Award Gallery

Lance-Sergeant Douglas Belcher V.C

Lance-Sergeant Douglas Belcher of the London Rifle Brigade, the first Territorial, other than an officer to receive the Victoria Cross in the First World War. Before the war he was a salesman at Messrs. Waring and Gillow's Oxford Street store.On 13 May 1915, south of the Wieltje-St. Julien Road, Belgium, Belcher was in charge of a portion of an advanced breastwork during continuous bombardment by the enemy. With very few men, Belcher elected to remain and try to hold his position after the troops near him had been withdrawn, and with great skill he succeeded in his objective, opening rapid fire on the enemy, who were only 150-200 yards away, whenever he saw them collecting for an attack. This bold action prevented the enemy breaking through and averted an attack on the flank of one of our divisions. Date: 1915

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans

Roman crowns and wreaths

Crowns of the ancients: radial crowns 1,2, laurel wreaths 3,4, civic crown 5, Obsidionalis (for generals who delivered a town under siege) 6, crenellated Murali (for the first man to cross the wall of a besieged town) 7, Vallaris (for soldiers who stormed enemy camps) 8 and naval coronet (for victories at sea) 9. Handcoloured copperplate engraving by J.B. Hoessel from Friedrich Johann Bertuch's Bilderbuch fur Kinder (Picture Book for Children), Weimar, 1802. Date:

© Florilegius/Mary Evans

British Mediterranean Fleet Sports Day - Prizes

British Mediterranean Fleet Sports Day - Prizes, including the Aggregate Cup (centre) at the Ben-Marl Stadium, rigged up by the crews of the HMS Benbow and the HMS Marlborough of the 4th Battle Squadron. Admiral Sir Osmond de Beauvoir Brock, GCB, KCMG, KCVO (18691947) "spins a bender" - nautical parlance which means "telling a tale" ! HMS Marlborough was an Iron Duke-class battleship of the British Royal Navy, named in honour of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough. Built at Devonport Royal Dockyard between January 1912 and June 1914 and entered service just prior to First World War. Assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet after the war, Marlborough took part in the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War (in the Black Sea 191920). She was also involved in the Greco-Turkish War. Date: 1923

© Mary Evans / Grenville Collins Postcard Collection