Great War May 1918 Mention in Despatches pair awarded to Captain G.H.J. Swift, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment - the Sherwood Foresters, who was out on the Western Front when he was awarded a Mention in Despatches for gallant and distinguished services in the London Gazette for 30th May 1918, having just prior to this announcement, been appointed a be a Courts-Martial Officer, in which position he saw out the rest of the war.
Pair: British War Medal and Victory Medal with Mention in Despatches Oakleaf; (CAPT. G.H.J. SWIFT.), mounted swing style as worn.
Condition; Good Very Fine
Gerald Herbert John Swift was born on 5th January 1885 in London, the son of Herbert Henry Swift JP and Ada Caroline, nee Little. With the Great War, Swift applied for a commission into the Special Reserve of Officers, and was then commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant on probation into the 4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment - the Sherwood Foresters on 10th June 1915 and posted to the School of Instruction at Tynemouth from 15th June 1915. Swift was gazetted as a 2nd Lieutenant on 8th April 1916, having completed his period of probation, and was then posted out to the Western Front. Promoted to Temporary Lieutenant on 2nd October 1916, he was awarded a Mention in Despatches for gallant and distinguished services in the London Gazette for 30th May 1918, having just prior to this announcement, been appointed a be a Courts-Martial Officer from 2nd May 1918. His award would have been for his services before his secondment as a Courts-Martial Officer. Whilst he fulfilled this role, he held the rank of Temporary Captain, and then retained this rank when he was appointed an Acting Staff Captain from 6th February 1919. Swift was granted the rank of Captain in relinquishing his commission, this being gazetted on 21st October 1920. Swift who married Mary ‘Molly’ Chetwynd Curtis, died on 4th May 1957 in Colchester, Essex.
