Orders, Decorations & Medals - Australian Groups

Lot 3904    Session 15 (7.30pm Thursday)    Orders, Decorations & Medals - Australian Groups

Estimate $5,500
Bid at live.noble.com.au
SOLD $5,200

MM WWI AND WWII CASUALTY FAMILY GROUP: (Father) Group of Six: Military Medal (GVR type 1); 1914-15 Star; British War Medal 1914-18; Victory Medal 1914-19; Association of Combattants of the Somme Medal; New South Wales Fire Brigade Long Service and Good Conduct Medal with 30 Years Service Bar. 132 A.L.Cpl F.W.Howell. 55/Aust:Inf; on first medal, 132 Pte F.W.Howell 3/Bn. A.I.F. on second medal, 132 L/Cpl F.W.Howell 3/Bn. A.I.F. on third medal, 132 L-Cpl F.W.Howell. 3 Bn. A.I.F. on fourth medal, 132 L/C F.W.Howell. 55th Aust. Inf. On fifth medal, F.W.Howell. 31:1:34. on last medal. The first four medals impressed, the last two engraved. Swing mounted, very fine. (Son) Group of Four: 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; War Medal 1939-45; Australia Service Medal 1939-45. S.5001 F.W.Howell. All medals impressed. Still in original delivery box with original wrapping paper and Navy Medal Section postage wrapper addressed to, 'Mrs G.Howell, Fire Station, Church St, Parramatta, NSW', uncirculated.

Together with various badges, certificates and a massive amount of paper work and other documents including,
Father (F.W.Howell)
1) WWI Nearest Female Relative badge number 172429.
2) Aluminium dog tag, '132/F W Howell/BX/3AIF/RC'.
3) Turkey bronze 40 para coin AH1255 Year 21 (1860), at top obverse is engraved, 'Gallipoli'.
4) Two oxidised bronze Rising Sun hat badges.
5) Jack knife with large and small blade and large spike for opening cans, blade marked, 'Scotia/J.McClory/Sheffield', with crack to textured black horn handle covering on one side.
6) Princess Mary Christmas 1914 gift tin.
7) Ship Label for L/Cpl F.Howell and marked 'Gas Shell severe, special attention needed (Mustard)'.
8) Soldier's Pay Book for F.W.Howell.
9) Certificate of Discharge 25.2.1919 and marked for issue of RAS badge number 50903.
10) WWI RAS badge (AIF) number on reverse 50903 and engraved 'F.W.Howell' at top and '55th Batt. A.I.F.' at bottom.
11) Gallipoli Medallion 1967 in case of issue with issue certificate and corresponding lapel badge, both inscribed to F.W.Howell.
12) Certificate from Association Ceux De La Somme for Combattant of the Somme Medal, named to Howell Frederick Walter (L/Corporal) 55th Australian Infantry 1 July 1956.
13) 55th Bn. A.I.F. (brown/green) felt lapel ribbon
14) Sew on ribands for MM + trio (2)
15) Spare ribbons for first five medals.
16) Clip on name tag for Fred Howell.
17) Carved timber storage box (16.5x14.5cm) as made by wounded soldiers while recuperating.
18) Certificate of Marriage dated 17.3.1919 for F.W.Howell (Fireman) and Grace Smith (Bar Maid).
19) Birth certificate dated 16/1/1925 for F.W.Howell, born 3/4/1895.
20) Fire Brigades Demonstration at Katoomba 1935 badge by Amor, Sydney.
21) NSW Fire Brigades brass hat badge (40x45mm) by Amor, Sydney, number 98 impressed on reverse.
22) FB titles (2) in brass.
23) Fireman's axe, 1930s, by W.J.Johnston & Son, Sydney, impressed on one side of axe head, 'NSWFB/37' and on other side, 'SB'.
24) The Fireman Vol 14 No 5, May 1957, with profile of Senior Vice President F.W.Howell, one of the executive of the NSWFB Sub-Branch of the RSS&AILA.
25) 2nd-3rd Battalion A.I.F. Association Chocolate and Green Newsletter, August 1974, with 'Last Post' tribute to Fred Howell.
26) Various photos of Fred Howell in military and fireman uniforms.

Son (F.W.Howell jnr)
1) WWII Female Relative badge with one star on bar, number N8799, with advice of issue for future delivery, also number 8799.
2) WWII Mothers and Widows badge with one star on bar, number N372, with uncompleted official application for this badge and the first badge.
3) Silver brooch of Naval crown with circular, scalloped edge, framed photo of F.W.Howell jnr, with safety chain.
4) Memorial Scroll named for Ordinary Seaman F.W.Howell, Royal Australian Navy.
5) Letter of Sympathy from King and Queen on loss of son.
6) Telegram to Mrs Grace Howell advising of death of her son.
7) New South Wales Police News, Jan 5, 1942, with tribute to F.W.Howell (Ex-N.S.W. Police Cadet Lost With H.M.S.Cossack).
8) Photos of F.W.Howell jnr including a newspaper cutting of him meeting an American naval cadet.
9) Book titled, 1939-1945 Naval Memorials in the United Kingdom, Plymouth Part V 1953, Register of Names of those who fell in WWII & have no other Grave than the Sea, includes name of F.W.Howell jnr.
10) Royal Life Saving Society Bronze Medal inscribed to F.Howell 6.12.34.

