A Collection of Medals to Great War Casualties

Pair: Private A. Meldrum, Royal Scots, who was accidentally killed on the Western Front on 19 November 1916

British War and Victory Medals (2624 Pte. A. Meldrum. R. Scots.); Memorial Plaque (Andrew Meldrum) with Buckingham Palace enclosure, and a postcard photograph of the recipient, all mounted for display in a glazed frame, extremely fine (3) £80-£120

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Medals to Great War Casualties.

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Andrew Meldrum, a native of Edinburgh, attested there for the Royal Scots on 4 October 1914 and served with the 5th Battalion during the Great War with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force from 21 January 1916. Proceeding to the Western Front on 15 March 1916, he was accidentally killed in the line near Serre Road from an ammunition detonation on 19 November 1916.

The subsequent Board of Inquiry into the incident found that, when a section of men from the Battalion was detailed to burn empty wooden ammunition cases, the heat from the fire detonated grenades that had, unbeknown to the battalion, been buried in the ground, with the result that two men of the Battalion (Privates Meldrum and J. Meek) were killed, and a further ten were wounded. The board of inquiry found that no blame could be attached, and that the accident could have occurred anywhere on the battlefield.

Meldrum is buried in Sucrerie Military Cemetery, Colincamps.

Sold with copied research, including a full copy of the Board of Inquiry’s report.

Please note that this lot is not suitable for shipping, but can be hand delivered within mainland Britain by prior arrangement with Christopher Mellor-Hill.