Description:
Group of Four to Vera Mary, Countess of Rosslyn, No 9. Red Cross Hospital (Millicent Duchess of Sutherland's Ambulance) and Struan House Auxiliary Hospital, Reading: 1914 Star, name officially impressed on reverse "Countess of Rosslyn"; British War and Victory Medals (each with name "Countess of Rosslyn" officially impressed on rim); Belgium, Medal de la Reine Elisabeth, group swing-mounted on a 5.65-inch-wide brooch. Sold with books in which she is prominent (The Diaries of Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart 1915-1938, and Dear Duchess: Millicent Duchess of Sutherland, 1867-1955, the biography of her sister-in-law) or mentioned (Lockhart's Retreat from Glory). Other Lockhart books included are British Agent, Guns or Butter: War countries and peace countries of Europe revisited, and A Son of Scotland. Also incl. is the memoir of her husband, the 5th Earl, about his lust for gaming, My Gamble with Life. Also included are a 24-page and a 12-page dossier about Tommy Rosslyn, her medals, and her exploits, military and personal.
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The 1914 Star campaign medal - also commonly referred to as the Mons Star - was bronze, and was introduced in 1917, to be awarded by British authorities to those who served with either the British or Indian Expeditionary Force in France or Belgium between the outbreak of war in August 1914 and 22/23 November 1914.
This included medical personnel in addition to servicemen. The Countess was one of only 11 females to receive this award who equaled or exceeded her social rank, and one of only 18 female aristocrats of any rank to receive this award.
Belgium's Queen Elisabeth Medal was awarded to those who had performed exceptional valuable services to Belgian civilians or military in connection with WWI, and more specifically with the nursing of the ill and wounded during a period of no less than one year prior to 10 September 1919.
This bronze medal was instituted on 15 September 1915 and finalized by Royal Decree of 14 May 1919. Tommy Rosslyn's receipt of this award made the 29 June 1918 issue of the TIMES of London.
The British War Medal, instituted on 29 July 1919, was silver, and was awarded to personnel who had provided service during and immediately after the First World War, who completed 28 days mobilised service between 1914 and 1920.
The Inter-Allied Victory Medal, made from yellow bronze, was instituted following an agreement by fourteen Allied powers in March 1919. The medal was issued to all Britons who received the 1914 and the 1914-15 Stars, and to most of those who were awarded the British War Medal - it was never awarded singly.
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Vera Mary (née Bayley) Countess of Rosslyn, (d. 1975) wife of the 5th Earl of Rosslyn (1869-1939), joined Millicent Duchess of Sutherland's (her sister-in-law) Ambulance Unit (later No. 9 Red Cross Hospital] as a V.A.D. in October 19I4; served at the Hotel Belle Vue, Dunkirk, an evacuation hospital far French wounded with 70 to 100 beds, until February 1915; later served at the Hospital for British Wounded at Calais, March 19l6 - April 1917; on her return from France in 1917 until May 1918, nursed part-time at Struan House Auxiliary Hospital, Reading.
She had (by the Earl) a son in 1909, a daughter in 1912, and a son in 1917. Nonetheless, the Earl was hardly a good husband, what with his gambling and chasing of women. Thus the family was hardly shocked when, after the war, Tommy became the mistress of Robert Bruce Lockhart, converting him to Catholicism and facilitating his move into writing such classics as British Agent. Lockhart's career in turn inspired his son Robin to write Reilly, Ace of Spies, the title character of which in turn is said to have inspired Ian Fleming's James Bond character. According to Robin Bruce Lockhart, a marriage between his father and Tommy almost happened.
It is said that, in WWII, Tommy worked to help the Finns' resistance to Soviet attack.
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