The fine Birthday Honours June 1956 Civil Service Cabinet Office man’s Order of the British Empire, and Great War Gallipoli Casualty group awarded to Mr. H.A. Cordery, Civil Service, a Higher Executive Officer for the Cabinet Office when he was decorated, and formerly a Clerk with the War Cabinet Secretariat during the Second World War. During the Great War, he fought as a Private with the 6th Service Battalion, Essex Regiment, which was his local battalion to West Ham from where he came. Present with his battalion at Gallipoli from when it landed at ‘A’ Beach at Suvla Bay on the night of 11th to 12th August 1915, he was thrown straight into the fighting and was wounded in action prior to his battalion evacuation from the Peninsula in early December 1915. He was subsequently discharged owing to his wounds in March 1916 and awarded the Silver War Badge. As of 1939 he was working for the Civil Service as a Clerk with the War Cabinet Secretariat, and by 1953 he was a Higher Executive Officer in the Cabinet Office when he was awarded the Coronation Medal 1953. He was latterly appointed a Member of the Civil Division of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in June 1958, this being also for his work as the Higher Executive Officer for the Cabinet Office.
Group of 6: The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, Member, M.B.E., 2nd type, Civil Division, on presentation pin as issued; 1914-1915 Star; (2324 PTE. H.A. CORDERY. ESSEX R.); British War Medal and Victory Medal; (2324 PTE. H. CORDERY.ESSEX R.); Defence Medal 1939-1945; Coronation Medal 1953, this with pin as issued.
Condition: Good Very Fine.
Together with the recipient’s Silver War Badge, reverse numbered: ‘15028’, pin replaced.
Henry Alfred Cordery was born on 8th June 1894 in Canning Town, West Ham, Essex, and as of 1911 he was working as a printing compositor in West Ham. Cordery then enlisted into the British Army Territorial Force on 14th September 1914 as a Private (No.2324) with the Essex Regiment, and then saw service with his local battalion, the 6th Battalion out at Gallipoli from 10th August 1915, where the 1st/6th Battalion formed part of the 161st (Essex) Brigade in the 54th (East Anglian) Division. The battalion landed at ‘A’ Beach at Suvla Bay at midnight on 11th to 12th August.
The Gallipoli Campaign had been in progress for several months and had reached stalemate. A fresh Landing at Suvla Bay on 6th August 1915 was intended to turn the flank of the Turkish positions on the Gallipoli Peninsula and drive inland. The operation was bungled, and 54th Division, as the last remaining reserve, was landed to drive through, but was used merely to shore up the position. The Essex battalions arrived still understrength, and armed with obsolete long Lee-Enfield rifles – many soldiers exchanged these for modern SMLE weapons picked up from casualties.
1/6th Essex went straight into the reserve line when 161 Bde relieved 163rd (Norfolk and Suffolk) Brigade for an attack. The battalion advanced on Kiretch Tepe, with C Company in the lead, but was forced to retire due to heavy shrapnel and sniper fire. The battalion had suffered its first battle casualties: 2 other ranks killed, 3 officers and 54 other ranks wounded. On the afternoon of 14 August the brigade advanced again over open ground to relieve 163rd Brigade after their disastrous attack, the 1/6th Essex relieving the 1/8th Hampshire Regiment in the firing line. The Essex Brigade's historian records that 'Though they were met with a fusillade as they advanced steadily over the plain there was no hesitation'. They reached the line and spent all night consolidating the position.
The following day (15th August) the 1/6th moved to the support line behind 'Jephson's Post' and the following day moved up to take over the position, losing 7 other ranks killed, 2 officers and 19 other ranks wounded, and 2 missing, during this move. Intermittent shellfire on these positions caused further casualties before the battalion was relieved on 23rd August. The brigade then moved to the Lala Baba sector, and on 31st August relieved 13th Australian Battalion in the forward trenches in the Hill 60 sector, described by one of the officers as 'notoriously one of the most unpleasant spots on the peninsula'. The 1/6th Bn alternated with the Australians until they were relieved on 4 October. During this period of trench warfare the battalion lost 5 killed and 12 wounded, but had 140 sick evacuated to hospital.
During October and November, while serving turns in frontline trenches with names like 'West Ham Gully' and ‘Upton Park’ (named after the football ground for West Ham United), the battalion lost another 5 killed, 26 wounded, 2 missing and 386 sick, offset by drafts of just 19 officers and 95 other ranks. By the end of November the Essex Brigade was reduced to a shadow. On the night of 26/27 November, the Essex were relieved by the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade, the relief being delayed by a severe rainstorm that flooded the trenches. After a few days in the rest area, 54th Division marched down to the beach and embarked for Mudros. It did not return to the peninsula, which was later evacuated, and instead the division sailed to Alexandria, arriving on 17th December.
Cordery was wounded in action at Gallipoli at some stage, being evacuated home for treatment, whilst recuperating he saw service with the 66th Provisional Battalion, only to be discharged owing to his wounds on 31st March 1916, and awarded the Silver War Badge, No.15028.
By 1939 Cordery was living in Redbridge on the border of the Epping Forest, and working as a Clerk in the Civil Service, and specifically employed with the War Cabinet Secretariat, in which capacity he served through the Second World War. Cordery was employed as a Higher Executive Office in the Cabinet Office when he was awarded the Coronation Medal 1953, and on his retirement, was ultimately appointed a Member of the Civil Division of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, as published in the London Gazette for 12th June 1958, this being for his work as the Higher Executive Officer for the Cabinet Office. Cordery died on 1st April 1963, having latterly lived in Barking.
