A Collection of Gallantry Awards to the Lincolnshire Regiment

A Great War 1916 M.M. group of four awarded to Lieutenant R. S. Harris, 7th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment who was commissioned from the ranks into the Leicestershire Regiment in 1917

Military Medal G.V.R. (7-11735 Sjt: R. S. Harris. 7/Linc: R.); 1914-15 Star (11735 Sjt. R. S. Harris: Linc: R.); British War Medal 1914-20 (Lieut. R. S. Harris.); Victory Medal 1914-19, naming erased on VM; minor contact marks otherwise nearly extremely fine (4) £260-£300

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Gallantry Awards to the Lincolnshire Regiment.

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M.M. London Gazette 11 October 1916.

Robert Shaw Harris was born in Harlaxton, Lincolnshire, in 1895. After the outbreak of the Great War he enlisted in the Lincolnshire Regiment and disembarked with the 7th Battalion in France on 15 July 1915. He was awarded the M.M. for bravery in the field during July/August 1916. The London Gazette of 11 October 1916, which carried his M.M. announcement, contains awards for the Battle of the Somme, particularly the operations in mid-July such as High Wood, Longueval and Delville Wood. Consequently, although the 7th Battalion Lincolns were heavily involved on the 2nd July 1916 at Fricourt Wood and again on 3 July at Crucufix Trench where hundreds of Prussians including their Colonel were forced to surrender, it was at Delville Wood/Longueval where Harris’s M.M. was most probably earned. Delville Wood was first captured on 15 July 1916 and most of it was recaptured by the enemy three days later. On the 27th it was again back in allied hands but the enemy soon penetrated the wood and held portions of it until they were completely and finally removed at the end of August. In the long drawn out struggle for possession of the wood and particularly at neighbouring Longueval in early August 1916 the 7th Lincolns were frequently engaged. Between 1 and 10 August 1916 the 7th Battalion lost 23 killed, 14 missing and 151 wounded (officers and men). Harris was advanced to Warrant Officer Class II and then later on 28 February 1917 discharged to a commission with the 3rd Battalion Leicestershire Regiment. He died in Derbyshire in 1966.