Other items
1) Aluminium dog tag, 'NX193442/RC/Howell/PE' (Peter Edward Howell). The tag is attached to a long nickel silver chain.
2) Soldier's Pay Book of NX193442 Peter Edward Howell.
3) WWII Female Relative badge with one star on bar, number AF30542. Probably 156777 AC1 Peter Fitzgerald Howell RAAF.
4) Transport Workers' Union of Australia, N.S.W. Branch year 1960 membership badge number 494 by Millers Ltd, Sydney.
5) NES (National Emergency Service) New South Wales badge (KC).
6) Red Cross badge by Millers Ltd, Sydney.
7) "A Kid For Two Farthings" coins in Odeon Theatre Blackpool, movie of the same name, advertising envelope 1955.

MM: LG 14/1/1918, p846, posn 45; CAG 23/5/1918, p1124, posn 66.
Recommendation: 'This man's conduct during the attack on Polygon Wood is worthy of the highest praise. On 26th Sept 1917 during the engagement he frequently took charge of small groups of men when his company was disorganized and worked them to the best advantage. His coolness under fire was a fine example to his comrades. His work was a great assistance to his officers.'

Frederick Walter Howell, labourer age 20, born at Parish of Paddington near London, Middlesex, England; Enl.01Sep1914 at Kensington, NSW; previous service of 5 years instruction and training drills and special qualifications of 'fair' rifle shot; he was a member of 3 Bn, one of the first units raised after war was declared and was in the Landing at Gallipoli on 25Apr1915 as part of the second and third waves; 12May1915 WIA at Gallipoli; 13Feb1916 trf to 55Bn, a newly formed battalion nearly 50 percent composed of officers and men from 3Bn; 07Oct1917 to L/Cpl; 26Oct1917 awarded MM in AIF List 284 for action on 26Sep1917 at Polygon Wood where 55Bn successfully carried out all its orders, capturing many prisoners and materials; 24Apr1918 WIA gassed, Villers Bretonneux, France; RTA 23Oct 1918 for Special leave 1914 (Anzac Leave) and arrived 27Dec1918; Disch.25Feb1919; Fred 'Cocka' (so nicknamed because of his English cockney accent) Howell MM joined NSW Fire Brigade in 1919 stationed as a fireman at No.4, 12, 3, 38 and Headquarters, in that order; promoted to S.S.O. in January 1936 and was officer-in-charge of Wollongong Fire Station until 1940; moved then to Homebush and was promoted to D.O. in 1943; as D.O. was stationed at Broken Hill for 4 years and then served at Parramatta until 1947; in 1950 was moved to George Street West Station and after becoming an E.O. he took up duties at Headquarters until his retirement on 03Apr1955 after over 35 years service; 1955-60 he worked as a casual escort for Mayne Nickless at Newton, Sydney, NSW; he died 30Jul1974.

Frederick Walter Howell jnr, born 23Dec1919 at Paddington, Sydney, NSW; in 1933 he was enrolled as a student at Sydney Technical High School; 06Mar1936 appointed as cadet in NSW Police; served at No.5 and 7 Divisions, at the C.I.B. and at Wollongong; 06Jul1939 he was drafted out as Medically Unfit; Enlisted in 1939 in AIF and later effected a transfer to RANR on 07Jan1941; Mar1941 he was sent to England for special training and then assigned to Royal Navy destroyer HMS Cossack; KIA 23Oct1941 at age 21 when HMS Cossack, was torpedoed; his father said that in his son's very last letter, dated 23 August 1941, he described the Cossack as a first-class ship with a tip-top crew and added that 'life was grand'. This letter arrived just a few days before the family received a telegram from the Navy Office on November 5 advising that he had been killed.; F.W.Howell is recorded on the Roll of Honour at Homebush and at the Australian War Memorial. Fred Howell jnr was a junior member of the East Sydney Amateur Swimming Club and represented in District Competitions as well as representing his school and later the Police Department in swimming competitions. He also represented his ship in aquatic sports during on shore training.

HMS Cossack, the most famous destroyer of WWII, gained fame in February 1940 as she was the ship which rescued many sailors of all nationalities, mostly British, from the Nazi prison-ship 'Altmark'. Cossack was also involved in the Second Battle of Narvik. On 23 October 1941 while escorting a convoy from Gibraltar to England she was torpedoed by U-boat U-563 (under command of Klaus Heinrich Bargsten). The front of the ship was almost completely destroyed and the captain and 158 officers and men out of a crew of 219 were killed and another 29 injured. An attempt was made to tow the ship back for repairs but she sank in heavy seas four days later.

Peter Edward Howell NX193442 (N435937), born 23Jun1924 at Balmain, Sydney, NSW; Enl.07Aug1944 at Port Moresby, PNG; Disch.27Sep1946 as Gunner ex PAGA Hvy Bty.

With research.