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Auction: 22133 - Orders, Decorations and Medals - e-Auction
Lot: 585

The campaign group of three awarded to Private N. W. Player, 1/4th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment, who won the D.C.M. for gallantry in the trenches near Nasiriyah, Mesopotamia, on 24 July 1915

1914-15 Star (1942 Pte. N. W. Player. Hamps. R.); British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leaves (1942 Pte. N. W. Player. Hamps. R.), good very fine (3)

[D.C.M.] London Gazette 9 October 1915:

‘For conspicuous bravery on the 24th July, 1915, near Nasiriyah (Mesopotamia). Private Player was one of the two first to enter the enemy’s trenches in advance of his Regiment, and his courage and devotion to duty set a fine example to all ranks.’

M.I.D. London Gazette 5 April 1916.

Norman W. Player was born in 1894 and served in Mesopotamia with the 1/4th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment from 18 March 1915. Landing at Basra they were initially employed north of the city on steamers on the River Euphrates, operating against Turkish lines of communications.

The first assault on Nasiriyah, 28 miles up the Euphrates from Amara, followed on 14 July, when their boats failed. A second attempt - when Player earned his laurels - was made on 24 July, with the 1/4th Hampshires in the thick of the fighting in temperatures that reached 110 Fahrenheit. In one 24-hour period alone, 15 men collapsed with heatstroke, one dying. The Turks eventually withdrew and Nasiriyah was occupied on 25 July. The Hampshires, having suffered 30 per cent casualties, were then taken out of the line and returned to Amara. Just eight officers and 167 men remained fit for duty.

Player was latterly admitted to hospital with Malaria in 1916 and finished the Great War as a Lance-Corporal in the Machine Gun Corps.

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Sold for
£210

Starting price
£70