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Auction: 323 - The Numismatic Collector's Series Sale
Lot: 760

The C.B., Great War C.M.G., D.S.O. Group of Ten to Major-General Cuthbert Lucas, Royal Berkshire Regiment, Who Commanded the 87th Infantry Brigade During the Great War and was Eight Times Mentioned in Despatches; Appointed Brigade Commander, 16th Infantry Brigade, Irish Command, He Was Kidnapped By the Irish Republican Army, 26.6.1920 and Held Captive For Over A Month, Before Making A Daring Escape, 30.7.1920, The Only General Officer to be Kidnapped by the I.R.A. and Subsequently Escape
a) The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Military Division, Companion's (C.B.) neck Badge, silver-gilt and enamel, with neck riband
b) The Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, Companion's (C.M.G.) neck Badge, silver-gilt and enamel, with neck riband
c) Distinguished Service Order, G.V.R., silver-gilt and enamel, with integral top riband bar
d) Queen's South Africa 1899-1902, three clasps, Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal (Lieut. C.H.T. Lucas. Rl. Berks: Rgt.)
e) King's South Africa 1901-02, two clasps (Lt. C.H.T. Lucas. Rl. Berk. Rgt.)
f) 1914 Star, with Bar (Capt: C.H.T. Lucas. R. Berks: R.)
g) British War and Victory Medals, M.I.D. Oak Leaves (Maj. Gen. C.H.T. Lucas.)
h) France, Third Republic, Legion of Honour, Officer's breast Badge, silver-gilt and enamel, with rosette on riband
i) France, Republic, Croix de Guerre, reverse dated 1914-1917, bronze, with bronze palm on riband, generally very fine or better, the group mounted for display purposes, together with two photographs of the recipient (10)

C.B. London Gazette 1.1.1921 Colonel (temp. Col. Commandant) Cuthbert Henry Tindall Lucas, C.M.G., D.S.O., Brigade Commander, 16th Infantry Brigade, Irish Command.

C.M.G. London Gazette 3.6.1918 Maj. and Bt. Lt.-Col. (T./Brig.-Gen.) Cuthbert Henry Tindall Lucas, D.S.O., R. Berks. R.
'For services rendered in connection with Military Operations in France and Flanders.'

D.S.O. London Gazette 1.1.1917 Maj. and Bt. Lt.-Col. (temp. Brig.-Gen.) Cuthbert Henry Tindall Lucas, R. Berks. R.
'For distinguished service in the field.'

Major-General Cuthbert Henry Tindall Lucas, C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O. was born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, in March 1879, and was educated at Marlborough College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Commissioned Second Lieutenant into the Royal Berkshire Regiment in May 1898, he served with the Regiment in the Boer War, and was present during operations in the Cape Colony, including the actions at Colesberg in January 1900; in the Orange Free State, March to May 1900; in the Orange River Colony, May to July 1900; and in the Transvaal, July to November 1900, including the action at Zilikats Nek. Promoted Lieutenant in August 1900, he was next employed with the West African Frontier Force from December 1900 to June 1901, and subsequently with the Egyptian Army and Sudan Civil Service, April 1905 to April 1909. Promoted Captain, April 1909, he served during the Great War in a number of staff jobs on both the Western Front from the 9th August 1914, and at Gallipoli from the 25th April 1915, including as Brigade Commander of the 87th Infantry Brigade, and Divisional Commander, 4th Division, British Armies in France. For his service during the Great War he was eight times Mentioned in Despatches (London Gazettes 17.2.1915, 5.11.1915, 28.1.1916, 13.7.1916, 4.1.1917, 20.5.1918, 20.12.1918, and 5.7.1919); appointed a Companion of both the Order of St. Michael and St. George and the Distinguished Service Order; awarded the Brevets of Major, Lieutenant-Colonel, and Colonel; and received the French Legion of Honour and Croix de Guerre.

