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Auction: 13001 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals and Militaria
Lot: 423

Great War Bronze Memorial Plaque (Percy William Cullington), nearly extremely fine, with card holder and Buckingham Palace enclosure

R/16698 Rifleman Percy William Cullington, born Wood Green, Middlesex; served with the 21st (Yeoman Rifles) Battalion King´s Royal Rifle Corps during the Great War; killed in action on the Western Front, 15.9.1916, on which date the Battalion took part in the attack of Flers: ´The 41st Division attacked with two brigades. In the 124th Brigade, on the right, the 10th Queens´ and 21st K.R.R.C. led. The attack started well, some of the men pressing on so eagerly that they were killed or wounded by the creeping barrage. At first there was little resistance, Tea Support having been so shattered by the bombardment that those of its defenders who remained alive had little heart for fighting. The Switch Line (first objective) was captured by 07:00 hours, and the consolidation of the position was put in hand. At 07:20 hours the advance to the second objective, Flers Trench, began. This was taken half an hour later after some fighting, and parties of the brigade then pushed onto the third objective. Having initially been driven back, at 15:20 hours about 200 men of the 124th Brigade- mostly 10th Queens and 21st K.R.R.C., led by the commanders of these battalions, Lieutenant-Colonels R. Oakley and the Earl of Faversham, made a fresh advance on the third objective. This advance reached the western end of Bulls Road, where Lord Faversham was killed, but attempts to advance against the Gird trenches were driven back by machine-gun fire´ (Official History of the War refers). The 21st K.R.R.C. suffered heavy casualties during the day, including the Battalion´s founder and Commanding Officer, the Earl of Faversham, two other Officers, and 54 men killed, and 10 Officers and 256 men wounded. Lord Faversham´s body was later recovered and buried by Second Lieutenant R.A. Eden, 21st K.R.R.C., the future Prime Minister. Cullington´s body, if found, was not identified, and he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, France.

Sold for
£110