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Auction: 23111 - Orders, Decorations and Medals - e-Auction
Lot: 362

'At 3 p.m. orders were received that the trenches must be taken "at all costs". Colonel Peebles now decided that a bayonet charge was the only way of carrying out his orders.'

(The heroic bayonet charge carried out by the 2nd Norfolks at Shaiba, The History of the Norfolk Regiment, refers)

A 'Battle of Shaiba' casualty's Victory Medal awarded to Private S. Frances, 2nd Battalion Norfolk Regiment

Victory Medal 1914-1919 (8617. Pte. S. Francis. Norf. R.), polished, very fine

Samuel Francis was born at Thornham, Norfolk and enlisted at Norwich on 27 March 1909. Discharged to the Special Reserve on 26 February 1912 as a result of 'defective teeth' but re-enlisted two days later. Stationed with the 2nd Battalion on the outbreak of the Great War Francis entered the war in Mesopotamia on 15 November 1914 (Star).

A few months later the battalion was engaged in the Battle of Shaiba, the Ottoman attempt to retake Basra. They faced heavy fighting throughout the Battle between 12-14 April but none so heavy as the final day. The Battalion advanced on Ottoman lines but suffering heavy losses were forced to dig in, ordered to take the enemy lines 'at all costs' their commander Colonel Peebles ordered a bayonet charge. So fierce was this attack that it broke through the resistance and forced the Ottoman troops to run. Colonel Peebles use of his sword during the action is credited by some sources as the last time an officers sword was used in action. Francis was one of 29 other ranks killed in the fighting, he is buried in the Basra War Cemetery; sold together with typed research and copied research comprising Commonwealth War Graves certificate and a Soldiers Died in the Great War entry.

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Sold for
£45

Starting price
£30