Medals with place in battalion history go on sale

Medals belonging to the first member of an infantry battalion to be killed in World War One are to be sold at auction.

Pte Albert Jones, who was born in 1891 at Rushbury in Shropshire, died three weeks after arriving in France in August 1915.

He was a member of the King's Shropshire Light Infantry 6th Battalion and had enlisted the previous summer.

The medals, due to go on sale at Halls Fine Art in Shrewsbury on Wednesday, are the 1914-15 Star, the 1914-18 War Medal and the Victory Medal.

The 6th Service Battalion was formed of companies drawn from a number of towns in Shropshire, and set off for France in July 1915, joining the 60th Brigade.

His unit's records show that on 13 August 1915 the battalion was stationed at Rouge de Bout and the trenches at Petillon, and that one soldier, Pte Jones, was killed.

He had been the son of John and Jane Jones and husband of Rose Elizabeth Jones, and was buried at the Rue-du-Bois Military Cemetery, Fleuxbaix.

He is commemorated on war memorials at Ludlow and Wistanstow, near Craven Arms.

Also included in the auction is a collection of medals, photographs and letters belonging to a soldier who was one of the first to enlist at the start of the war and died eight months before its end.

Cpl George Jay, of the Military Foot Police, was killed in March 1918 at the age of 38 after being severely wounded.

He had previously been awarded the Military Medal for his bravery, whilst on traffic duty in June 1917, when a lorry convoy carrying gas cylinders was hit.

Under heavy fire he gave first aid to wounded men, sent for ambulances and cleared the remaining lorries.

The letters praise the courage and devotion of Cpl Jay who was buried with full honours in Ypres Reservoir Cemetery, Belgium.

Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.