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Picture courtesy of Spink

QSA (4) Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, South Africa 1901 (13727 Pte. A. E. Southam, R.A.M.C.), the last clasp loose upon riband, with the named lid of box of issue

Spink note that Arthur Edgar Southam was born at Swanwick, Hampshire in 1881 and worked as a fruit grower prior to enlisting on 20 March 1900. Arriving in South Africa he saw serve in a number of states there but caught enteric fever and died at No. 18 General Hospital, Charlestown Natal on 1 March 1901. His cause of death is listed as eczema although this is likely an error; sold together with copied research comprising medal roll, registry of effects as well as an original cutting from the Morning Leader 6 March 1901.

Picture courtesy of Spink

DSO GV;
QSA (3) Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal (Lieut: F. A. Stephens, R.A.M.C.);
KSA (2) (Lt. F. A. Stephens, R.A.M.C.);
1914-15 Star (Major F. A. Stephens. R.A.M.C.);
British War and Victory Medals (Lt. Col. F. A. Stephens.);
Serbia, Kingdom, Order of St. Sava, Officer's 4th Class breast Badge, silver-gilt and enamel

DSO London Gazette 24 March 1915.

Order of St. Sava London Gazette 28 January 1918.

MID London Gazette 17 February 1915.

Frederick Archer Stephens was born at Bridport, Dorset on 5 January 1872, the son of Joseph and Susanne Stephens of Wanderwell House, Bridport. Educated first at Sherbourne School (Price's; 1885-88) he later joined King's College Hospital on 1 October 1888 to study Medicine.

He is listed upon the 1891 census as a medical student whilst living at 41 Guilford Street, St. Pancras, London; despite training in London his qualifications were passed in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Having qualified as a Civil Surgeon, Stephens volunteered for service in the Anglo-Boer War and entered the conflict in that capacity on 11 May 1900. After several months he was officially commissioned Lieutenant with the Royal Army Medical Corps on 14 November 1900, serving attached to the Northamptonshire Regiment, Field Force.

Remaining with this unit, Stephens was stationed first in Gibraltar and later in Edinburgh where he was promoted Captain on 14 November 1903. Appointed Adjutant to the Royal Army Medical School of Instruction on 15 June 1908 he was later also Adjutant of a Territorial Brigade where he had responsibility for organising the original detachment of the V.A.D. Posted to India, Stephens served there for some time before being invalided back to Britain in 1912.

On the outbreak of the Great War he rejoined the Royal Army Medical Corps with the rank of Major and was given command of the Hospital Ship Carisbrooke Castle. This reserve Hospital Ship was the second such vessel commandeered for service in the conflict and assigned the designation 'Hospital Ship No. 2'. In the event she was also one of the first vessels to make the crossing to France in support of the British Expeditionary Force. Stephens was the Medical Officer in command when she first landed on 13 August 1914; Hospital Ship staff were considered to be serving afloat rather than ashore, and as such were only entitled to the 1914-15 Star.

After a year in command of the Carisbrooke Castle, Stephens was awarded the D.S.O. and ordered back to Britain: the Investiture was at Buckingham Palace and it is noted in his obituary in the Bridport News that he was 'among the first twelve officers to be decorated with the DSO'. Carisbrooke Castle was not to be his final active posting and he was next given command of No. 37 General Hospital, attached to the Serbian Army, at Salonika on 15 June 1916.

This was a difficult posting for several reasons - the environment in the Salonika theatre was famously testing. To make matters worse, the unit had no idea where they were to be posted and found themselves with little in the way of necessary supplies. The chaos of the theatre is well summed up by an illuminating anecdote in one newspaper article, which states:

'A Russian soldier was knocked down by an Italian lorry. He was picked up by a French Ambulance, and taken to a British Hospital on Greek territory, run for the benefit of the Serbs. The doctor who attended him was a Canadian, the Sister of the ward Scotch, the orderly Irish, and the means of communication between doctor and patient German. On the staff of the Hospital was a Roumanian doctor, and at the gate an Annamite camp. This is a statement of actual fact which happened at - Hush! here comes the Censor!'

Written in pen beneath this anecdote, doubtless by the recipient is: 'No 37 General Hospital'. Stephens kept his own diary, originally intended as a hospital Log but this soon repurposed to note the importance of their work, with the entry for 1 July 1916 stating:

'Visit from Major Solomon, British Liaison Officer to Serb Army. He was very pleased with the hospital + promised us every help, whereupon gave him a list of essentials already applied for. He says Serbs have 60% sick but all refuse to return to base. They might consent to come as far back as this + he is therefore anxious for us to commence taking patients.'

The next day his diary notes the hospital was bombed by German aircraft resulting in 'much digging for souvenirs'. This carefree attitude was not to last however as technology advanced quickly and the bombing became more effective: a raid the next year on 12 March 1917, saw two Nurses and four Medical Orderlies killed.

