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Auction: 20003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 242

A Great War C.M.G., D.S.O. and Bar group of eight awarded to Brigadier-General Arthur Richard Careless Sanders, General Staff, late Royal Engineers and 1st Battalion, Essex Regiment, who was killed in action on 20 September 1918

The Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, C.M.G., Companion’s neck Badge, silver-gilt and enamel, with neck riband, in Garrard, London case of issue; Distinguished Service Order, G.V.R., with Second Award Bar (loose upon section of riband), silver-gilt and enamel, complete with integral top riband bar, in Garrard, London case of issue; India General Service 1908-35, 1 clasp, North West Frontier 1908 (Captn. A. R. C. Sanders. R.E.), an erasure after unit; 1914 Star (Major A. R. C. Sanders. R.E.); British War and Victory Medals (Brig. Gen. A. R. C. Sanders.); Delhi Durbar 1911 (Capt. A. R. C. Sanders, R.E.), engraved naming; France, Legion of Honour, Officer’s breast Badge, gold and enamel, with rosette on ribbon, in Aucoc, Paris case of issue, together with his Great War Bronze Memorial Plaque (Arthur Richard Careless Sanders), in its card envelope of issue with Buckingham Palace enclosure, good very fine (9)

D.S.O. London Gazette 3 June 1916.

Second Award Bar to D.S.O. London Gazette 2 December 1918.

‘Major and Brevet Lieut-Colonel, Royal Engineers, attached 1st Battn. Essex Regt.

For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He led his battalion with great courage and determination in an attack, capturing and consolidating all his objectives in spite of heavy fire. It was due to his initiative that a battery of enemy guns in front of the objective was captured. His personal influence and good leadership were largely responsible for the success achieved by the battalion.’

M.I.D. London Gazette 22 June 1915, 15 June 1916 & 4 January 1917.

Arthur Richard Careless Sanders was born on 20 January 1877. Entering the Army, he was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers on 18 January 1897. Advanced to Lieutenant in January 1900 and Captain in January 1906, he served on the North West Frontier of India during 1908. Serving in the Great War, he was promoted to Major in October 1914 and received the brevet of Lieutenant-Colonel in June 1915. For his service as a General Staff Officer he was awarded the D.S.O. and the French Legion of Honour. Promoted to Brigadier-General, on 9 September 1918 he took over command of the 50th Brigade of the 17th (Northern) Division in France. Commanding his Brigade in the advance from the Canal du Nord to the Selle, Brigadier-General Sanders was killed in action on 20 September 1918. In the early morning he went up to inspect the posts at the front in the vicinity of the Quentin Redoubt, a position which had been captured the day before. After daylight he was returning to his Brigade H.Q. when he was struck by machine-gun fire from Gouzeaucourt which hit him in the back and killing him immediately. He was buried in the Five Points Cemetery, Lechelle, Pas de Calais, France. After his death the London Gazette announced the award of a Bar to his D.S.O. for service as a Lieutenant-Colonel with the 1st Battalion Essex Regiment. Aged 41 years at the time of his death; he was the son of Richard Careless Sanders (late Indian Medical Service) and Margaret Cramer Sanders of ‘Holmbush’, Barcombe, Lewes, Sussex. A stained glass window, in his memory and that of Richard Careless Sanders (died 30 December 1914) and Barbara Allen Springett Michie (died 15 December 1919) was raised at St Mary's, Ringmer. He is also commemorated upon the Barcombe Memorial and the Officers of Staff College Quetta Plaque at Staff College, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. The 1st Battalion, Essex Regiment also commissioned a silver model to be presented to Mrs Sanders ' in the affectionate memory' of the late Brigadier-General; sold together with pair of miniature dress Medals (IGS 1908 and Delhi Durbar 1911), copied Legion of Honour bestowal document, named to ‘Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel A. R. C. Sanders, R.E., General Staff Officer 2nd Grade, 3rd Armee Britannique.’, dated 17 January 1917; with associated document; together with riband bar, a number of badges and research.

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Sold for
£6,500

Starting price
£2600