Orders, Decorations and Medals

A Great War M.C. group of six awarded to Major Alfred Ellam, West Riding Regiment, an 'Old Contemptible' who had previously served in Rhodesia, 1896

MILITARY CROSS, G.V.R.; BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY MEDAL 1890-97, reverse Rhodesia 1896(454 Co. Sgt., 2. W. Rid. Regt.); 1914 MONS STAR (Hon. Capt. & Q.M., W. Rid. R.); BRITISH WAR AND VICTORY MEDALS (Q.M. & Major); CORONATION 1911, mounted on original wearing bar, very fine and better (6)

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Medals to the Duke of Wellington's (West Riding) Regiment from the Collection of Mr Donald Hall.

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M.C., London Gazette, 1 January 1917.

M.I.D., London Gazette, 1 January, 1916 and 30 January 1920.

Major Alfred Ellam served with his regiment during the campaign in Rhodesia, 1896, as a Colour Sergeant and the senior N.C.O. present.

The Regimental History for the Great War period mentions Ellam for an incident during the battle of Mons in 1914. ‘The battalion having moved off to a new position, Captain and Quarter Master Ellam remained behind with the Headquarters party as escort to the remaining transport in the village of Hornu. A Uhlan patrol wandered into the village, and this, with his usual efficiency and by aid of the Headquarters party, Captain Ellam promptly 'did in.'’

Ellam is next noted for his presence at the taking of Hill 60 at Ypres on 17 April 1915, about which the History makes the following observations: 'The attack and defence of Hill 60, a mere episode in the British operations, and a very minor occurrence in the whole of the front held by the Allies, will nevertheless go down in history among the finest exploits performed by British troops during the war. Officers who experienced the bombardment prior to the attack of the Prussian Guard on November 11th, and also underwent that directed on Hill 60 state, indeed, that the latter was by far the worse of the two.
'What our troops withstood can to some degree be realised if it be remembered that the space fought over on the four and a half days between April 17th and 21st was only about 250 yards in length, about 200 in depth. On to that small area the enemy for hours on end hurled tons of metal and high explosive, and at times the hill top was wreathed in clouds of poisonous fumes. And yet our gallant infantry did not give way. They stood firm under a fire which swept away whole sections at a time, filled the trenches with dead bodies, and so encumbered the approaches to the front line that reinforcements could not reach it without having to climb over the prostrate forms of their fallen comrades.
'In these circumstances the losses have naturally been heavy. Nevertheless, they have not depressed the men, who are all, including the wounded, extremely cheerful, for they know that the fight for Hill 60 has cost the Germans far more than it has us. 'At 5 a.m. on the 19th April the Battalion was relieved by the Bedfords and East Surreys of the 15th Brigade and moved into dug-outs west of the Zillebeke Pond.
' Undeterred, the Germans counter-attacked without let-up in an attempt to recapture Hill 60 and after a heavy gas attack finally achieved their objective on the 5 May. On the 6 May, what was left of the Battalion was relieved and ordered to Ouderdom, south of Ypres. All that remained out of some 500 of all ranks after the second action on Hill 60 were: The Commanding Officer, Captain Barton; the Adjutant, Lieut. Ince; Transport Officer, Capt. Cox; Medical Officer, Lieut. Tobias; the Quartermaster, Major Ellam, and some 150 other ranks.