Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Four: Private R. W. Hartwell, 2nd Battalion, Grenadier Guards

1914 Star, with clasp (15095 Pte. R. W. Hartwell. 2/G. Gds:); British War and Victory Medals (15095 Pte. R. W. Hartwell. G. Gds.); Coronation 1911, silver (15095 Pte. R. Hartwell Kings Co. 1st Bn. Gren. Gds.) contemporarily engraved naming, very fine (4) £100-£140

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Medals to Recipients of the 1914 Star.

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Reginald Whitnell Hartwell was born in 1893 in Gillingham, Kent and, having enlisted in the Grenadier Guards at Gosport in 1911, served initially with the 2nd Battalion during the Great War on the Western Front from 27 August 1914. His name is listed among the ‘Deserters and Absentees from His Majesty’s Service’ in the Police Gazette of 12 January 1915 which states Hartwell’s desertion or absence from the 4th Battalion as having taken place in London on 22 December 1914. Returning, he was discharged on 31 January 1919, no longer physically fit for war service, and was awarded a Silver War Badge.