WW1 Medal Pair to Pte Ernest F. Kirby 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, The Royal Sussex Regiment

Both medal rims correctly impressed:

"3555 Pte. E.F. Kirby. R.Suss.R."

On lengths of original ribbons. Some wear to these and damage to the VM ribbon. Medals in GVF condition with an edge bruise to the VM.

WW1 MIC confirms entitlement to a pair only. Subsequently renumbered as 241043 (copy to be supplied). Kirby appears on the roll of the 5th Battalion (copy to be provided of his entry). More information appears on roll held in the West Sussex Record Office.

The 5th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment (Cinque Ports) was formed on 1st April 1908 as part of the newly constituted Territorial Force (TF).

When the war broke out in August 1914 the battalion was assembled and became Army Troops in the Home Counties Division TF. In early 1915 it was posted for duty at the Tower of London. About this time several composite battalions of the Cinque Ports were formed. The original battalion was thereafter known as the 1/5th, with two reserve units formed later - the 2/5th and 3/5th. These supplied drafts to the 1/5th Bn in France, and later personnel to several battalions of the regiment.

In 1917 each man still serving with the battalion was given a new regimental number as part of an overall re-numbering in the Territorial Force. These numbers were between 240001 and 265000.

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Code: 68329