WW1 British War & Victory Medal pair 4005 H.S. Long Royal Fusiliers Sportsman's Bn & RAF

WW1 British War and Victory Medal pair to 4005 Private Henry Sidney Long, 23rd Battalion Royal Fusiliers (1st Sportsman's), who later transferred to the Royal Flying Corps and served in the Royal Air Force as 138844.

The medals are named "4005 PTE. H.S. LONG. R. FUS." They are in fine condition, correctly named, and on their original ribbons. They are not overly polished, so the detail is still nice and clear.

His story

Henry Sidney Long was born in 1871 and worked as a painter. He married Edith in St Pancras, London, and their daughter Kathleen Edith was born there in 1905. By the war the family lived at Willow Walk, South Tottenham.

Joining up at 44

Henry enlisted on 2 June 1915, aged 44. Most units would not take a man that old. The Sportsman's Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers was given special permission to accept fit men up to the age of 45, so he got in with a year to spare.

He is named in the battalion's published nominal roll, in The 23rd (Service) Battalion Royal Fusiliers (First Sportsman's) by Fred W. Ward, 1920.

France, 1916 to 1917

• Landed in France on 6 January 1916
• Admitted to 24 General Hospital, Etaples, on 14 January 1916 with neuritis, and back to the reinforcement camp on 31 January
• Served with the battalion through 1916, the year of Delville Wood and Beaumont Hamel
• Admitted to 4 General Hospital, Dannes-Camiers, with trench fever on 6 June 1917
• Left France on 12 June 1917 and was admitted to 2nd Western General Hospital, Manchester, the next day

From soldier to airman

Rather than leave the service, he carried on, transferring to the Royal Flying Corps as a painter, the trade he had followed in civilian life.

• Joined the Royal Flying Corps on 28 February 1918 as an Air Mechanic 2nd Class, trade painter
• Became part of the Royal Air Force on its first day, 1 April 1918, as 138844
• Listed as Air Mechanic 3rd Class, enlisted for the duration of the war
• Transferred to the RAF Reserve on 21 February 1919

After the war

Henry settled at Southbourne, Bournemouth, and was granted a war pension from February 1919. He died on 12 February 1924, in his early fifties.

Service record

• Army: 4005 Private, 23rd (Service) Battalion Royal Fusiliers (1st Sportsman's)
• Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force: 138844 Air Mechanic, painter
• Theatre: France, 6 January 1916 to 12 June 1917
• Medals: British War Medal and Victory Medal, issued off the RAF medal roll
• Records: medal index card, RAF airman's service record (AIR 79), RAF formations list 1918, RAF nominal index and pension card