A 1914 Star trio to an ‘Old Contemptible’ – a pre-war regula...

Estimate

£160 - £180

A 1914 Star trio to an ‘Old Contemptible’ – a pre-war regular army survivor of the 1st Battalion the Gordon Highlanders, which formed part of the original British
Expeditionary Force (BEF) which was virtually wiped out after the battles against the Germans of late 1914 and early 1915.
The 1914 Star named to: 3-6062 Pte J Napier 1/Gord Highrs; the British War Medal and Victory Medals named to: 3-6062 Pte J M Napier Gord Highrs.
Jonathan Marnoch Napier was born on 03/04/1895 at Milbrox, Aberdeenshire, one of ten children of Stephenson Napier, a farm labourer, and his wife. He enlisted into the
Gordon Highlanders on 19/08/1912 and disembarked at Zeebrugge on 07/10/1914 - so it appears he was sent to France with the 2nd Battalion, which shortly afterwards
was heavily engaged in the 1st Battle of Ypres in October/November 1914. The British line came under enormous pressure and was in danger of being broken. The
Belgian city of Ypres was the last obstacle between the French Channel ports and the advancing German army. The fighting began on the 19th of October and lasted for over a month. The Germans were eventually defeated by elements of the Indian Army and the Old British Regular Army, and Ypres stayed in Allied hands for the time being. 8,000 men were killed in the First Battle of Ypres and the British Regular Army was all but destroyed.
Pte Napier was entitled to the clasp to the 1914 Star, but there is no record of its issue on his MIC. So, like many former members of the BEF, when discharged after
the end of the First World War, he either could not afford the postage or was insufficiently interested to submit his claim and so the clasp was not issued.
He was wounded in 1915, possibly at Neuve Chapelle, and later awarded a Silver War Badge and a disability pension. He was discharged on 15/02/1919 and died on 16/09/1947 in Edinburgh Infirmary, at the age of 52.
Good Very Fine (GVF) condition; mounted for display with original watered silk ribbons.