WWI Pair & Army LSGC – 30332 Sjt. A. Harmer, Royal Garrison Artillery – Gassed Twice, Wounded, Served in Gibraltar, India, South Africa & France – 21 Years' Service
A well-documented and characterful Long Service group of three medals awarded to 30332 Serjeant Albert Harmer, Royal Garrison Artillery, who served over two decades across the British Empire – from Gibraltar to India, South Africa, and the Western Front. Harmer was gassed twice in France during WWI, wounded in 1917, and somehow still managed to earn the Army Long Service & Good Conduct Medal despite a somewhat rowdy start to his military career.
Group comprises:
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British War Medal 1914–20, impressed: 30332 SJT. A. HARMER. R.A.
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Victory Medal, impressed: 30332 SJT. A. HARMER. R.A.
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Army Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, George V, impressed: 30332 CPL. A. HARMER. R.G.A.
This is his full entitlement of medals.
Biography & Service:
Albert Harmer was born in St John’s, Brighton, Sussex in 1879. A pre-war Territorial, he had served in the Sussex Artillery Volunteers before enlisting into the Royal Garrison Artillery at Brighton on 5th October 1898, aged 18 years and 11 months. At the time, he was working as a labourer.
His extensive service included:
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Home service: 5 Oct 1898 – 17 Nov 1898
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Gibraltar: 18 Nov 1898 – 14 Mar 1901
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India: 15 Mar 1901 – 22 Nov 1907
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Home again: 23 Nov 1907 – 30 Jan 1912
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South Africa: 31 Jan 1912 – 18 Jul 1916
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Western Front (BEF): 17 Oct 1916 – 3 Feb 1919
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Final home service: 4 Feb 1919 – 7 Oct 1919
Total service: 21 years
While in South Africa during the Great War, he was noted as part of the Cape Colony campaign (5 Aug 1914 – 18 Jul 1916), before transferring to the Western Front where he served from October 1916 to February 1919. During his time in France, Harmer was gassed twice, though not severely, and was wounded in action in 1917. His next of kin was listed as resident in Edinburgh.
Early in his service, Harmer had several disciplinary run-ins with the Military Police while stationed in Gibraltar in 1900, but he clearly turned things around, going on to achieve a full career and receiving the Army Long Service and Good Conduct Medal – a strong testament to his later reliability and steadiness.
He married Mabel during his service and had two daughters – Violet, born in Edinburgh in 1912, and Christina, born in Cape Town in 1914.
A Characterful Group with Broad Service and Colourful History
A fine medal trio to a long-serving NCO of the Royal Garrison Artillery whose career spanned the height of Britain’s global empire and the horrors of the Western Front. Gassed, wounded, and battle-tested – yet ultimately awarded for long and good service – Harmer’s medals tell the story of a soldier who truly saw it all.