MM Recommendation
(“Originally recorded in ANZAC ROUTINE ORDERS, 4.10.16, Para 362”)
“At Pozieres, France on the 25th July 1916 L. Cpl. Sives in an attack on a German trench did splendid service. He was extremely cool and courageous under fire and by his judicious and dashing handling of the Lewis Guns helped the bombers to gain and retain their positions.” G.O.C. 1st Infantry Brigade
He was later promoted to 2nd Lieutenant on 30th September 1916 and was recommended for a Mentioned in Despatches.
”For devotion to duty during the enemy attack on Demicourt & Boursises 15th April 1917.
[NOTE] After an entire week of searching, have now been able to fully confirm the MM recommendation & that of his M.I.D recommendation which also appears on the Australian Memorial Website (under a misspelt name). Both citations are fully locationally and date accurate for both the MM action at Pozières in which Sives clearly fought during the Battle of the Somme and the action at Demicourt & Boursises in 1917.
[BIOGRAPHY] 1894-1917 (Age 23)
John Pauling Sives was born in 1894 in Middleton, Manchester, Lancashire, UK, and prior to enlistment he had worked as a clerk. He had been resident with his mother, Mrs E. Sives at Chisholm Street, Greenwich, Sydney N.S.W. Australia.
John Sives enlisted on 24th April 1915 at Liverpool, NSW Australia and landed at Gallipoli on 4th August 1915. He was suffering from shock from an explosion between the 6th and the 9th August 1915 and evacuted from Gallipoli to England on 14tn August on SS Aquitania from Mudros. He spent the rest of 1915 at Wandsworth Hospital in London. He then rejoined his unit on 15th January 1916 at Tel-El-Kebir in Egypt where until 13th March he was employed on light duties at the school of instruction in Zeitoun. He then embarked to France on 16th March 1916 where he served withn1st Inf Bde M.G. Section on the Somme. He won his MIlitary Medal as a Lance Corporal in the opening weeks of July 1916.
KILLED IN ACTION on 7th May 1917 during the attack on Bullecourt between Diagonal Road & Ostrich Avenue.
John’s body was lost without trace near Bullecourt and he has no known grave. He is remembered with eternal honour at the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial in France.
The medal comes with a large & greatly interesting file of over 60 sheets of records reproduced from CWG and the Official Australian Military Records site. SOLD