WW1 Victory Medal (single medal only, without ring suspender and ribbon) – awarded to Private GEORGE WHITTAKER of the 1st Battalion the King’s (Liverpool Regiment)

Stock Reference – MM-MED-0029

WW1 Victory Medal (single medal only, without ring suspender and ribbon) – awarded to Private GEORGE WHITTAKER of the 1^st Battalion the King’s (Liverpool Regiment)  

You are looking at a single Victory Medal awarded to Private GEORGE WHITTAKER of the 1^st Battalion the King’s (Liverpool Regiment).

The medal is inscribed ‘52318 PTE. G.WHITTAKER. L’POOL R.’

GEORGE enlisted on the 14^th of June 1915.

The 1^st Battalion served in France and Belgium throughout the war, and were in action at a number of battles including the First Battle of Ypres (1914), the Battle of Festubert (1915), and the Battle of the Somme (1916).

There is a record a J WHITTAKER, service number 52318, who appears in the War Office Daily List dated 21^st of December 1916, listed as wounded. It appears that the Christian name initial has been provided in error and should have been ‘G’ as opposed to ‘J’. The list of officers and other ranks killed and wounded appeared in the Liverpool Post and Mercury newspaper dated he 22^nd of December, and the list included those members of the regiment who had been killed, namely:

JOHN ALDAY 19^th Battalion – KIA 24^th November

HENRY BOTHAMLEY 1/10^th Battalion – KIA 23^rd November 1916

ALBERT JEFFERIES 19^th Battalion – KIA 24^th November 1916

GEORGE LAKE 20^th Battalion – KIA 22^nd November 1916

C A RILEY 19^th Battalion – KIA 24^th November 1916

As you can see, three of the five soldiers killed in action died on the 24^th of November 1916, the other two in the days preceding this, and it is likely, with the delay caused by the administration of casualty records, that Private WHITTAKER was also injured around this time, however, we know the 1^st Battalion were involved in the later stages of the Battle of the Somme, losing many troops on the 13^th and the 15^th of November specifically, during the ‘Battle of the Ancre’, with most of these casualties commemorated at the Thiepval Memorial, and the Serre Road and Mailly Wood cemeteries.

The 1^st Battalion war diary provides a summary of the ‘Battle of the Ancre’, that took place over the period the 12^th – 16^th November 1916, including a summary of casualties, 2 officers killed and 8 wounded, and 245 other ranks killed, wounded or missing.

The battalion were not involved in any other fighting after the battle, up to the 21^st of December that is, when the War Office Daily List was published, so it seems likely GEORGE was wounded during the battle itself.

GEORGE received the Silver War Badge during his military service, and he was 23 years old when he was discharged from the army on the 18^th of December 1919.

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