Boldon Auction
Galleries are
delighted to be offering for auction the following fantastic items.
The
lots will be for sale in our upcoming Antiques and Interiors Sale on Wednesday 11th
May
Military Cross, awarded to
Lieutenant
G.S. Bird
On
March 24th 1920,
For
actions at the Somme, March 1918
A little bit of history of the
Military Cross
Since 28th
December 1914 the third-level military decoration, The Military Cross (MC) has
been awarded to officers of the British Armed Forces. In 1993 a review of the
honours system saw the award granted to other ranks of the British Armed
Forces. The Military Cross is granted
for “an act or acts of exemplary gallantry during active operations against the
enemy on land to all members, of any rank in Our Armed Forces”. Since 1979 the
award can be granted posthumously along with a number of other military awards.
A little bit of battle history
The First
Battle of the Somme, 1918, was officially named by the British Battles
Nomenclature Committee due to much of the ground being fought over being
wilderness left from the 1916 Battle of the Somme. The battle saw the beginning of the end of
the First World War when the offensive failed. Although reinforcements arrived
in France from the United States of America to give aid and replace the Entente
casualties, the German Army were already unable to recover from their losses.
The offensive known as Operation Michael were unable to achieve their aim and
the German advance was reversed in the Allied Hundred Days Offensive in the
Second Battle for Somme 1918.
Operation
Michael began its Spring offensive on 21st March 1918, it was a First World War
German military operation; launching from the Hindenburg Line, in the vicinity
of Saint-Quentin, France. Once they had broken through Allied lines, they aimed
to advance north-west and seize the Channel ports, hoping to drive the British
Expeditionary Force (BEF) into the sea. Ludendorff however made a change to
this plan and two days later pushed for an offensive due west, along the whole
of the British front north of the River Somme. His intention was to separate
the British and French Armies, crushing the British forces into the sea. At
Villers-Bretonneux, the offensive came to an end, the Entente were able to stop
the German advance east of the Allied communications centre at Amiens; having
suffered many casualties at this point the German armies were unable to
continue supplying the advancing troops.
A very
rare and stylish 1930’s enamel and chrome Bahamas Automobile club badge, with
enamelled crown motif, and central detail of a galleon at sea with legend,
‘Expulsis-Piratis-Resti-Tuta-Commercia’, translating to ‘Pirates Expelled –
Commerce Restored’.
