News & Blog

An impressive group on offer

Posted on Fri, 25 February 2011 by Phil Mussell - General News, Medal News

Medals.jpg
Smiths Newent Auctions are offering the medals of a former Director General of the Army Medical Services at their sale of March 4

 

The group of 22 to Sir Arthur Sloggett, which includes the KCMG, KCVO, KCB Egypt Medal, Queens South Africa Medal, Kings South Africa Medal, 1914 Star and bar trio (he was mentioned in despatches seven times in WWI!)Legion of Honour and the Order of King Leopold, charts the remarkable history of a remarkable man. It seems that at Khartoum he was gravely injured when his horse was shot from under him and he was then, apparently, he was shot in the heart. His granddaughter related how he was laid out with the dead until one his grieving nurses placed a mirror in front of his lips and realised he was still alive. He is then famously quoted as having said that he only survived the incident since ‘his heart was in his mouth’ at the time.

 

In 1914 he was promoted to Director General of the Army Medical Services and when war broke out one month later he was sent to the front in France where

he served until 1918. Sir Arthur was not only a brave soldier but was also found to be an excellent administrator and was much admired for his management of the Medical Services during the Great War.

 


The group goes on sale with an estimate of between £10,000 and £15,000


 The deatils of the sale can be found here


The CBE DSO group of medals to Arthur Sloggett's son, also Arthur, were sold at DNW in December 2002 see here for details of that sale