The Jack Webb Collection of Medals and Militaria

A Great War M.C. group of eleven awarded to Brigadier O. H. Tidbury, Middlesex Regiment, who served on the Staff during the Great War, and was three times Mentioned in Despatches; he later commanded the 1st Battalion, Middlesex Regiment in Singapore and Hong Kong; the 18th Infantry Brigade in Palestine during the Arab Revolt; and the 14th Infantry Brigade in Crete during the Second War

Military Cross, G.V.R., unnamed as issued; British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leaves; General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Palestine (Brig. O. H. Tidbury.); 1939-45 Star; Africa Star, 1 clasp, 8th Army; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, with M.I.D. oak leaf; Coronation 1937; Belgium, Kingdom, Order of the Crown, Knight’s breast badge, silver, gilt, and enamel, with crossed swords device on riband; Italy, Kingdom, Order of the Crown, Officer’s breast badge, gold and enamel, with rosette on riband; mounted for display purposes together with an unrelated 1914 Star (28203 Cpl. T. Tubb. R.F.A.) generally very fine and better (12) £1,600-£2,000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Jack Webb Collection of Medals and Militaria.

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M.C. London Gazette 1 January 1917

Belgian Order of the Crown, Officer, London Gazette 19 August 1921.

Italian Order of the Crown, Chevalier, London Gazette 12 September 1918.

Ord Henderson Tidbury was born on 10 December 1888, the son of Lieutenant-Colonel James Tidbury, Royal Army Medical Corps, and was educated at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Middlesex Regiment on 9 October 1907, and was promoted Lieutenant on 1 February 1911. He served with the 4th Battalion during the Great War on the Western Front from 25 August 1914, was promoted Captain on 11 December 1914, and served on the Staff as Deputy Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster General on both the Western Front and in Italy. For his services during the Great War he was three times Mentioned in Despatches (London Gazettes 15 May 1917, 30 May 1918, and 5 July 1919); was promoted Brevet Major; and was awarded the Military Cross and the Orders of the Crown of both Belgium and Italy (Note that the insignia mounted in the recipient’s group is at variance to the Class of the Orders into which he was appointed).

Remaining in the Army, Tidbury was posted as to the British Military Mission to Berlin as Assistant Quartermaster General in 1920, and was subsequently employed by the Foreign Office as part of the North Silesian Plebiscite Commission until 1922. He held various postings as a general staff officer between then and 1935 at the War Office and in Egypt. Promoted Major on 5 May 1927, he was advanced Lieutenant-Colonel on 1 January 1936 and was given the command of the 1st Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, later that year. He served as their Commanding Officer for two years, the majority of which was spent in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Tidbury was advanced Brigadier on 22 August 1938, and given the command of the 18th Infantry Brigade, then serving in Palestine during the Arab Revolt. He held this post until 1940, and then commanded the 14th Infantry Brigade in Crete, 1940-41. For his services during the Second War he was Mentioned in Despatches (London Gazette 1 January 1941: ‘For services in the Middle East, August 1939 to November 1940’), before returning home to command a district in Wales. He retired on 12 April 1944, and died on 14 July 1961. His son, Sir Charles Tidbury, served as chairman of Whitbread and was a leader of the British brewing industry, as well as being a target of the I.R.A.

Sold with two group photographic images of the Officers of the 1st Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, 1931 and 1938, both featuring the recipient.