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WORLD WAR I - SPORTSMAN'S BATTALION Album of manuscript and printed ephemera relating to the service career of Major Raymond Oliver Jourdain (1871-1942) of the 23rd (1st Sportsman's) Battalion Royal Fusiliers, 1914-1920
£800 - £1,200
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WORLD WAR I - SPORTSMAN'S BATTALION
Footnotes
'I AM HERE FOR TWO PURPOSES – TO DO AS MUCH DAMAGE AS POSSIBLE TO THE ENEMY AND TO HOLD MY PART OF THE LINE AT ALL COSTS': RECORDS OF AN OFFCER IN THE 'SPORTSMAN'S' BATTALION.
The Sportsman's Battalion was one of Kitchener's 'Pals' battalions formed in the early months of the First World War, in this case made up of men up to the age of 45 who had distinguished themselves on the sports field and included in their ranks a number of retired officers, members of the peerage and several professional footballers and first-class cricketers. Raymond Oliver Jourdain joined their ranks at the age of 43. He saw action in the trenches at Cambrin and Givenchy until he was, as material in this album shows, wounded on 11 February 1916 and invalided out. In December he was employed in Directorate of Mobilizations at the War Office. Jourdain was awarded the 'Cavalier' Italian Order of the Crown in 1919, the certificate for which is included in the album.

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