 1919, one of a handful of the original ‘Pals’ to have seemingly witnessed the entire campaign.

Sold with copied MIC which confirms variation to surname upon medals.

William Cater was born in Bethnal Green in 1885 and attested for the Middlesex Regiment at Shoreditch. Posted to France, he was killed in action on 8 January 1918 and is buried at Mory Abbey Military Cemetery, France.