A Collection of Medals to Recipients of the 1914 Star

Three: Able Seaman L. Chester, Hawke Battalion, Royal Naval Division, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, who was interned in Holland after the fall of Antwerp, October 1914

1914 Star, with copy clasp (L2/2888. L. Chester, A.B. R.N.V.R. Hawke. Bttn. R.N.D.); British War and Victory Medals (L.2-2888 L. Chester. A.B. R.N.V.R.) very fine (3) £200-£240

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

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Leslie Chester was born in 1895 and joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve on 27 February 1913. During the Great War he was posted to the Hawke Battalion, 1st Royal Naval Brigade on 22 August 1914 and embarked with them to defend Antwerp where, in early October, having belatedly received the order to withdraw, Chester was one of approximately 1,600 men of the Hawke, Benbow, and Collingwood Battalions of the 1st Brigade who were forced to take refuge in neutral Holland in order to prevent unnecessary casualties or capture by the enemy. He was interned under International Law on 9 October 1914 and housed in barracks in Groningen where, other than periods of leave from Holland from 6 October 1916 to 3 November 1916 and from 17 April 1918 to 26 May 1918, he was so detained for the duration of the war. He was discharged on 20 April 1919.