Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A post-War ‘Civil Division’ O.B.E. group of seven awarded to Major A. Young, Essex Regiment, later Royal Engineers, sometime Mayor of Ilford

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, O.B.E. (Civil) Officer’s 2nd type breast badge, silver-gilt; British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leaves (Capt. A. Young.); Territorial Force War Medal 1914-19 (Lieut. A. Young. Essex R.); Jubilee 1935, unnamed as issued; Coronation 1953, unnamed as issued; Territorial Decoration, G.V.R., silver and silver-gilt, with integral top brooch bar, mounted as worn, toned, very fine and better (7) £500-£700

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The David Laban Collection of Territorial Force War Medal Groups.

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O.B.E. (Civil) London Gazette 1 January 1957:
‘For public services in Essex’.

M.I.D. London Gazette 22 January 1919 (Egypt).

Alexander Young was commissioned from the ranks of the 5th Battalion, London Regiment (London Rifle Brigade) to be 2nd Lieutenant in the 7th Battalion, Essex Regiment, on 5 August 1914. He was promoted Lieutenant on 28 April 1915, promoted Captain on 1 June 1916, and served during the Great War in Egypt from 10 February 1916. An unattributed obituary, dated 1960, states:
‘Major A. Young, O.B.E., T.D., J.P., died in St Bartholemew’s Hospital on Sunday, October 9, aged 81 years. Major Young served with the Essex Regiment in the Middle East, during the First World War, and later with the Royal Engineers. After his military service he devoted his life to public service and in 1948 was made a Freeman of the Borough of Ilford. He was also a Freeman of the City of London. His O.B.E. was awarded some three years ago in recognition of his public service to the County of Essex. In all he gave over 40 years of his life to civic service, which began when he joined Ilford Ratepayers Association in 1919. Six years later he was Chairman of the old Urban District Council and in 1931 he was elected Mayor. He joined the Essex County Council in 1945 and four years later became Chairman of the Essex County Education Committee. He continued his public duties right up to the time of his illness.’

Young appears on the medal roll for the 1935 Jubilee Medal as Major Alexander Young, T.D., Staff Officer, Engineering Department, G.P.O.