WW1 medal pair & Death Penny - British War Medal, Victory Medal & memorial plaque (Death Penny) – Gunner JAMES THOMAS CHAPMAN - Royal Garrison Artillery

Reference: MM-MED-00003

You are looking at a pair of WW1 medals, British War Medal and Victory Medal, memorial plaque / ‘Death Penny’, and associated items awarded or relating to JAMES THOMAS CHAPMAN of the Royal Garrison Artillery, as follows:

·      British War Medal inscribed ‘2494 GNR. J.T.CHAPMAN. R.A.’

·      Victory Medal inscribed ‘2494 GNR. J.T.CHAPMAN. R.A.’

·      Memorial plaque in the name JAMES THOMAS CHAPMAN

·      ‘On His Majesty’s Service – Medals Registered’ envelope addressed to Mrs E G CHAPMAN of 60 Waverley Road, Moston, Manchester

·      Medal box lid for British War and Victory medal awarded to ‘2494 GNR. J.T.CHAPMAN. R.A.

JAMES THOMAS CHAPMAN, service number 293498 and 2494, was a gunner in the 136^th Heavy Battery the Royal Garrison Artillery, and he was killed in action on the 2^nd of September 1918, just over two months before Armistice. He was 37 years old at the time and is commemorated at Vis-En-Artois British Cemetery, Haucourt.

The 53^rd Heavy Artillery Group (Brigade) were made up of 136^th Heavy Battery, 1/1^st Welsh Heavy Battery and the 188^th, 294^th, 251^st and 252^nd Siege Batteries.

From the 53rd Brigade Royal Garrison Artillery war diary (National Archives reference WO 95/226/2), to whom the 136^th Heavy Battery belonged, we know the Brigade was in the area of Arras on the 24^th of August 1918, this being the day it was transferred to the Canadian Corps, and on the 26^th of August, they were involved in the ‘Second Battle of Arras’ that commenced at 3 am on the 26^th, according to the diary, and finished on the 3^rd of September, and during which the British artillery were heavily involved, in an attempt to destroy or damage the German defences in preparation for infantry attack. 

The ’Second Battle of Arras’ took place during the ‘Hundred Days offensive’, and it was made up of two phases, the first from the 26^th to the 30^th of August, referred to as the ‘Battle of the Scarpe’, resulting in Canadian troops capturing the strategic areas such as Greenland Hill and the village of Monchy-le-Preux, one mile north of Guemappe..........And the second phase over the 2^nd and the 3^rd of September, and called the ‘Battle of Drocourt-Quent’, that resulted in Canadian troops breaking through the heavily defended German lines forcing enemy troops to retreat across the ‘Canal du North’. 

According to the diary, on the 2^nd of September the Brigade was in the area of Vis-en-Artois, and it is likely JAMES was killed in action in or around this area, and it is also the location of the CWGC cemetery where he is commemorated.

Royal Garrison Artillery medals may not be as collected as others, especially those belonging to infantry soldiers, but in this case, they are medals and a memorial plaque awarded to a Royal Garrison Artillery soldier who was involved in a very important allied offensive that led to the retreat of enemy troops in the months leading up to the end of the War, and one that was very costly in the numbers of those killed or injured, with 5622 Canadian troops killed on the 2^nd of September alone, and over 11,000 Canadians killed or injured during the ‘Second Battle of Arras’. 

JAMES THOMAS CHAPMAN, the son of MARY, was born c1880/81 at Salford, he was married to ETHEL GERTRUDE CHAPMAN, they had two children, CONSTANCE and JAMES, and in 1911, according to the census for that year, he was a police constable with Manchester City Police, and with his probate death notice suggesting he was formerly an acting sergeant with ‘B’ Division of the force.

SELLER NOTE = Supporting documentation obtained and / or created during my research into this medal will be provided.

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