Unique WWI & WW2 Military Cross group to Lieutenant George Logan Wilson, MC, MBE, London Regiment

A truly special WWI & WW2 'Military Cross group to Lieutenant George Logan Wilson, M.C., M.B.E. consisting of:

·         Military Cross, G.V.R., unnamed as issued, in original case

·         The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, M.B.E. (Civil) Member's 1st type breast badge, London 1929, in Garrard, London case of issue

•     1914-15 Star (431. Sjt. G.L. Wilson. 20-Lond. R.)
•      British War and Victory Medals (Lieut. G. Wilson.)
•      1939-1945 Star
•          Italy Star
•      Defence and War Medals

It is incredibly rare to get a WW1 gallantry grouping with such a moving citation, who also fought actively for a large portion of the Second World War as well as the Great War.

Captain George Logan Wilson, MC, MBE (431)

19^th & 20^th Battalion, London Regiment (431,144294)

George Logan Wilson joined the 20^th (Blackheath and Woolwich) Battalion of the London Regiment on the 9^th March 1915 as a Serjeant, serving with them at the Battle of Aubers Ridge (May), Battle of Festubert (May) and Battle of Loos (September- October) amongst others. He then transferred to the 19^th (St Pancras) Battalion, London Regiment as a 2^nd Lieutenant on 13^th December 1915, where he stayed for much of the war. In 1916, he participated in the defence of Vimy Ridge (May), in the Somme, taking High Wood during the Battle of Flers-Courcelette (September), the Battle of Le Transloy (October) and the attacks on the Butte de Warlencourt (October-November). In 1917 he took part in the Battle of Messines (June) after which he was promoted to Lieutenant on 1^st July 1917.  He was then positioned in the Ypres sector during July-September 1917, facing heavy bombardment daily and moving between several trench systems including Railway Wood, Poperinghe, Hooge, Ridgewood. It was on a particularly rainy night there that he won his Military Cross:

M.C. Citation London Gazette: 17 September 1917

“Hearing that some men had been wounded at night about a mile away, he obtained a stretcher and went to their assistance, accompanied by a private, through very heavy shell fire. Having rescued one man, he made a second journey and brought in another, performing this extremely gallant deed under circumstances of intense difficulty: the night was pitch dark, it was pouring with rain, and the ground was a mass of shell holes and deep mud, he showed splendid devotion and disregard of his own personal safety.”

After that he continued to serve with the 19^th Battalion, fighting in the battle of Cambrai (November) as well as the final advance in Artois in 1918. After the Great War, George then re-enlisted at his old rank of Lieutenant in 1940, joining the Northumberland Fusiliers with service number 144294. It seems likely from the medals he was awarded that he joined either the 1^st or 2^nd battalion, fighting all through Italy and the Gothic line. He left the army on the 11^th June 1945 due to disability being granted the honorary rank of Captain.