A Collection of Medals to the South Wales Borderers

A scarce Asiatic Theatre casualty pair to Private G. Parkes, 2nd Battalion, South Wales Borderers, who was killed in action at the Siege of Tsingtao, China, on 5 November 1914

British War and Victory Medals (10202 Pte. G. Parks [sic]. S. Wales Bord.); Memorial Plaque (George Parkes); together with an unnamed 1914-15 Star, good very fine and better (4) £300-£400

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Medals to the South Wales Borderers.

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George Parkes was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, in 1891 and attested for the South Wales Borderers on 11 November 1908. He was posted with the 2nd Battalion to South Africa on 20 December 1910 and at the outbreak of the Great War Parkes was present with the 2nd Battalion stationed at China where they formed part of the international garrison at Tientsin.

In September 1914 the Battalion, supported by half a Battalion of the 36th Sikhs, joined their Japanese allies in an expedition against the German occupied territory of Kiaochow and its port of Tsingtao. On 23 September the battalion’s embarkation of 22 officers and 910 men landed at Lao Shan Bay about forty miles N.E of Tsingtao and began the difficult trek to the well fortified main German settlement on Kiaochau Bay which was the object of the expeditionary force. Casualties were generally light although the extremely arduous conditions and bad weather caused them great discomfort. The nights of 5 and 6 November, however, brought the battalion heavier casualties than it had yet suffered and it was on 5 November that Parkes was killed in action.

Brigadier-General Nathaniel Barnardiston, Commanding Tsingtau Expeditionary Force gave the following details in his third Despatch:
‘On the 5th November I was ordered to prepare a Third Position of attack on the left bank of the river. This line was to a great extent enfiladed on both flanks by No. 1 and 2 redoubts, especially the latter from which annoying machine-gun fire was experienced. The bed of the river (a small stream running over a broad bed of sand) had also to be crossed, and in doing so the working parties of the 2nd Battalion South Wales Borderers suffered somewhat severely, losing 8 non-commissioned officers and men killed and 24 wounded.’

The siege was soon brought to a successful conclusion with the assistance of an assault by Japanese forces present and the white flag went up on 7 November 1914 giving the Regiment the unique distinction of a battle honour held by no other British Regiment. The Battalion’s losses overall had been just 14 men killed or died of wounds or disease and 2 officers and 34 men wounded.

Parkes is commemorated on the Sai Wan (China) Memorial in Hong Kong.

Sold together with copied research showing medal naming consistent with the Medal Index Card, as well as the recipient’s small book and some paperwork including a BWM forwarding letter; a Memorial Plaque forwarding note from Buckingham Palace, this torn; an Army Council education certificate and an original, somewhat faded studio photograph of Parkes in uniform, handwritten on reverse ‘To my Brother James From your loving brother George’.