Collection WW1 British War Medal, Allied Victory Medal, Long Service medal plus documents 1914
Name: S.A.M Smith
Theatre: WW1
Regiment: 6th East Surrey Regiment and 3rd V.B.E Surrey Regiment
Service Numbers: 6508 and 759
Medals:
- The British War Medal was awarded to all who had completed 28 days mobilised service during 1914-18
- The Allied Victory Medal was issued to all who served in a theatre of war between 5 August 1914 and 11 November 1918
- Volunteer Long Service medal, 20 years services established 1894 (King Edward V11 1901) discontinued in 1908
- Documents included
- Demobilization and civil Employment leaflet
- Athletic Sports meeting in Agra India
- A bridged Pictorial Agra book
- The Great War diary 1916
- Our Indian Empire hints book
- Active Service Testament 1916
- Cities of the Moguls: Received from India Peace Day July 19th 1919
- Condition: As per Photos
Origin of Volunteer Force 
The Volunteer Force of part-time soldiers was created following an invasion scare in 1859, and its constituent units were progressively aligned with the Regular British Army during the later 19th Century. The Stanhope Memorandum of December 1888 introduced a Mobilisation Scheme for Volunteer units, which would assemble in their own brigades at key points in case of war. In peacetime these brigades provided a structure for collective training.[1][2]
The Surrey Brigade was one of the formations organised at this time. Brigade Headquarters was at 71 New Street in Kennington Park (later at 97 Barkston Gardens) and the commander was Colonel Alexander Hamilton (later 10th Lord Belhaven and Stenton), a retired officer in the Royal Engineers. The assembly point for the brigade was at Caterham Barracks, the Brigade of Guards' depot conveniently situated for the London Defence Positions along the North Downs. The brigade's original composition was:[3]
S.A.M. Smith was attached to: Surrey Brigade: 3rd Volunteer Battalion, The Queens
Surrey Brigade
1/6th Battalion Territorial Force
04.08.1914 Stationed at Kingston-on-Thames as part of the Surrey Brigade of the Home Counties Division and then moved to Maidstone and then Canterbury.
29.10.1914 Embarked for India from Southampton arriving at Bombay.
02.12.1914 The Division was broken up and the battalion moved to Aden, Yemen arriving 07.02.1917.
Jan 1918 Returned to India and remained there until the end of the war.
East Surrey Regiment during WW1
Since 1815 the balance of power in Europe had been maintained by a series of treaties. In 1888 Wilhelm II was crowned ‘German Emperor and King of Prussia’ and moved from a policy of maintaining the status quo to a more aggressive position. He did not renew a treaty with Russia, aligned Germany with the declining Austro-Hungarian Empire and started to build a Navy rivalling that of Britain. These actions greatly concerned Germany’s neighbours, who quickly forged new treaties and alliances in the event of war. On 28th June 1914 Franz Ferdinand the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne was assassinated by the Bosnian-Serb nationalist group Young Bosnia who wanted pan-Serbian independence. Franz Joseph's the Austro-Hungarian Emperor (with the backing of Germany) responded aggressively, presenting Serbia with an intentionally unacceptable ultimatum, to provoke Serbia into war. Serbia agreed to 8 of the 10 terms and on the 28th July 1914 the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia, producing a cascade effect across Europe. Russia bound by treaty to Serbia declared war with Austro-Hungary, Germany declared war with Russia and France declared war with Germany. Germany’s army crossed into neutral Belgium in order to reach Paris, forcing Britain to declare war with Germany (due to the Treaty of London (1839) whereby Britain agreed to defend Belgium in the event of invasion). By the 4th August 1914 Britain and much of Europe were pulled into a war which would last 1,566 days, cost 8,528,831 lives and 28,938,073 casualties or missing on both sides.
The Regiment raised a total of 18 Battalions in World War I and was awarded 62 Battle Honours, 7 Victoria Crosses and lost 6,750 men during the course of the war.