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Auction: 18003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 395

(x) A rare Great War Greek Medal of Military Merit group of four awarded to Private P. McGregor, Lovat's Scouts, afterwards Cameron Highlanders, who was decorated for displaying 'enormous zeal and great coolness under fire' at the battle of Tumbitsa in December 1916

1914-15 Star (2257 Pte. P. McGregor, 1-Lovat's Scts.); British War and Victory Medals (2257 Pte. P. McGregor, 1-Lovat's Scts.); Greece, Medal of Military Merit, 4th class (1916-17), bronze, together with the recipient's Lovat's Scouts' cap badge, generally very fine (5)

Approximately 210 Greek Medals for Military Merit were issued to the British Army in the Great War, 95 of them as 4th class awards; the above example is one of just two such awards to Lovat's Scouts.

Peter McGregor enlisted in the 1/1st Lovat Scouts Yeomanry at Fort William in the Highlands in September 1914. Embarked for Gallipoli, he landed at Suvla and saw action on the peninsula until be evacuated to Malta with sciatica at the end of the year.

On his recovery, he re-joined his unit in Macedonia, where he was attached to a Greek Battalion and won his Medal of Military Merit for gallant deeds at the battle of Tumbitsa in December 1916 (London Gazette 17 October 1917). Mention of his distinction is to be found in The Story of the Lovat Scouts 1900-1980, by Michael Melville:

'The Scouts had 118 casualties, 28 were killed and 90 wounded … Privates P. McGregor and D. H. Duncan were awarded the Greek Medal for bravery under fire, while acting as telephone operators to the Greek Battalion. The citation said they had behaved avec toute ardeur et grand sang froid en zone bombarde. They were the first British soldiers to win this award.'

McGregor subsequently became a soldier in the newly formed 10th (Lovat's Scouts) Battalion, Cameron Highlanders and was embarked for France in July 1918. He was demobilised in late March 1919; sold with copied research, including the recipient's service record and War Office correspondence concerning his Greek award; he finally received the Medal and certificate in June 1924.


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Sold for
£700