Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A fine Great War D.S.O., M.C. and Bar group of five awarded to Lieutenant-Colonel N. M. Vibart, Royal Engineers, who was attached to the 63rd Royal Naval Division 1916-18, latterly as Brigade-Major to 188th Brigade, work that undoubtedly brought him into close contact with such R.N.D. legends as Asquith, Beak and Buckle

Distinguished Service Order, G.V.R., silver-gilt and enamels; Military Cross, G.V.R., with Second Award Bar; 1914 Star, with clasp (2 Lieut., R.E.); British War and Victory Medals, M.I.D. oak leaf (Capt.), cleaned and lacquered, good very fine (5) £2000-2500

D.S.O. London Gazette 12 December 1919: ‘For valuable services in connection with military operations in France and Flanders. Dated 3 June 1919.’

M.C. London Gazette 23 June 1915: ‘For distinguished services in the Field with effect from 3 June 1915.’

Bar to M.C. London Gazette 14 December 1917: ‘For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty when making a reconnaissance with a view to discovering the positions of our forward posts. This task was extremely difficult owing to the darkness of the night, the absence of notable landmarks and the almost impassable nature of the ground. On two occasions he found himself within ten yards of an enemy post and narrowly escaped capture. In spite of these difficulties he succeeded in locating our forward troops and in bringing back a most valuable report.’

Noel Meredith Vibart was born in December 1893, the son of Colonel E. D. H. Vibart, late 15th Bengal Cavalry, whose memoir, The Sepoy Mutiny, appeared in print in 1898. Young Noel, no doubt stirred by his father’s classic account of a subaltern’s experiences in the Delhi and Lucknow operations, entered the R.M.A. Woolwich from Cheltenham College in January 1912.

Arriving in France as a recently commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the 5th Field Company, R.E. in late October 1914, he had barely been in the Field for a fortnight when ‘he played a prominent part’ in his unit’s defensive action and counter-attack at Nonne Boschen, near Polygon Wood. The History of the Corps of Royal Engineers (volume V) takes up the story

‘For the first ten days of November [1914], the 5th Company worked every night on improving the scanty defences. Two small redoubts were made at the corners of Polygon Wood. On the 11 November, at about 9.30 p.m., while 5th Company was still bivouacking in the north-west corner of Polygon Wood, not far from 5th Brigade Headquarters, the new O.C. (Major A. H. Tyler) was informed that the Germans had broken through the 1st Black Watch and 2nd Connaught Rangers. Sergeant Lethbridge, R.E., and some twenty sappers were sent to man the trenches on the south side of Polygon Wood, while Major Tyler took the rest of the company southwards into the open, occupying a disused trench and a short length of hedge on the left rear. This trench was enfiladed by enemy fire from the Nonne Boschen on the right, and Lieutenant A. E. Collins was killed. The Germans had set fire to a cottage on the edge of the Nonne Boschen, and the smoke from this obscured the view of the sappers in the trench. Also the right flank was in danger, as the Germans in the wood were well behind it. This caused Major Tyler to fall back to a second position, which had a similar right flank trench thrown back, from which Lieutenant Gowlland’s section, aided by some twenty or thirty infantrymen, was able in their turn to enfilade the Germans.






At about 2.30 p.m., the Prussian Guards’ attack having been stopped, the 2nd Oxford Light Infantry made a vigorous counter-attack with two companies, and drove the Guards through the Nonne Boschen. Seeing this success on his right, Major Tyler ordered his men forward. The company split up into two parties; one under Lieutenant Gowlland crossed over towards the left and followed a trench down the edge of Polygon Wood; another under Lieutenant H. F. Renny-Tailyour moved across the open, and a third with Major Tyler and 2nd Lieutenant N. M. Vibart moved along a communication trench towards the old British front trench. Fire from these parties accounted for about a hundred of the enemy running back outside Nonne Boschen. Soon afterwards, Major Tyler and Lieutenant Renny-Tailyour were killed and several other casualties were caused by heavy machine-gun fire from a building on the right. At about 4.30. p.m. the remains of the 5th Company were withdrawn under orders from Brigade Headquarters. About a quarter of the company had become casualties ... ’

According to the dates given for his overseas postings in Services of Military Officers, it seems Vibart was among these casualties. Certainly ‘he returned to the same Company on two subsequent occasions after being wounded’, the date of his second wound most probably falling in November 1915. He was awarded the M.C. and a “mention” (London Gazette 22 June 1915).

In late 1916, following a brief posting to 6th Infantry Brigade, Vibart took up appointment as a Staff Officer in the 63rd Royal Naval Division, and ‘Then onwards his increasing confidence in himself was accompanied by the increased confidence and respect of others’. As evidenced, too, by the daring frontline exploits detailed in the citation for his second M.C., he was not adverse to operating outside the usual limits of his Staff appointment. He also received his second mention in despatches (London Gazette 11 December 1917).

In March 1918, during the course of the enemy’s “Spring Offensive”, Vibart was appointed Brigade-Major to the R.N.D’s 188th Brigade, in which capacity he served until the end of the War. He did, therefore, invariably witness action on the Somme, and afterwards, in the period August to November 1918, in the Brigade’s attacks on the Drocourt-Queant line, the Canal du Nord, Anneux , Graincourt and Niergnies. He was awared the D.S.O. and his third “mention” (London Gazette 4 July 1919).

After a short spell of service in Ireland in 1920, Vibart went to India to take up an appointment in the Ambala Brigade, and attended the Staff College at Quetta 1923-24. He was subsequently appointed a G.S.O. 2 in Aden and D.A.Q.M.G., Eastern Command, following which he commanded 12th Field Company at Aldershot. Then in July 1934, following service as a D.A.Q.M.G. at the War Office, he was advanced to Lieutenant-Colonel, but, tragically, as described by his R.E. obituarist, the enjoyment of his promotion was short-lived:

‘In the summer of 1935 he was spending his leave in his favourite way - cruising with friends in his own 14-ton cutter Altair. Altair duly reached the Azores, but was posted as missing on her homeward trip. Nothing has been heard of her, and Vibart is presumed to have been lost at sea on 3 August 1935.’

His obituarist further notes that Vibart was ‘a skilled navigator and a careful, competent seaman’, who had entered Altair into the Channel Race in 1932 and again in 1933, when a last-minute mishap robbed him of a probable second prize.