Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The outstanding D.C.M. and Bar, French Croix de Guerre, and Battle of Loos ‘Wauchope’ medal group of six awarded to Acting Colour-Sergeant Charles Easton, 2nd Battalion, Royal Highlanders

Distinguished Conduct Medal, G.V.R., with Second Award Bar (1543 A. Sjt: C. Easton. 2/R. Hdrs.); 1914 Star (1543 Pte. C. Easton. 2/R. Highrs.); British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leaf (1543 A.C. Sjt. C. Easton. R. Highrs.); French Croix de Guerre, 1914 1918, with palm; Wauchope Medal, for Loos, obverse inscribed ‘For conspicuous gallantry in the capture of German Trenches Sept. 25th 1915’, reverse inscribed ‘2nd Bn. The Black Watch To L. Cpl. C. Easton from Lt. Col. A. G. Wauchope, fitted with rings for suspension, together with an additional Bar for the D.C.M. as worn by the recipient and to which he clearly felt he was entitled, contact wear and edge bruising, therefore nearly very fine (6) £6000-8000

Provenance: DNW, December 2008.

D.C.M. London Gazette 14 November 1916 ‘For conspicuous gallantry in action. He tended wounded under very heavy fire, displaying great gallantry and determination.’

Bar to D.C.M. London Gazette 22 October 1917. Citation published 26 January 1918:

‘For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. Seeing that an officer had been hit some eighty yards in front of his post and was unable to move owing to continuous sniping, he ran forward, dressed his wounds and got him back to the river bank. As sniping still continued he swam the river, supporting the wounded officer, and gained the opposite bank. But for his splendid act of gallantry the officer must again have been hit by the enemy within a very short time, as they were within three hundred yards.’

Croix de Guerre London Gazette 26 September 1917.

M.I.D. not confirmed.

Charles Easton was born on 30 May 1887 at St David’s Place, in the Haymarket area of Edinburgh. He enlisted into the Black Watch on 11 January 1909 and at the time of the outbreak of the Great War in August 1914 was serving in India with the 2nd Battalion. He served as a Stretcher Bearer on the Western Front from 1914 to 1915, in Mesopotamia 1916 to 1917, and subsequently in Palestine.

Lance Corporal Easton received an individual mention in the War History, for his part in the Battle of Loos, for which he received his Wauchope Medal: ‘No.1543 Lance Corporal C. Easton, took charge of the regimental stretcher bearers after the Sergeant in charge had been disabled; under his cool leadership they did their work, as always, with complete disregard of their own safety.’

He was actually one of 40 men of the battalion, whom Lieutenant Colonel Wauchope had recommended for the award of the D.C.M. ‘For gallantry in the Field during the attack on Fauquisart 25th Septr. 1915’ and this is almost certainly the reason why Easton felt entitled to wear a second Bar on his D.C.M., as included with the lot. In the event only eight of the 40 men were granted the award of a D.C.M. and as a result the Wauchope Medal was borne.

By the end of 1915, the 2nd Battalion, Black Watch left the Western Front, to fight the Turks in Mesopotamia. On 31 December 1915, the battalion first set foot in that theatre of operations, with the specific aim of relieving Kut. On 15 February 1916 Easton was reported as having been wounded, most probably sometime between 7 and 13 January 1916 at the Battle of Shaikh Saad.

He was present during the first attack on Hanna on 21 January 1916, where he was promoted to the rank of Stretcher Bearer Sergeant upon the death of his predecessor. He was awarded his D.C.M. for gallantry at Sannaiyat on 10 April 1916, the war history expanding slightly upon his published citation: ‘On the morning of the 9th [April 1916], at 4:30am, the 13th Division assaulted Sannaiyat. The result was a complete and costly failure... The day following the attack, April 10th, was spent in improving the line, while parties of stretcher bearers and volunteers showed great gallantry and self-sacrifice in bringing in the large number of wounded of the 13th Division still lying out... Several of the Regimental Stretcher Bearers received the D.C.M.’

The following year he received the bar to his D.C.M. for an action at Dujail Redoubt on 20 April 1917. The War History gives the following detail: ‘One incident in this fighting patrol must not pass unnoted. An artillery officer had been sent forward in the morning to observe the ground and the enemy positions from our strong point on the east bank of Dujail. He had crawled a little ahead of the strong point to an exposed position in order to observe more freely, when he was struck by a bullet which incapacitated him from coming back or escaping from his exposed position. Sergeant Easton had been Sergeant of the Battalion stretcher bearers since his predecessor had been killed when recovering a wounded man; and had already himself won the D.C.M. for a fine piece of work. Easton now ran forward from the strong point without hesitation and though the enemy snipers were dropping bullets all round, roughly bandaged the officer, picked him up on his back, staggered down to the Dujail and got him across under the welcome shelter of the other bank, though the stream was over six feet deep. For this action Sergeant Easton received a bar to his D.C.M.’

Sergeant Easton went on to serve in Palestine with his battalion and was presented with his D.C.M. and Bar on 12 March 1918 by the Duke of Connaught at Moascar Camp, near Ismailia on the Suez Canal. He was discharged from the army on 10 January 1921, having completed 12 years service. He died of Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Edinburgh on 13 February 1933, and was buried with full military honours at Saughton Cemetery, Edinburgh.

Sold with original Discharge Certificate [listing ‘D.C.M. (Two) Clasps’], two Character Certificates and an obituary taken from a British Legion magazine [again crediting him with ‘Medal for Distinguished Conduct in the Field, with two bars’], which includes a fine full length picture of recipient in uniform wearing his medal ribbons, clearly showing two rosettes on his D.C.M. ribbon; and a substantial quantity of copied research.