Family group:

Pair: Private E. Higginbottom, Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry

British War and Victory Medals (30062 Pte., D. of Corn L.I.), very fine

Five: Stoker 2nd Class E. Higginbottom, Royal Navy, who was among those lost on the occasion of the sinking of H.M.S. Repulse in December 1941

1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Africa Star; Pacific Star; War Medal 1939-45, all privately inscribed, ‘D/LX. 23226 Sto. 2 Cl. E. Higginbotton, R.N., H.M.S. Repulse’, together with an original H.M.S. Repulse Christmas Card, inscribed to ‘Dad & Kids’ from ‘Ernie’, these extremely fine (7) £140-160

Ernest Higginbottom, the son of Ernest and Winifred Higginbottom of Denton, Lancashire, and the husband of Elsie, also of Denton, was among those lost on the occasion of the sinking of H.M.S. Repulse on 10 December 1941. Operating out of reach of air cover from Singapore, in company with the battleship Prince of Wales and some destroyers, Repulse, like her larger consort, fell victim to enemy dive bombers and torpedo bombers, the demise of both capital ships being complete within half an hour. Higginbottom has no known grave and is commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial.