1914-15 Star (2.Lieut. F.J. Adamson.High L.I.)

Wounded-in-Action: Various newspaper reports record that Second-Lieutenant (later Captain) Frank John Adamson, was 'Wounded-in-Action' more than once while serving in France & Flanders. Firstly he is recorded in the Officers Casualty, dated London 20 August 1916 that was published in The Civil and Military Gazette (Lahore) issue of 27 August 1916. Also see 'The Scotsman' issue of 15 March 1923, where as background narrative to the 'Sensational Domestic Lawsuit' being reported, that Captain Frank John Adamson has been 'Gassed and Wounded' during the Great War

Portrait Photographs: The Imperial War Museum 'Collections' include two fine portraits of the recipient - one of which we have here illustrated - both confusingly wrongly attributed - showing a wrong forename initial, the other showing him recorded as an NCO - but clearly both portraits re of one and same officer (one of the portraits being published in the national press see Franks marriage to a 'Socialite' that was published in the Daily Mirror issue of 17 August 1918) .

Medals & Clasp Verification: 2nd Lieutenant (Later Captain) Frank John Adamson, 'C' Company, 12th (Service) Battalion Highland Light Infantry, is confirmed entitled to the 1914-15 Star, together with the companion British War & Interallied Victory Medals per the below cited medal rolls:

- 1914-15 Star: WO 329/2951. Shows disembarked France 10/07/1915
- British War Medal. Silver: WO 329/2249
- Interallied Victory Medal: WO 329/2249

Let there be no doubt that Second-Lieutenant was in the thick of the fighting on the Western Front, and a witness to the gore and horrors of trench warfare, as evinced by the poignant letter he sent to the widow of one of his men - the South African War veteran - No. Private James Munro 12th (Service) Battalion Highland Light Infantry, who was 'Killed-in-Action' on the Wesetern Front on 19 January 1919, the letter being published in 'The Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser' issue of, 12 February 1916, and which we are hereunder quoting the article in part:

Quote,

COATBRIDGE DEAD HERO'S BRAVE ACTION DESCRIBED

Mrs. Munro, 41 Coatbank Street, Coatbridge, has received the following letter from Lt. Frank.Adamson, C.Coy., H.L.I., France:-

"Dear Madam, I received your letter of 27th ult. I regret to confirm the information conveyed to you by another soldier of this regiment. However your husband's head was not blown off, but a nasty face wound which resulted in instantaneous death. I might tell you of the noble way in which your brave husband met his death. A large portion of our trench was blown in by the enemy's artillery which buried several of our men, and he with other three men went without orders to dig them out, and were engaged in this when another shell landed and accounted for the four. I can also assure you that he was carried back from the trenches and given a proper burial, which he well deserved. The heartfelt sympathy of the officers and men of C Company goes to you in this terrible loss, and indeed feel the loss of an ideal soldier.".....

Unquote.

Frank John Adamson was the only son of John Adamson (sole partner of S. Adamson & Son, Photographic Artists) and Isabel (or Isabella) Adamson (nee McIntyre), was a native of Rothesay, Bute, Scotland, where he was born on 18 August 1894. Frank's father died in 1896, after which he was raised by his widowed mother. At the time of the compilation of the 1901 National Census for Scotland, Frank is recorded as a schoolboy and living with his widowed mother and his older sibling sister, Dorothy Adamson, at the family residence located at:

Calline Villa
Crichton Road
Rothesay
Buteshire
Scotland

Raised on the West Coast of Scotland, Frank was not surprisingly attracted to the 'Sea'. On 31 December 1909, he is recorded having joined the Royal Navy, from school, at the tender age of 15, and being appointed with the rate Boy Artificer rate. At the time, a "boy artificer" was a boy apprentice, aged 15-17 undergoing training in technical skills at dockyard schools to become an artificer, a skilled mechanic. The young Frank served at H.M.S Tendeos 31 December 1900 to 15 July 1910, and then at H.M.S. Indus from 16 July 1910 through to 2 January 1911. on which date he was discharged to shore, the cause of his discharge being cited as having failed an exam.

Frank was obtained a commission in the British Army, when he was appointed Second Lieutenant 30 November 1914, and posted to the Highland Light Infantry. 2/Lt Adamson disembarked in France on 10 July 1915, and served with 'C' Company, 12th (Service) Battalion Highland Light Infantry - where he was both wounded-in-action and poison-gassed. Promoted to Captain, Frank married the socialite Miss Phyliss L. C. GillIbrand on 30 October 1918. Albeit he survived the Great War, Frank was not destined to live a long life. Notwithstanding being mentally and physically scarred by his experiences on the Western Front during the Great War, his domestic life was far removed from being idyllic - the spanner in the works being, Frank's claims of interference and manipulation in his marriage, by his 'Mother-in-Law'. Subsequently in a sensational - and widely nationally reported - civil law-suit, Captain Adamson claimed GBP 5,000 damages / compensation against 'The Mother-in-Law'. The case was the first of it's kind to be challenged in the Scottish Courts. In the event Captain Adamson lost his case, which was ultimately dismissed. Very shortly after the collapse of the case, Captain Adamson 'died suddenly' (perhaps sadly taking his own life) at a hotel, in Nairn, Scotland, on, 13 June 1923 - he was not even 30 years of age. Whatever the final state of his marriage, the deceased Captain left his estate to his widow!

The medal retaining it's original long length of silk 'moire' riband

Condition: EF

Sold together with photocopied portrait photograph of the recipient in uniform, wearing his regimental glengarry with Highland Light Infantry

Condition: GVF

Code: 24923