Fantastic Boer War/WW1 Mons group of 4 - Imperial Yeomanry/ASC

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Scarce group to Sgt S Pilley 102nd (Worcestershire) Imperial Yeomanry, later Driver HQ Lahore Division, Army Service Corps Queens South Africa Medal clasps Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, South Africa 1901 and South Africa 1902 (correctly named to 31407 SERJT. S. PILLEY. 102ND COY. IMP: YEO:) 1914 Star Trio (correctly named to TS-1209 DVR: S. PILLEY A.S.C.) Of 115 men of the 102nd Imperial Yeomany entitled to the QSA, only 108 were entitled to this clasp combination. Sold with research showing that Samuel Pilley was born at Suffolk Street, Birmingham in 1871. He served first of all with the Militia, 3rd Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment, then from November 1889 he attested at Birmingham for the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, after only 11 weeks at the DCLI depot at Bodmin he transferred to No 11 Field Battery, Royal Artillery. He purchased his discharge at Sheffield on 11.07.1892. He married Emma Hassell on 15.04.1900 at St Martins, Birmingham (in the Bull Ring). On 02.03.1901 he attested for the Imperial Yeomanry and declared a wish to join the Worcestershire Imperial Yeomanry (perhaps not unsurprisingly as he was recruited by a Quarter Master Sergeant of the Queens Own Worcestershire Hussars). His next of kin was his wife Emma, of 49 Benacre Street, Birmingham. He went to South Africa almost immediately from 30.03.1901. He was promoted Cpl then Sergeant on 04.02.1902. He got back to England on 09.09.1902 and was dischared at Aldershot 6 days later. At the outbreak of the Great War he was living at 437 New John Street, Birmingham and volunteered for the army in the city on 17.08.1914. He was sent to Aldershot where he was appointed to the Army Service Corps. Just one month later, on 22 September 1914 he joined the BEF in France with Headquarters Company, Lahore Division. He served overseas until March 1918, when as a driver with 878 Company, he had his arm broken by the kick of a horse. He didn't serve overseas again and was transferred to the Army Reserve on 16.02.1919. Provenance Sothebys sale 21.3.1988. Postage - any item that closes above £35 will be sent Special Delivery - please don't ask me to under-insure items in the post. History The Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars were formed in 1794, as the Worcestershire Yeomanry, when King George III, was on the throne, William Pitt the Younger was the Prime Minister of Great Britain, and across the English Channel, Britain was faced by a French nation that had recently guillotined its King and possessed a revolutionary army numbering half a million men. The Prime Minister proposed that the counties form a force of Volunteer Yeomanry Cavalry which could be called on by the King to defend the country against invasion or by the Lord Lieutenant to subdue any civil disorder within the country. Worcestershire responded quickly - the first troop paraded in front of the Unicorn Inn in Worcester on October 25, 1794 under the command of Captain John Somers-Cocks and Lieutenant Thomas Spooner. With the threat of a French invasion having receded after the signing of the Peace of Amiens in 1802 the King commended the Worcestershire Yeomanry for their "honourable distinction in forming an essential part of the defence of the country against a foreign enemy in circumstances of extraordinary emergency". Edwin Hughes served as Sergeant-Instructor with the Worcestershire Yeomanry starting from the day after his discharge from the 13th Hussars until his discharge for 'old age' on 5 January 1886. Edwin Hughes was the oldest survivor of the Charge of the Light Brigade. In 1887, Queen Victoria altered the title of the regiment which was for the future to bear the designation of the Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars. The Boer War In 1899, they were called for service in the Imperial Yeomanry, for the Boer War. The War Office was not prepared for the Boer offensive and sent only 10,000 Indian troops, under command of Lord Methuen, to face some 70,0... read more

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