WWI D.C.M./M.M. GROUP OF 5 MEDALS TO 2.LIEUT. G. COOMBES, 9/LRS. (K.I.A. 1917)

D.C.M. Gazetted 15 Mar 1916 (one of just 15 WWI D.C.M.'s to the 9th Lancers):

"When in charge of a working party behind the bombers after the explosion of a mine he displayed the greatest courage and resource, and volunteered for and carried out every dangerous task during 48 hours under very heavy fire."

M.M. Gazetted 10 Aug 1916.

George Coombes worked as a Police Constable with the Somerset Constabulary before enlisting with the 9th Lancers. Known for his prowess as an Army light heavyweight boxer, in 1912 Coombes married Florence Gertrude Carter, the daughter of William Carter, and a grand-daughter of Ethelbert Carter, the head of one of Canterbury's most famous fighting families.

Disembarking in France on 15 Aug 1914 and was wounded in the famous charge of the 9th Lancers at Moncel on 7 Sep 1914; the final lance-on-lance cavalry charge of the British Army. The following extract is from the Dover Express & East Kent News 11 Sep 1914:

"Canterbury Boxer Wounded. Sergeant Coombs of the 9th Lancers, formerly quartered in Canterbury and well-known for his many successes in the boxing ring in East Kent, had the misfortune to be wounded during the fighting near Mons in Belgium, but the wound (just below the right shoulder) is fortunately not of a serious nature and the popular boxer hopes to be about again soon. Coombs, who has been seen by relatives, has expressed a desire to be in the field again because 'its such a rare good sport.'"

Transferring to the 7th Battalion, Royal Iniskilling Fusiliers in Apr 1916, Coombes was wounded by gas on 27 Apr 1916. The German attack near Messines was preceeded by a gas storm which incapacitated a large number of the Inniskillings. An account by 9914 C.Q.M.S. Morrison states:

"I was with C.S.M. Coombes about 15 minutes after the the second gas attack, standing on a fire-step about 20 yards from the listening post to the right of Vendin Alley. Capt R.N. Murray was coming down the firing line from the left. I drew his attention to the enemy retiring from our trenches on the right. He left me and went to the right towards B Company, that was the last I saw of him. C.S.M. Coombes and myself carried on firing at the enemy as they withdrew across 'No Mans Land'."

Coombes is recorded as being awarded the Military Medal for bravery on this date; 27 Apr 1916, Gazetted on 10 Aug. As a reward for his bravery, Coombes was Commissioned 2nd Lieutenant with the Royal Irish Fusiliers, attached 7/8th Battalion, on 2 Mar 1916 before being admitted to 2nd General Hospital with gas poisoning on 3 May 1916 and transferred to the Hospital Ship Panama 3 days later.

Returning to the Front, Coombes was Killed In Action on the first day of the Battle of Langemarck on 16 Aug 1917. He is buried at Dochy Farm New British Cemetery. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission have currently agreed to produce a replacement headstone to incorporate 'D.C.M., M.M.' after his name. Coombes is also commemorated on the Somerset Constabulary Memorial.