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Auction: 15002 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals and Militaria
Lot: 28

An Outstanding Family Group:
A Great War 1916 'Somme' M.M. Group of Four to Company Sergeant Major R.G. Kirby, Bedfordshire Regiment, Killed in Action 26.7.1917
a) Military Medal, G.V.R. (9517 Sjt. R.G. Kirby, 2/Bed. R.)
b) 1914 Star, with Bar (9517 L. Cpl. R.G. Kirby, Bedf. R.)
c) British War and Victory Medals (9517 W.O. Cl. 2. R.G. Kiby Bedf. R.), extremely fine, with two named card boxes of issue

A Great War Group of Three to Sergeant F. Kirby, Royal Artillery, Who Died of Wounds 8.8.1917
1914-15 Star (36083 Gnr. F. Kirby R.G.A.); British War and Victory Medals (36083 A. Sjt. F. Kirby R.A.), extremely fine, with three named card boxes of issue

A Great War Group of Four to Private C. Kirby, Royal Marine Light Infantry, Killed in Action Whilst Serving in the 1st Royal Marine Battalion, Royal Naval Division, 26.10.1917
1914-15 Star (PLY. 10040 Pte. C. Kirby R.M.L.I.); British War and Victory Medals (PLY. 10040 Pte. C. Kirby R.M.LI.); Royal Navy Long Service & G.C., G.V.R. (PLY. 10040 Private C. Kirby R.M.L.I.), extremely fine, with two named card boxes of issue

Four: Major R. Kirby, Bedfordshire Home Guard, Late Suffolk Regiment
1914-15 Star (2458 Pte. R. Kirby Suff. R.); British War and Victory Medals (2458 Sjt. R. Kirby Suff. R.); Defence Medal, privately engraved 'Major R. Kirby, 6th Bedfs. H.G.', good very fine (15)

The four men listed here were all brothers, and part of a family who had seven brothers that served with the armed forces during the Great War. This extraordinary circumstance was reported to King George V, and a letter was written on his behalf to their Mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Kirby, of No. 33 Alan Road, Ipswich. The letter was published as a special feature on the local paper, The Suffolk Chronicle and Mercury, on 14.1.1916:

'Madam, I have the honour to inform you that the King has heard with much interest that you have at the present moment seven sons serving in His Majesty's Forces. I am commanded to express to you the King's congratulations, and to assure you that His Majesty much appreciates the spirit of patriotism which prompted this example, in one family, of loyalty and devotion to their Sovereign and Empire.'

Tragically in just over a year after this letter had been published, three of the seven brothers had died during a 12 week period, as a result of action with the enemy.

M.M. London Gazette 16.11.1916 9517 Sjt. R.G. Kirby, Bedf. R.

9517 Company Sergeant Major Robert Gladstone Kirby, M.M., born Felixstowe, Suffolk; served during the Great War with the 2nd Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment on the Western Front from 6.10.1914; wounded at Neuve Chapelle, March 1915; later re-joined his unit and was awarded the M.M., almost certainly as result of bravery on the Somme, July 1916; killed in action, 26.7.1917, when his party was returning to Chateau Segard and was hit by a shell near "Bedford House"; he is buried in Bedford House Cemetery, France.

36083 Sergeant Frank Kirby, born Walton, near Ipswich, Suffolk; served during the Great War in the Egyptian Theatre of War from 2.4.1915; died of wounds whilst serving with the 90th Heavy Battery Royal Garrison Artillery on the Western Front, 8.8.1917, and is buried in the Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension (Nord), France.

PLY10040 Private Caleb Kirby, born Saxmundham, near Ipswich, Suffolk, 1881; enlisted in the Royal Marines, November 1899; awarded Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, 14.7.1915, by which stage he was serving in the Royal Naval Division; killed in action on the Western Front, 26.10.1917, whilst serving in the 1st Royal Marine Battalion R.N.D., and is buried in the Ancre British Cemetery, Beaumont-Hamel, France.

Major Reginald Kirby, served during the Great War with the Suffolk Regiment on the Western Front from 18.4.1915 and was later commissioned into the Home Guard.

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Estimate
£1,800 to £2,200