WW1 British War & Victory Medal pair, C.S.Y. Taylor, London Scottish Scout, wounded Cambrai

A First World War British War Medal and Victory Medal pair named to 7822 Cpl. C.S.Y. Taylor, 14-Lond.R. He was Cameron Sneddon Young Taylor of the London Scottish, a battalion Scout who was wounded in action at Cambrai and later selected for pilot training with the Royal Air Force.

Both medals are in good original condition with their original ribbons. A correct pair. No paperwork is included, but his service record survives and is there for the buyer to explore.

A battalion Scout

His RAF record lists him as "Scout Sec. HQ, 1st Lond Scot". That places him in the Scout Section at battalion headquarters, not in an ordinary rifle company.

Battalion scouts were a small, picked group who worked for the intelligence officer. Their job was patrolling No Man's Land, observing the enemy, map reading and reporting back.

His story

Cameron Taylor was born on the Isle of Skye on 3 August 1897. His father, David Taylor, lived at Moatvale, Twynholm, Kirkcudbrightshire.

By 1916 he was a Civil Service clerk living at 23 Guildford Road, Stockwell, London. He attested at Lambeth in January 1916, aged 18, and joined the London Scottish at Buckingham Gate that May.

He landed in France on 30 September 1916 and joined the 1/14th Battalion in the field two weeks later.

Wounded at Cambrai

He was wounded in action on 30 November 1917, the day of the great German counter-attack at Cambrai. The London Scottish were fighting around Tadpole Copse and Moeuvres.

His RAF medical card records a gunshot wound to the back. He was treated by the 2/2nd London Field Ambulance and was back with his battalion by 15 December.

Selected for pilot training

In 1918 he rose to Corporal and then paid Lance Sergeant. That summer he was sent home to train as an RAF officer cadet, reverting to Corporal, the rank on his medals.

On 9 August 1918 a medical board examined him for pilot and passed him fit as observer or pilot. He trained with the RAF Cadet Brigade at St Leonards-on-Sea, which King George V inspected that same month.

He reached No. 5 School of Aeronautics on 2 November 1918. The Armistice came nine days later and ended his training before he reached flying.

A long life

He came home from the war and lived to a ripe old age. The England and Wales death index records a Cameron Sneddon Y. Taylor, born in 1897, who died in 1979 aged 82.

With such an unusual name, this is almost certainly the same man.

Service record

• 14 January 1916: attested at Lambeth
• May 1916: joined the London Scottish, number 7822, later 513707
• 30 September 1916: landed in France
• 15 October 1916: joined 1/14th Battalion, London Scottish
• 30 November 1917: wounded in action
• 1918: Corporal, then paid Lance Sergeant
• August 1918: RAF cadet, No. 8 and No. 2 Cadet Wings
• 2 November 1918: No. 5 School of Aeronautics
• January 1919: demobilised

Conduct

One entry only. In August 1918 he overstayed his leave at Hampstead by eleven and a half hours. He was admonished and lost a day's pay.

Records

His Army service papers, medal index card (WO 372/19/159344) and RAF record all survive. Copies are not included.