Capture of General Lucas
Appointed Brigade Commander of the 16th Infantry Brigade, Irish Command, on the 30th October 1919, Lucas was based at Fermoy Barracks, where, on the 26th June 1920, he decided to allow himself some relaxation by going fishing. 'An outrage of extraordinary daring and lawlessness was committed at Castletownroche, Co. Cork, just before midnight. Brigadier-General Lucas and Colonels Danford and Tyrrell, of the Clonmel military area, had rented a fishing on the Blackwater, and occupied a tent near the river about four miles from Fermoy. Suddenly a band of armed and disguised men surrounded the ten and, rushing in, placed revolvers to the heads of the officers, who, being unarmed and taken by surprise, were arrested in the name of the Irish Republic. The raiders, who had arrived in two motorcars, took possession of General Lucas's own car and set off with their prisoners in the direction of Cork. Soon afterwards Colonel Danford made a courageous but unsuccessful attempt to escape. The prisoners had not been bound in any way, and, seizing a moment when his captors' eyes were not upon him, he jumped out and ran in a direction opposite to that in which the cars were travelling at a fairly high speed. There was an order to halt, and the republicans opened fire on Colonel Danford, who after a few rounds fell prostrate on the highway, with serious wounds in the head and shoulder. Observing his serious condition the raiders took counsel and decided to liberate Colonel Tyrrell, so that he could attend to his wounded fellow-officer. The raiders left them on the roadside and drove away with General Lucas to an unknown destination, which in republican parlance means an improvised prison. Colonels Tyrrell and Danford were discovered some hours later and taken to the military hospital at Fermoy. Military and police are scouring the district, but at the time of writing no news is to hand of General Lucas or of his audacious captors.' (The Times, 28.6.1920 refers).

'Since Sunday morning the military stationed in Fermoy have been searching the countryside for General Lucas, who, as recorded yesterday, was kidnapped by Sinn Feiners at Kilbarry, Co. Cork, on Saturday night. All the roads are patrolled, and aeroplanes are scouting in every direction, but up to this evening no trace had been found of the captured officer. A telegram from Fermoy this afternoon states that soldiers who were infuriated by the capture of General Lucas and the other officers turned out last night and wrecked a number of houses in the principal part of the town. Nearly 400 soldiers were engaged, and it is stated that there was some looting.' (The Times, 29.6.1920 refers). Whilst held in captivity Lucas was moved from location to location, never being held for more than three or four days in any one place, and always with a Brigade or Battalion Commandant in charge of him. He was well looked after, with his treatment being correct in accordance with the rules of war for an officer of his rank. On one occasion he mentioned to his captors that he would like a game of tennis, and 'rackets, balls, a lawn mower, a roller, and nets were immediately commandeered and a court manufactured.'

The General's Escape
'According to a circumstantial story received in Dublin from Tipperary, General Lucas has escaped from captivity, and is at present at Tipperary military barracks little the worse for his experiences, since he was taken prisoner by the Sinn Feiners at Fermoy on the 26th June, or the still more thrilling circumstances of his escape. General Lucas is not sure of the whereabouts of his prison, but early this morning he managed to remove the bars from the window of his room, and got away in the darkness. He wandered for some hours across country, and at about 9 o'clock he had the good fortune to intercept a military lorry on the main road between Limerick and Limerick Junction. The general was wearing civilian clothes and a soft hat, and the soldiers in the lorry were greatly surprised when they learned who he was. The lorry continued its journey until, at a point about half a mile on the Tipperary side of Oola, close by a farm gate, its progress was arrested by a felled tree. A car pulled up and a volley was fired by men in ambush. The soldiers left the lorry and returned the fire. During the fighting, which continued for about half an hour, two soldiers were shot dead, and three wounded, one of them seriously. The military state that at least three of the attackers, Republican Volunteers, were hit. While the fight was in progress a second lorry appeared, followed by six armed police from Oola. The ambushing party retreated, and the dead and wounded were taken away in lorries, while the military parties proceeded to Tipperary. General Lucas had a slight scratch over one eye, apparently caused during the fight, but is otherwise uninjured. Rain fell in torrents all night, and General Lucas had great difficulty in making his way through the fields and across hedges. His tattered clothing and bedraggled appearance show the ordeal he had undergone.' (The Times, 31.7.1920 refers).

After his month-long captivity and daring escape, the latter made possible by the fact that his captors were, ironically, busy with preparations for the ambush on the very same military lorry in which he escaped, Lucas stayed in Ireland until October 1923, before returning to England as Assistant Adjutant General, Aldershot Command. Promoted Major-General in March 1929, he retired in 1932 to Hertfordshire, where he served as a Deputy Lieutenant and a Justice of the Peace before his death in April 1958.

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