Description

ROYAL NAVAL DIVISION DRAKE BN WW1 MEDALS & PLAQUE KILLED IN ACTION R212 WILKINS

First world war medal pair and death plaque to Able Seaman H. Wilkins, Drake Battalion, Royal Naval Division, who was killed in action killed on 4 August 1917 at Arras

British War and Victory Medal (1914 – 18), impressed named R.212 H. WILKINS. A.B. R.N.V.R. Court mounted for display; Memorial Plaque named HARRY WILKINS. Comes with copies of service record, medal roll, pension extract, war diary extract and R.N. casualty list.

Harry Wilkins was born on the 2/9/1897 at Nottingham. A grocer’s improver by trade, he had been serving in the Army Reserve 15/5/1916 – 31/8/1916, when he discharged to enlist into the Royal Naval Reserve (Royal Naval Division) 31/8/1916 and was initially attached to ‘A’ Reserve Battalion Blandford (R.N.D. base depot and training camp at Blandford, taining on trench construction and trench warfare was carried out within the camp area). 16/12/1916 He was drafted to the Drake Battalion for service in France where he was killed in action 4/8/1917. On the day the Battalion was holding the line near Arras and the war diary records that they were shelled between 130pm  – 4pm and T.M (Trench mortars) were active. It makes no mention of casualties on the day, however three men from the Battalion were killed on the day (NICOL, Archibald, Leading Seaman, RNVR, Clyde Z 6900; THROW, Herbert, Able Seaman, RNVR, R 139 and WILKINS, Harry, Able Seaman, RNVR, R 212).

He was initially buried in an isolated grave, but was exhumed and re buried in the Point Du Jour Military Cemetery Athies on the 29/10/1920.