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Auction: 19001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 772

'Nacelle completely smashed. All longerons smashed, undercarriage smashed, tail booms smashed, all planes smashed'. Report on Casualties to Personnel and Machines refers.

Pair: 2nd Lieutenant N. Hargreaves, Royal Flying Corps, late East Lancashire Regiment, who was killed on escort duty when the De Havilland Scout which he was piloting developed engine trouble - In endeavouring to turn, his aeroplane nose-dived into the ground

British War and Victory Medals (Lieut. N. Hargreaves.), the second with traces of glue residue to reverse, otherwise extremely fine (2)

Norman Hargreaves was the son of William Rae Hargreaves and lived at Mayfield, Preston New Road, Blackburn, Lancaster. He attended Loretto School, where he served as a Lance Corporal in the Officer Training Corps. After leaving Loretto in the summer of 1912 and having studied for the Army Certificate 'A', he was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the 4th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment on 14 October 1914, and served at Gallipoli from July 1915. The 1/4th Battalion War Diary entry for 11 August 1915 gives details of his exploits:

'2/Lt. Hargreaves and Machine Gun Section did good work with 29th Division and practically held a frontage of 100 yards with the only gun, all through the day of the tenth. In the Vineyard we were more or less under a good fire all day, but held on and improved fire parapet. Bodies thrown over parapet and buried.'

According to the Regimental historian, whilst at the Vineyard the men "suffered severely" as it was impossible to get to them either food or water; Hargreaves developed enteric fever and was evacuated.

In June 1916, Hargreaves transferred to the Royal Flying Corps and commenced Pilot training. Posted to No. 29 Squadron in France, he piloted one of 6 machines which engaged 3 hostile aircraft on the morning of 23 November 1916. That afternoon, having taken off at 2.05 pm., tragedy struck, and Hargreaves was killed just outside the aerodrome, damage of the impact exemplified by the casualty report. He was buried at Habarcq Communal Cemetery Extension and is commemorated upon the St John's Church Memorial, Blackburn; sold with extensive research including War Diary entries and reports from the Squadron Record Book.


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Estimate
£300 to £400