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Auction: 25113 - Orders, Decorations and Medals - e-Auction
Lot: 155

(x) British War Medal 1914-20 (2) (Capt. C. F. Nicholas.; Lieut. H. W. S. Gristi. R.N.R.), signs of lacquering but otherwise about very fine

Cecil F Nicholas initially enlisted into the 1st Battalion, Royal Scots as a Lieutenant before he transferred into the Royal Army Medical Corps. He served at Gallipoli from August 1915 and was further entitled to the 1914-15 Star and the Victory Medal.

Nicholas' address on his medal index card reads 'Caledonia Estate, Nibong [T]ebal, P.W., Straits Settlement'. The house was set up by the Ramsden family, a wealthy British family who moved to Malaysia to set up sugar cane plantations. By the 1880s, the sugar cane business was going into decline and instead the family moved towards the rubber plantation business. The house became famous in Malaysia when the final owner, John St Maur Ramsden, was mysteriously murdered on his balcony in 1948. The house gained the nickname '99-Door Mansion' because every room in the house had around 5-6 doors each. Since the 1960s the house has been neglected and has fallen into disrepair, especially after a fire broke out in 2020, the origin of which remains unknown. Nicholas' connection to the house and surrounding 51,000 acre estate is not known.

Herbert Wentworth Stanley Grist was born on 21 July 1890 and enlisted into the Royal Naval Reserve. He enlisted as a temporary sub lieutenant on 15 December 1914 before being promoted to acting lieutenant on 8 June 1916. His final promotion to temporary lieutenant was on 6 December 1916. He was awarded the Silver War Badge on 1 October 1919 because he was declared medically unfit for service due to his hypermetropia (long-sightedness).

Subject to 5% tax on Hammer Price in addition to 20% VAT on Buyer’s Premium.

Estimate

Starting price
£30