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Auction: 23003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 267

(x) '‘Dear Sir,

Of course you have already heard of the death of 2nd Lieut. W. D. Tull on March 25th last.
Being at present in command of “C” Co.- (the Captain was wounded)- allows me to say how popular he was throughout the Battalion. He was brave & conscientious; he had been recommended for the Military Cross, & had certainly earned it; the Commanding Officer had every confidence in him, & he was liked by the men.

Now he has paid the supreme sacrifice “Pro Patria”; the Battn. & Company have lost a faithful Officer; personally I have lost a friend. Can I say more! Except that I hope those who remain may be as true & faithful as he.

Yours Sincerely
D. H. Pickard 2Lt.’

So wrote Pickard to the family of Walter Tull, a close Battalion comrade and friend.

A Great War ‘Italy operations’ M.C. group of four awarded to 2nd Lieutenant D. H. Pickard, Middlesex Regiment, late 2nd London (City of London) Sanitary Company, Royal Army Medical Corps, a comrade of Walter Tull, former footballer and the first black officer to command white troops in the history of the British Army

Military Cross, G.V.R., the reverse engraved 'D. H. Pickard, 11 Septr. 1918'; 1914-15 Star (1656 Pte. D. H. Pickard, R.A.M.C.); British War and Victory Medals (2. Lieut. D. H. Pickard.), good very fine (4)

M.C. London Gazette 3 June 1918.

Donald Henry Pickard was born at Hereford, Herefordshire on 17 November 1888, the son of Frederick and Alice Pickard. Educated at St. Peter’s School, Hereford he later worked as a Builder’s Assistant and Assistant Sanitary Inspector. He therefore joined the 2nd London (City of London) Sanitary Company on the outbreak of the Great War on 5 September 1914 (No. 1656).

Embarking upon the City of Benares at Southampton on 24 December 1914, they arrived at Le Havre on Christmas. He served in France from this point, being appointed Lance Corporal on 18 February 1916. The role of the Sanitary Companies, and their later form the Sanitary Sections, were responsible for trying to improve the Sanitary conditions on the front. This included testing water and bacteriology tests to try and reduce the chances of outbreaks, doubtless a difficult task in the trenches of the Western Front.

Pickard had attempted to gain a commission previously and been rejected, however his second application in 1917 with his permanent address given as ‘attached headquarters The Royal Dragoons, B.E.F.’. He was thence commissioned 2nd Lieutenant on 28 May 1917 with the 6th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment before transferring to the 23rd (Sportsman’s) Battalion.

Joining the Battalion in Italy it was here that he met Walter Tull and served with him on the unit’s return to France. He was still serving alongside Tull when the latter met his death in action on 25 March during the First Battle of Bapaume. Both he and Major Poole, commanding the Battalion, wrote letters of condolence to Tull’s family, with Pickard’s stating:

‘Dear Sir,

Of course you have already heard of the death of 2nd Lieut. W. D. Tull on March 25th last.
Being at present in command of “C” Co.- (the Captain was wounded)- allows me to say how popular he was throughout the Battalion. He was brave & conscientious; he had been recommended for the Military Cross, & had certainly earned it; the Commanding Officer had every confidence in him, & he was liked by the men.

Now he has paid the supreme sacrifice “Pro Patria”; the Battn. & Company have lost a faithful Officer; personally I have lost a friend. Can I say more! Except that I hope those who remain may be as true & faithful as he.

Yours Sincerely
D. H. Pickard 2Lt.’

Promoted Lieutenant before the end of the war Pickard ended the conflict in Netley Hospital, having caught Trench fever, he resigned his commission on 15 April 1919. Moving to London he settled his family at 169 Clarence Road, Wimbledon and took up work as a Sanitary Inspector with the local council. He died at Cheltenham, Gloucestershire on 22 November 1983; sold together with copied research including London Gazette extract and MIC.

Subject to 5% tax on Hammer Price in addition to 20% VAT on Buyer’s Premium.

Sold for
£1,100

Starting price
£600