Naval General Service Medal 1915-62,

A 1915 RMS Lusitania Propaganda Medal - Bronze obverse illustrating the stricken liner sinking, her stern submerged to left while her ram-shaped bow, laden with armaments, rises clear of the water (an image contradicting eyewitness accounts which stated that the ship went down bow first, the shape of the bow being a reference to the configuration of warships of the period and possibly a reminder that the British Admiralty had ordered merchant vessels to attempt to ram German submarines), smoke billowing from the vessel's four funnels, inscribed "KEINE BANN WARE!" (No Contraband Goods) above and "DER GROSS-DAMPFER LUSITANIA DURCH EIN DEUTSCHES TAUCHBOOT VERSENKT 5.MAI 1915" (the liner Lusitania sunk by a German submarine 5 May 1915) below, reverse illustrating Death in the form of a skeleton, behind the ticket office counter of the Cunard Line in New York, issuing tickets to a crush of passengers, sign above the window inscribed "CUNA LINIE" (Cunard Line), arranged vertically down the right side of the window is the word "CUNARD" and below the counter "FAHRKARTEN AUSGABE" (Ticket Office), at the extreme left of the crowd a man reads a newspaper bearing the headline "U BOOT GEFAHR" (U-boat Danger) and standing next to him is a top-hatted and bearded figure, a representation of the German Ambassador to the USA, Count Johann-Heinrich von Bernstorff raising a warning finger, inscribed "GESCHÄFT ÜBER ALLES" (Business Above All) above and the initials of the designer, "KG" (Karl Goetz) below the feet of the crowd, very high relief, 54.5 mm, surface rust evident below the rib cage of the skeleton, better than extremely fine. Footnote: Shortly after 2:10 pm on Friday, May 7, 1915, in fine clear weather off the Old Head of Kinsale (a headland on southern coast of Ireland), the Cunard liner Lusitania (30,396 tons) was hit amidships by a torpedo. She was struck without warning and sank in a matter of twenty minutes. According to the latest evidence, 1,201 men, women and children were lost. Of these fatalities 128 were American citizens. The U20, the German submarine which fired the torpedo, circled the sinking ship then fled the scene, reaching its base at Wilhelmshaven on May 13th. The Lusitania Medallion was privately issued in Germany, to mark the circumstances of the sinking of the Cunard liner RSM Lusitania in May 1915. British copies of the piece were subsequently widely distributed as part of a concerted anti-German propaganda campaign. The Munich-based Medallist, Karl Goetz, regarded the loss of the Lusitania as an event which stemmed directly from the bewildering irresponsibility of the British Government and the Cunard Steamship Company in allowing the return of the liner from New York to Liverpool at a time of intense U-boat activity. The significance of the reference to Count Johann-Heinrich von Bernstorff raising a warning finger is that on May 1, 1915, Lusitania's sailing day from New York, a German-sponsored announcement appeared next to the Cunard advertisement in all New York papers reminding passengers that Germany was at war with Britain and her allies and that the war zone included the waters around the British Isles, and any vessels flying the flag of Great Britain, or any of her allies, were liable to destruction in British waters. A second version of the medal was later issued correcting the date of the sinking, from May 5 to May 7, 1915.

Edward VII, (817 SJT; F.L. YOUNG. 7/R/ SCOTS.), Naming is officially impressed, lacquered, very fine.

WWI Pair to the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry - British War Medal (36552 PTE. E.V. KAY. D. OF CORN. L. I.); and Victory Medal (36552 PTE. E.V. KAY. D. OF CORN. L. I.). Naming is officially impressed. Un-mounted, dark patina on the BWM, gilt wear on the VM, better than very fine. Accompanied by a Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry Cap Badge (white metal, 41.7 mm x 47.2 mm, bent lugs and pin), also better than very fine.

Great Britain. Second World War Group of Three, Signalman Charles Frederick Marshall, Royal Corps of Signals, Died while a Prisoner of War of the Japanese 1944; 1939-1945 Star; Pacific Star, 1 Clasp - BURMA; and War Medal 1939-1945. Un-named as issued, un-mounted, original ribbons with pads on the back from previous board mounting, light contact, near extremely fine. Accompanied by a Medal Awards Condolence Slip (named to "Signalman C.F. Marshall" and indicating that he was entitled to "3" awards, 101 mm x 141 mm, fold marks, soiled, edge tears); and copies of his Japanese Prisoner of War Records.

Footnote: Charles Frederick Marshall was born on August 11, 1915, the son of Frederick Marshall and Nellie Marshall. He was the husband of Joyce Elizabeth Marshall of Kingsbury, Middlesex and is documented as having been a resident of North Kensington, London, England and was a Bookkeeper by trade. 2345268 Signalman Charles Frederick Marshall, Royal Corps of Signals was with 3 (I) Corps Signals in Malaya and attached to the III Indian Corps Signals, Indian Signal Corps when he was in action during the Battle of Singapore (also known as the Fall of Singapore), when the Empire of Japan invaded the British stronghold of Singapore, nicknamed the "Gibraltar of the East". Singapore was the major British military base in South-East Asia and was the keystone of British imperial interwar defence planning for South-East Asia as well as the South-West Pacific. The fighting in Singapore lasted from February 8 to 15, 1942, although this was preceded by two months of British resistance, as Japanese forces advanced down the Malaya peninsula. It resulted in the capture of Singapore by the Japanese and the largest surrender of British-led military personnel in history. About 80,000 British, Indian and Australian troops became prisoners of war, joining 50,000 taken by the Japanese in the earlier Malayan Campaign. Marshall was one of those captured in Singapore onFebruary 15th, and was subsequently taken as a Prisoner of War. He was conscripted to work on the notorious Burma-Siam Railway, which was built by Commonwealth, Dutch and American prisoners of war. The railway was a Japanese project driven by the need for improved communications, to support the large Japanese army in Burma. During its construction, approximately 13,000 prisoners of war died and were buried along the railway. An estimated 80,000 to 100,000 civilians also died in the course of the project, chiefly forced labour brought from Malaya and the Dutch East Indies or conscripted in Siam (Thailand) and Burma (Myanmar). Two labour forces, one based in Siam and the other in Burma, worked from opposite ends of the line towards the centre. The Japanese aimed at completing the railway in fourteen months and work began in October 1942. The line, 424 kilometres long, was completed by December 1943. 2345268 Signalman Charles Frederick Marshall, Royal Corps of Signals died on Friday, January 21, 1944, at the age of 28, shortly after the completion of the notorious Burma-Siam Railway and is buried in Chungkai War Cemetery, Grave Reference: 2. E. 8. The cemetery is located approximately five kilometres west of the town of Kanchanaburi, which is 129 kilometres north-west of Bangkok, at the point where the river Kwai divides into two separate rivers; the Mae Khlong River and Kwai Noi River. The graves of those who died during the construction and maintenance of the Burma-Siam railway (except for the Americans, whose remains were repatriated) were transferred from camp burial grounds and isolated sites along the railway into three cemeteries at Chungkai and Kanchanaburi in Thailand and Thanbyuzayat in Myanmar. Chungkai was one of the base camps on the railway and contained a hospital and church built by Allied prisoners of war. The war cemetery is the original burial ground started by the prisoners themselves, and the burials are mostly of men who died at the hospital. There are now 1,426 Commonwealth and 313 Dutch burials of the Second World War in this cemetery.