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Auction: 19001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 760

Pair: Lieutenant E. W. A. G. Middlecote, Royal Air Force, late King's Royal Rifle Corps and Cameron Highlanders, who was the subject of a Court of Enquiry having been wounded in the trenches in 1915 - he was later lost in action whilst on a reconnaissance flight

1914-15 Star (3282. Pte. E. Middlecote, Cam'n Highrs.); British War Medal 1914-20 (2. Lieut. E. W. A. G. Middlecote. R.A.F.), reverse of first with traces of glue to reverse, good very fine (2)

Edwin William Alfred George Middlecote was born on 26 October 1896 at Bristol, the son of Edwin Middleton, domestic coachman and later proprietor of the Derby Hotel, Burton-on-Trent. Educated at the Board & Grammar School, Burton-on-Trent, he enlisted in the 3/4th Battalion, Cameron Highlanders at Inverness on 3 May 1915, initially serving as Clerk to the Company Quartermaster Sergeant.

Departing Inverness on 7 September 1915, Middlecote arrived in France four days later to join the 1/4th Cameron Highlanders near Loos. On 6 October 1915, he received a bullet wound which resulted in a compound fracture at the base of the second finger on his left hand - there being doubt as to the nature of the origin of the wound, a Court of Enquiry was held at Le Preol on 8 October. Giving the fourth statement of evidence, Middlecote explained how he was ordered to fetch water by the Corporal in charge of No. 3 machine gun, and the circumstances as they unfolded:

'In going down the communications trench I thought I would take a short cut across the open, but I had scarcely got out of the trench when I was hit. I fell back into the trench and heard the bullet penetrate the can. I jumped back into the communication trench and ran down it.'

Having heard the evidence, including that of Lieutenant W. S. Baird, Royal Army Medical Corps, who testified that the size of the wound corresponded with a shot from long range, the Medical Board and Court concurred that Middlecote was wounded by an enemy bullet - he was sent to the Military Hospital at Carrington, Nottingham to recuperate for two months.

Declared fit, Middleton was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the King's Royal Rifle Corps, serving with the 5th and 16th Battalions and commanding 'B' Company from 22 April 1918.

On 8 November 1917, the Burton Observer announced the award of the Military Cross to Middlecote, stating in a later edition how he won it capturing a German pillbox. It also announced his being mentioned in a despatch in August 1917 - both remain unconfirmed, despite the placing of 'M.C.' after his name on the memorial plaque in Burton Town Hall.

In June 1918, Middlecote transferred to the Royal Air Force and following 8 weeks of training was posted as an Observer to No. 25 Squadron in France. On 3 October 1918, his D.H.4., piloted by Sergeant Frederick P. Clarke, went missing on a reconnaissance mission over Maubeuge, having taken off at 3.15 pm. Both were never seen again - reported as 'missing' over the following weeks and months, they were officially declared dead in January 1919, as being killed or having died of wounds on 3 October 1918. Both airmen are now buried in adjoining graves in the Rumilly-en-Cambresis Communal Cemetery Extension near Cambrai; sold with extensive copied research including MIC, Court of Enquiry, war diary entries and cap badges for the Cameron Highlanders, K.R.R.C. and R.A.F.


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Sold for
£230