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Auction: 22103 - Orders, Decorations and Medals VII - e-Auction
Lot: 144

The India General Service Medal awarded to Sergeant A. E. Crute, Welch Regiment later Army Service Corps, who was killed - along with his wife and two children - during the Cardiff Blitz, 2 January 1941

India General Service 1908-35, 1 clasp, Waziristan 1921-24 (3948776 Pte. A. E. Crute. Welch R,), very fine

Arthur Ernest Crute was born at Bargoed, Glamorgan, in 1902, the son of Hubert Crute of 4 Mark Street, Cardiff. Enlisting with the 1st Battalion, Welch Regiment on 20 May 1919 he served with them in India, earning his medal for the Waziristan Campaign. Crute was discharged at Shrewsbury upon his return to Britain on 26 December 1924 but soon re-enlisted with the Royal Corps of Signals on 13 February 1925. The outbreak of the Second World War saw him as a Sergeant in the Royal Army Service Corps with a wife and two children.

Crute was on leave on the night of 2-3 January 1941 when a massive bombing raid struck Cardiff. In the onslaught the family decided to remain in their homes rather than make a run for the shelters, unfortunately this was to be a fatal decision. A landmine fell between their home and that of their neighbours on Blackstone Street, killing all of the inhabitants. Crute and his family are remembered upon the Brookwood Memorial; sold together with copied research including census data, Commonwealth War Graves details and typed research as well as casualty lists, printed articles relating to the Cardiff Blitz and an original extract from the South Wales Echo.

For the medals of Constable L. C. Weeks, commended for his work during the raid which killed Sergeant Crute and his family see Lot 616.

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Sold for
£200

Starting price
£40