Previous Lot Next Lot

Auction: 7022 - Orders, Decorations, Medals & Militaria
Lot: 423

A Great War 1917 ´Battle of Cambrai´ M.M. to Sergeant G.G. Latham, 36th Company, Machine Gun Corps, Late Royal Fusiliers; His Company Was Present in the Action That Their Commanding Officer, Lieutenant-Colonel N.B. Elliott-Cooper, Won The Victoria Cross, 30th November 1917 Military Medal, G.V.R. (20248 Sjt: G.G. Latham. 36/Coy. M.G.C.), pawn broker´s mark in obverse field, good very fine Estimate £ 350-450 M.M. London Gazette 19.3.1918 20248 Sjt. G.G. Latham, M.G. Corps (Silversale) The War Diary report, dated 11.1.1918, states: ´for bravery in the Cambrai operations.´ V.C. London Gazette 13.2.1918 Capt. (T./Lt.-Col.) Neville Bowes Elliott-Cooper, D.S.O., M.C., R. Fus. ´For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty. Hearing that the enemy had broken through our outpost line, he rushed out of his dug-out, and on seeing them advancing across the open he mounted the parapet and dashed forward calling upon the Reserve Company and details of Battalion Headquarters to follow. Absolutely unarmed, he made straight for the advancing enemy, and under his direction our men forced them back 600 yards. While still some forty yards in front he was severely wounded. Realising that his men were greatly outnumbered and suffering heavy casualties, he signalled to them to withdraw, regardless of the fact that he himself must be taken prisoner. By his prompt and gallant leading he gained time for the reserves to move up and occupy the line of defence.´ 20248 Sergeant George G. Latham, M.M., enlisted as 10271 Private, Royal Fusiliers; served in France from 31.5.1915; advanced to Sergeant; transferred 36th Company, Machine Gun Corps on its formation as part of 12th (Eastern Division), 1.2.1916, and won his Military Medal during the Battle of Cambrai, 1917: ´The German attack by 190 Reserve Regiment was far too strong for the depleted Brigade to hold, and the men withdrew into the defences around La Vacquerie; in the process a number of men of 9/ Royal Fusiliers were taken prisoner when Bleak House fell. 8/ Royal Fusiliers, holding a position on both sides of the road, were in desperate situation by mid-morning. The two leading companies were crushed by the enemy attacks, and attempts to reinforce them by a third company were met with sustained machine-gun fire which left them stranded on open ground. The Commanding Officer, Lieutenant-Colonel N.B. Elliott-Cooper, D.S.O., M.C., gathered his Headquarters staff and his remaining company and charged over the main road, pushing the enemy beyond the crest., With this respite, it was possible to gather the residue of the battalion and withdraw to La Vacquerie and there join with 7/ Suffolks. With eleven machine-guns from the 36th Machine Gun Company, a defensive line facing east was established. Elliott-Cooper´s charge had been truly heroic- and, perhaps more to the point, successful. However, he was severely wounded in the attack; he was sufficiently aware to order the withdrawal to La Vacquerie, but he was to die of his wounds three months later, when he was a Prisoner of War. This gallant officer had already won the D.S.O. and M.C.; to this was to be added the V.C. He is buried in Hamburg.´

Sold for
£450