Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Three: Private J. A. Burgess, King’s Royal Rifle Corps, taken Prisoner of War at the Battle of Cambrai, 17 November 1917

1914-15 Star (R-998 Pte. J. A. Burgess. K.R. Rif: C.); British War and Victory Medals (R-998 Pte. J. A. Burgess. K.R. Rif. C.) very fine (3) £80-120

Joseph Austin Burgess, a silversmith from Sheffield, attested for the King’s Royal Rifle Corps at Sheffield, Yorkshire, on 3 September 1914, and was posted to the 11th Battalion on 9 September of that year. He served with the Battalion during the Great War on the Western Front, and was promoted Corporal on 6 December 1915. Court Martialled for drunkenness whilst on active service, 15 April 1916, he was found guilty and 1 month No. 1 Field Punishment and reduced to the rank of Private. Taken Prisoner of War at the Battle of Cambrai, 17 November 1917, he was repatriated following the Armistice on 17 November 1918.