A rare Second World War B.E.M. group of seven awarded to Local Warrant Officer Class I (Band Master) S. C. Alexander, St. Helena Regiment, late Royal Fusiliers
British Empire Medal, (Military) G.VI.R., 1st issue (Gnr. Sidney C. Alexander); Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Jubilee 1935; Army Meritorious Service Medal, G.VI.R., 2nd issue (6446662 Sjt. S. C. Alexander, R.F.); Army L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., robed bust (6446662 Sjt. S. C. Alexander, R. Fus.); Efficiency Medal, G.VI.R., 1st issue, Territorial, with Bar (6446662 Gnr. S. C. Alexander, R.A.), together with a set of related miniature dress medals, King’s Loyal Service Badge and assorted regimental badges (8), mounted as worn, occasional bruising and a little polished, otherwise generally very fine (23)
£600-800

B.E.M. London Gazette 14 June 1945. The original recommendation states:

‘Alexander was appointed Band Sergeant in the St. Helena Regiment on 1 March 1944, and Band Master, Local Warrant Officer CLass I on 1 June 1944. This soldier has an excellent record of service in the Regular Army, and since the outbreak of the present war, of embodied service in the Territorial Army and the St. Helena Regiment. He is an efficient musician, and has been very successful in training the Band of St. Helena Regiment which includes British and St. Helena personnel. In doing so, he has been called on to perform duties superior to his permanent rank of Gunner. In addition to the direct benefit derived from the instruction he has given, he set a fine example in the matter of discipline and conduct in barracks and outside to the Other Ranks of the St. Helena Regiment, both British and St. Helenian, which has been of great value to them and to other inhabitants of the Island.’

Sidney Cliston Alexander enlisted as a boy recruit in the Royal Fusiliers in December 1915, but witnessed no active service in the Great War, most probably being employed as a Bandsman. Awarded the Jubilee Medal in 1935, while serving in the 1st Battalion in India, and the L.S. & G.C. Medal, he left the Regiment in February 1939, at which point he presumably took up his appointment as a Gunner in the Territorials. And it was in that capacity that he was serving as an A.A. Gunner in St. Helena when invited to form a band in March 1944, which task, as cited above, resulted in the award of his B.E.M. His final accolade, the M.S.M., was awarded to him in AO 176 of December 1951, when he was still serving; sold with original forwarding envelope for the Bar to his Efficiency Medal, together with a quantity of research, including some colour photocopies of original award documents.