Stephens performed admirably at Salonika, earning the Order of St. Sava as recognition of his efforts and appears to have struck up a friendship with Prince (later King) George of Serbia here. His obituary notes:

'During his service there he negotiated with the Rev. A. Milne, M.F.H. of the Cattistock to obtain two couples of hounds for Prince George of Serbia.'

The diary also later notes a visit to the Prince in Paris during a stretch of leave in early 1918. Returning to Salonica in February, his appointments for the last year of the war are unclear but he seems to have served with the 2/1st Northumbrian Field Ambulance, at some stage, being demobilised on 12 January 1919.

With the end of the war Stephens finally returned to his civilian role as a doctor, marrying Inez Glover in January 1922 at St. Pancras, London. Given that both were involved in the medical profession and Stephens had trained in that same area that Glover was raised, it seems likely they had known one another prior to the Great War. He is noted as living at 3 Oxhey Road, Watford in 1930 and was still living in the city in 1939.

After the outbreak of the Second World War the family appears to have moved back to Dorset with Stephens listed in 1942 at Haddon House, Bridport Harbour, Dorset. Joining the Local Defence Volunteers (forerunner to the Home Guard) Stephens was the first of the West Bay Platoon to volunteer. In his spare time he was President and later Secretary of the Bridport and District Hospital League. Stephens was to die at Bridport on 20 February 1960.

Both of his brothers served during the Great War with the eldest, John August Stephens, a Major in the Royal Artillery. The youngest of the three, Sidney Thompson Stephens, was previously a Lieutenant-Commander with the Royal Navy: having retired by the outbreak of war Stephens unusually enlisted as a Private with the 9th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment and won the D.C.M. with them (London Gazette 14 January 1916). Commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, he remained with the Devons to win the M.C. during the Battle of the Somme (London Gazette 26 September 1916) but was sadly killed in action on 9 October 1917.

Sold together with a large archive of original and copied research including:

i) The documents of bestowal for the recipient's D.S.O.
ii) Correspondence including letters from the recipient's family, friends and compatriots.
iii) Photographs and postcards related to the H.M.H.S. Carisbrooke Castle, both annotated by the recipient.
iv) Two newspaper clippings relating to the investiture of the D.S.O.
v) A telegram, in French, confirming the award of the Order of St. Sava.
vi) The Brief Medical History of the War, a typed nine-page document with handwritten annotations, likely by the recipient.
vii) The Log of No. 37 General Hospital, dated between 7 June 1916-25 February 1918.
viii) A collection of letters, newspaper clippings and photographs relating to the recipient's time in Salonica.
ix) Spare riband bars and clasps for the Q.S.A.
x) Copied obituaries from the Bridport News and Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps.

Picture courtesy of Spink

QSA (5) Cape Colony, Tugela Heights, Orange Free State, Relief of Ladysmith, Transvaal (Lieut. T. C. Lauder. R.A.M.C.);
KSA (2) (Capt. T. C. Lauder. M.B. R.A.M.C.);
1914-15 Star (Lt. Col. T. C. Lauder. R.A.M.C.);
British War and Victory Medals (Lt. Col. T. C. Lauder.), a little staining to VM, otherwise good very fine, housed in a fitted glazed leather case.

Thomas Campion Lauder was born in Dublin on 8 June 1873, one of ten children of Edmund Stanley Lauder, a pioneering and successful photographer who had opened a daguerreotype studio in Dublin in 1853. His brother was James Stack Lauder, who used the professional name of James Lafayette, under which name in 1880 he founded the famous studio of that name. In adopting the name 'Lafayette', James created a new image for the family business, seeking to prosper from the cachet of a French name: Paris was then the centre of the art world and of avant-garde photography in particular.

Lauder was educated at Dublin & Edinburgh Universities and qualified LRCP & SI in 1894 and MB. BCh in 1897. He was commissioned into the Royal Army Medical Corps on 28 January 1899 and served throughout the Boer War in South Africa. Whilst there he was with 12 Bearer Company and also attached to the 1st Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers

Returned home, he continued to qualify and was called upon again at the outbreak of the Great War. Advanced Lieutenant-Colonel on 1 March 1915, he served in the Balkans in this rank from July 1915. His Medals were issued to him at the British Station Hospital, Allalabad and retired on 24 June 1922. Lauder died at Bournemouth on 7 June 1943.

Picture courtesy of Spink

MC GV;
QSA (3) Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal (15342 Pte. M. T. Ascough. R.A.M.C.);
British War and Victory Medals (Major M. T. Ascough.)

MC London Gazette 23 April 1918: 'For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in dressing wounded in the open for forty-eight hours, without sleep or rest, under heavy shell fire, after his shelter had been rendered untenable by four direct hits.'

Matthew Thomas Ascough was born in 1877 at St Thomas', Hyde, Cheshire and was educated at Gildersome College, Yorkshire and Manchester University. Joining the Manchester Company, Volunteer Medical Staff Corps, he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps on 27 March 1901 and embarked for South Africa on 16 April 1901. Returned home on 19 August 1902, by 1909 he went into general practice at Romiley, Cheshire.

