The Jack Webb Collection of Medals and Militaria

Pair: Captain S. Preston, Middlesex Regiment, who was killed in action on the Western Front on 25 September 1917
British War and Victory Medals (Capt. S. Preston.) good very fine

Pair: Second Lieutenant J O. Bell-Hughes, Middlesex Regiment, attached Lancashire Fusiliers, who was killed in action on the Western Front on 20 September 1917
British War and Victory Medals (2. Lieut. J. Bell-Hughes.) suspension claw rivet heavily filed on BWM, otherwise good very fine

Pair: Second Lieutenant G. E. Fielding, Middlesex Regiment
British War and Victory Medals (2.Lieut. G. E. Fielding.) very fine (6) £120-£160

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

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Stanley Preston was born on 7 June 1882 and was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Middlesex Regiment on 20 May 1905. He was promoted Lieutenant on 1 February 1908, and Captain on 14 November 1914. He served with the 12th Battalion during the Great War on the Western Front, before being promoted acting Major and seconded to the 1st Battalion on 19 March 1917; and was killed in action at Ypres on 25 September 1917:
‘The story of this attack and the way it was met is one of the proudest memories of all Die-Hards. Curtained by the thick mist and under cover of the merciless barrage of his guns, the enemy advanced at about 6:00 a.m. The attack cut a gap between “A” and “B” Companies, and through this gap the Germans, gradually closing in, worked from shell hole to shell hole. Desperate fighting, much of it hand-to-hand, now took place. “A” Company was losing heavily, and eventually the enemy entered Veldhoek Trench from the left. Finally, the remnants of the Company fell back about 150 yards. In the fighting the Company Commander - Captain S. Preston - was killed. In fact, all the officers of “A” and “B” Companies were either killed or missing.’ (The Die-Hards in the Great War, by Everard Wyrall refers).
Preston has no known grave and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Belgium.

John Otto Bell-Hughes was educated at Harrow and was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Middlesex Regiment on 27 June 1917. He served during the Great War on the Western Front attached to the 2nd/5th Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers, and was killed in action on 20 September 1917. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Belgium.

George Etherington Fielding was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Middlesex Regiment on 31 October 1917.