British War Medal, Lieutenant Henry Denne Hirst, Commanding Officer of 3 Battalion, The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)

Silver campaign medal with a portrait of King George V facing left with the inscription, 'Georgivs V Britt: Omn: Rex Et Ind Imp:', on the obverse and an equestrian figure of St George, trampling a shield bearing the Prussian eagle, on the reverse. Additional designs on the reverse include the years, '1914' and '1918', a skull and crossed bones representing death and a rising sun, representing victory. Orange corded silk ribbon edged with blue and white vertical stripes.

Henry Denne Hirst was born about 1865 and enlisted with The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) in 1899. He served in South Africa during the Boer War (1899-1902), achieving the rank of Captain by 1903. Hirst went on to serve in France during the World War One (1914-1918)as a battalion commander. Unusually for the time, Hirst was known to have rejected recruits he discovered were under age despite the increasing shortage of manpower. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel but died at the Western Heights Military Hospital in Dover in 1918, following an operation and short illness.

From a medal group awarded to Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Denne Hirst, Commanding Officer, 3rd Battalion, The Buffs (East Kent Regiment), 1912-1918. From the collection of the former Buffs Regimental Museum.