A Birkenhead Bantam's Great War campaign medal pair: Private James Clarke Ditchfield, 15th (Service) Battalion Cheshire Regiment (1st Birkenhead) late 16th (Service) Battalion Cheshire Regiment (2nd Birkenhead)

- British War Medal. Silver issue (240734 Pte. J. C. Ditchfield. Ches. R.)
- Interallied Victory Medal (240734 Pte. J. C. Ditchfield. Ches. R.)

Sold together with an original named card box of issue, this with label, flattened (a/f)

Important: Both medals verified as the recipient's full entitlement for the Great War per the respective campaign medal roll of the Cheshire Regiment, referenced below:

- British War Medal. Silver issue: Ref WO 329/1029
- Interallied Victory Medal:Ref WO 329/1029

Bantam Battalions: Alfred Bigland, MP for Birkenhead, pressed the War Office in 1914 for permission to form a 'Bantam' battalion of men who failed to reach the British Army's normal height requirement (5ft 3in) but who were otherwise perfectly capable of serving. About 3,000 men – many of them previously rejected – rushed to volunteer. These first bantams were formed into the 1st and 2nd Birkenhead battalions of The Cheshire Regiment (later redesignated the 15th and 16th battalions). Bantam's had to be not less than 5ft (1.5m) tall and no more than 5ft 3in (1.6m) in height. Private James Clarke Ditchfield had the distinction of serving in each of the two 'Bantam' battalions of the Cheshire Regiment. The medal roll shows that he first entered theatre of war 'France' while serving with 16th (Service) Battalion Cheshire Regiment (2nd Birkenhead). In France & Flanders, James served in order with 16th Cheshires, then briefly in 1918 to the to 12th Entrenching Battalion (this only raised in 1918) and lastly to 15th (Service) Battalion Cheshire Regiment (1st Birkenhead). The two 'Bantam's' battalions of the Cheshire's landed in France in January 1916, where they served on the Western Front in France & Flanders. The 16th (Service) Battalion Cheshire Regiment (2nd Birkenhead) was disbanded in Belgium on 6 February 1918, which is likely the date that James Ditchfield was briefly transferred to the 12th Entrenching Battalion before being lastly posted to the 15th (Service) Battalion Cheshire Regiment (1st Birkenhead)

James Clarke Ditchfield, son of Henry Ditchfield (a 'Tanner') & Elizabeth Ditchfield (nee Clarke) was a native of, Lymm, Cheshire, England, where he was born on, 24 January 1891. By the the time of the 1901 & 1911 National Census for England 7 Wales, James was recorded as living with his maternal grandparents, at their residence located at, Sandy Lane, Lymm, Cheshire, and where in 1911, he was recorded employed as a 'Clerk'. After service in France and Flanders with the 'Bantam Battalions' of the Cheshire Regiment, during the Great War, James returned to his native roots in Cheshire. James Clarke Ditchfield is recorded as having died at Warrington, Cheshire, England, on, 4 August 1976

A fine confirmed 'Fighting Bantam's' Great War campaign medal pair

Condition: EF

Code: 23070