Lot 21A
Lieutenant General
The Petra Collection of Medals to the 22nd Foot (The Cheshire Regiment) & Other Properties | M26001
Auction: 12 February 2026 10:30 GMT
Description
The Very Impressive Group of 14 awarded to Lieutenant General Frederick Vavasour Broome Witts, CB, CBE, DSO, MC late Royal Engineers comprising, Companion of the Bath, C.B. (Mily), neck badge gilt, Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, C.B.E. (Mily), neck badge, Distinguished Service Order, GVR, Military Cross, GVR, Knight of Grace of the Order of St John, Neck Badge and Breast Star all unnamed as issued, 1914-15 Star, (Capt F.V.B. Witts. R.E.), 1914-1920 British War and Victory Medals with Mentioned in Despatches emblem (Major F.V.B. Witts.), General Service Medal 1918-62, GVR three clasps, Kurdistan, Iraq, Palestine, (Major F.V.B. Witts.), 1939-45 Defence Medal, engraved (Major General F.V.B. Witts), 1938-45 War Medal, privately engraved, (Major General F.V.B. Witts), Jubilee Medal 1935, unnamed as issued, Coronation Medal 1937, unnamed as issued, French Croix De Gurre with Bronze Palm, unnamed as issued, contemporarily mounted for wear, C.B., C.B.E. and Knight of Grace of the Order of St John all in Cases of issue. Very fine (14)
C.B the London Gazette:
C.B.E the London Gazette:
Distinguished Service Order the London Gazette:
Military Cross the London Gazette:
For conspicuous gallantry and coolness. Under heavy rifle and machine gun fire he made a personal reconnaissance of the riverbank and subsequently led a party of his men carrying a pontoon across the open and down the bank. Although wounded himself, and in spite of casualties among his party, which made the task increasingly difficult, he succeeded, in full view of the enemy, in launching the pontoon.
Knight of Grace of the order of St John of Jerusalem the London Gazette:
Mentioned in Despatches the London Gazette:
Frederick Vavasour Broome Witts was the son of the Rev. Francis Edward Broome Witts; he was educated at Radley College. He was commissioned into the Royal Engineers after graduating from the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, on 23 July 1907. He served in the First World War and was awarded the Military Cross, as well as the Distinguished Service Order and was mentioned in dispatches three times during the war.
Witts attended the Staff College, Quetta, from 1922−1923 and served at the War Office in London for the next four years. After serving on the directing staff at the Staff College, Camberley, from 1930−1932,Witts became Commander Royal Engineers for the 5th Infantry Division in 1933, Brigadier on the general staff of Western Command in India in December 1937 and commander of the 8th Indian Brigade in India in May 1938.
In the Second World War he served as General Officer Commanding 45th Infantry Division from September 1939, Deputy Chief of Staff for the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France from April 1940 and General Officer Commanding 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division from May 1940. After that he became General Officer Commanding Bombay District in India from July 1941 and Acting General Officer Commanding Southern Command in India in 1942 before retiring in 1943.
Sold with the Book T
he Mespot Letters of a Cotswolds Soldier Frederick Witts
Edited by Jasper Hadman 2009
Footnote
