Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Three: Private F. T. E. Oliver, 11th (County of London) Battalion (Finsbury Rifles), London Regiment

1914-15 Star (1879 Pte. F. T. E. Oliver. 11-Lond. R.); British War and Victory Medals (1879 Pte. F. T. E. Oliver 11-Lond. R.); together with the recipient’s Silver War Badge, the reverse officially numbered ‘B291649’, very fine and better (4) £70-£90

Frederick Thomas Edgar Oliver attested for the 11th Battalion, London Regiment and served at Gallipoli from 16 August 1915, likely as a replacement for men of the Finsbury Rifles killed or wounded the previous day in the punishing action at Kiretch Tepe Ridge; forced to withdraw to positions in Lone Tree Gully, Oliver would have witnessed the aftermath of the Battalion suffering 360 casualties in 48 hours, including the Commanding Officer, Major G. F. M. Davies. Sent straight to the trenches, Oliver and his comrades spent the next 2 months alternating in the firing line with the 1/5th Bedfordshire Regiment; when not enduring the attention of the Turks, searing heat and storms of flies, the men were in reserve at ‘Finsbury Vale’. In early December 1915 the Battalion were withdrawn to Mudros and the Gallipoli operation was closed down. Transferred to the Labour Corps, Oliver was awarded a Silver War Badge and was discharged due to sickness on 13 August 1919.