With the outbreak of the Great War, he joined was appointed to the 1st North Midland Field Ambulance as a Lieutenant in October 1914 and eventually proceeded to France in February 1917 when the 2/1st North Midland Field Ambulance entrained at Semley Station.

Having firstly been put forward for the MC by Lieutenant-Colonel Dawson in September 1917, he earned his immediate M. for gallantry on 24-27 September at Bearer Relay Post, East of Ypres for assisting the wounded without rest for some three days under heavy fire.

Ascough was to be taken a Prisoner of War on the First Day of the German Spring Offensive, 21 March 1918, when captured at the ADS Brewery, Escourt near Arras. He was confirmed in the rank of Major whilst commanding Sections of the Field Ambulance and was eventually repatriated by October 1918.

Never far from the action, he went aboard the Braemar Castle to Murmansk, in order to treat and bring back the wounded from the North Russian campaign (South African Medical Journal, refers).

Returned home, he was again called into action during the Second World War and was Medical Officer in Command of a Mobile First Aid Unit. Having retired in 1949, he settled with his wife and family in King William's Town, where they opened up a General Practice, with both his wife and son having qualified. District Surgeon at that place on several occasions, Ascough died on 8 August 1952

Picture courtesy of Morton and Eden

DCM GV (11029 Q. M. Sjt: A. Spowage. R.A.M.C.);
QSA (4) Cape Colony, Elandslaagte, Defence of Ladysmith, South Africa 1901 (11029 Pte A. Spowage, R.A.M.C.);
1914 Star, with tailor’s copy clasp ‘5th Aug.-22nd Nov. 1914’ upon ribbon (11029 S. Sjt A. Spowage. R.A.M.C.);
British War and Victory Medals, 1914-1920 and MID (Q.M. & Lieut. A. Spowage.);
Army LS&GC GV (11029 S. Sjt: A. Spowage. R.A.M.C.)

DCM: London Gazette: 30 March, 1915 – ‘for gallant conduct and good work throughout the campaign, especially at Jury, from 13th to 30th September 1914, when he displayed great zeal and devotion to duty in attendance to the wounded’

MID: London Gazette: 20 October, 1914

Quarter Master and Lieutenant Albert Ernest Spowage was born in Ilkeston, Derby c.1878, and having worked previously as a Baker, he attested for service as a Private with the Medical Staff Corps at Derby on 13 March 1896. Redesignated as the Royal Army Medical Corps on 1 July 1898, after an initial period of home service he was sent to serve in South Africa on 23 April 1897, where he would remain for nearly 4 years – including service throughout the Boer War at the Defence of Ladysmith. His entitlement to the clasps ‘Cape Colony’ ‘Defence of Ladysmith’ and ‘South Africa 1901’ are each confirmed in his service papers, but his clasp ‘Elandslaagte’ is not confirmed on the QSA Medal Roll, and is not listed in the book ‘Elandslaagte’ by David Biggins. However, in the comments of the original QSA Medal Roll one case see the annotation ‘Clasp SA 1901 added, 4 issued… 26/1/08’ which suggests that he was issued the 4 clasps listed above.

Promoted to Corporal on 14 May 1901, and to Sergeant on 10 November 1903, he continued to serve with the RAMC at home (19011905), in Malta (1905-1909) and again at home (1909-1914), before being called up for service on the Western Front with the BEF upon the outbreak of hostilities in the Great War. Serving initially as a Staff Sergeant with the 14th Field Ambulance, R.A.M.C., he received an early mention in despatches on 20 October 1914, and later was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal on 30 March 1915. According to an online article on the Nottingham Post website in October 1918, Albert Spowage returned home in 1916 on a period of leave and received his DCM on the steps of the Guildhall from the Mayor of Nottingham, Mr. J.G. Small, with a reported 500 special constables assembled on parade in his honour. After a short speech by the Mayor, Spowage is reported to have replied ‘that there were thousands of his comrades who equally deserved such a reward, adding that “it has been said that the RAMC had a good time of the base and did not go anywhere near the firing line”, but if he could show them of the losses they had suffered, they would realise that this was a totally mistaken impression.’ Contemporary newspapers also state that he was recommended for the award of the French Legion d’Honneur. Spowage was commissioned as Quarter Master with the Honorary rank of Lieutenant on 6 April 1917, and served for just over 21 years in total – receiving an Army Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (award date uncertain). He retired from military service on 1 December 1921.

Sold for a hammer price of GBP 1,700. Totals: GBP 2,098. R 49,010. AUD 3,930. NZD 4,210. CAD 3,490. USD 2,570. EUR 2,370

Picture courtesy of Noonan's

QSA (6) Cape Colony, Tugela Heights, Orange Free State, Relief of Ladysmith, Transvaal, Laing’s Nek (7387 S. Sejt. A. Clarke. R.A.M.C.);
KSA (2) (7387 1st. Cl. S. Serjt: A. Clarke. R.A.M.C.);
Army LS&GC Ed VII (7387 Q.M. Sjt: A. Clarke. R.A.M.C.)