Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Three: Sub-Lieutenant A. R. Courtenay, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, later Captain, Duke of Westminster’s Squadron Armoured Cars and Royal Army Service Corps

1914-15 Star (S. Lt. A. R. Courtenay, R.N.V.R.); British War and Victory Medals (2 Lieut. A. R. Courtenay.) extremely fine (3) £100-£140

Ashley Reginald Courtenay was born in Haywards Heath on 23 July 1888, the son of Rev. C. Courtenay, and was educated at Haileybury School and Emmanuel College, Cambridge, graduating with a B.A. in 1910. Prior to the war he was employed in advertising. He was commissioned a Sub-Lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve on 25 May 1915, for service with the Royal Naval Air Service (Armoured Cars). An article on the man in the Telegraph Sunday Magazine reads:
‘... Then there was the First World War in which he served as a member of the Duke of Westminster’s squadron of armoured Rolls-Royce cars. This consisted of driving up to the front, firing machine-guns and then reversing at 20mph, he recalled (”we were not popular”)’.

Courtenay later served with the Army Service Corps, and was promoted Captain in January 1919. Following the cessation of hostilities he returned to advertising and worked for the General Electric Co. before launching his own agency. He then worked as a Hotelier, successively in Guildford, Devon, and Hertfordshire, and began to write a hotel column for the Morning Post. In 1933 he founded and authored the hotel and travel guide, Lets Halt Awhile which he published for over 50 years. He died on 7 October 1986, aged 98 years, whilst on a a wine tasting cruise in the Mediterranean and Black Sea with his third wife.

Sold with a copy of the Telegraph Sunday Magazine, 5 August 1984, featuring an article on Courtenay; newspaper obituaries and copied research. His Medal Index Card shows that his medals were applied for and issued in 1927.