Beschreibung:

An Emotive Pair of Framed Memorial Plaques and Portraits awarded to two brothers: Second-Lieutenant Clive William Murray Menzies, 1st Bn Royal Highlanders (Black Watch) killed in action on the 25th of January 1915 at Givenchy; and Captain Duncan Innes Murray-Menzies MC, 1st Bn Royal Highlanders (Black Watch), killed in action near ‘Hill 35’on the 22nd of August 1917 during the Third Battle of Ypres, whilst attached to ‘C’ Battalion of The Royal Tank Corps, comprising: Memorial Plaques (2), 1914-19 (Duncan Innes Murray-Menzies) and (Clive William Murray Menzies), both in regimental copper frames, complete with two contemporary regimental steel-framed portraits of the two recipients, made from copies of the originals portraits painted by John Saint-Helier Lander, which are located in the Black Watch Museum, Perth. Frames a little tarnished, one frame with minor metal damage to lower corner, otherwise very fine and scarce. (4) The above brothers, the sons of Major W. L. Murray-Menzies, of Stratton Wold, near Cirencester, Gloucestershire, both studied at Wellington College prior to receiving their first commissions into the Black Watch as Gentlemen Cadets, passing out from the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, in August and December 1914 respectively. Second-Lieutenant Clive William Murray Menzies was killed in action on the 25th of January at Givenchy whilst serving in the 1st Battalion, Royal Highlanders (Black Watch). After a strong German attack was met and held by the Scots Guards and Coldstream Guards, forces from the 1st Battalion Black Watch and 1st Cameron Highlanders were sent in to counter-attack, suffering heavy casualties as they attacked through knee-deep mud. It is believed that Second-Lieutenant Clive William Murray Menzies was killed during this counter-attack, where two companies of the Black Watch were practically destroyed. As a casualty with no known grave, his name is commemorated on the Le Touret Memorial. Acting Captain Duncan Innes Murray-Menzies MC initially served with the 1st Battalion Royal Highlanders (Black Watch) and awarded the Military Cross, being Gazetted for his MC in the London Gazette 04.06.1917. He was later attached to ‘C’ Battalion Tank Corps, where he served as Section Commander for ‘5 Section’. War Diaries for ‘C’ Battalion show that on the day of his death (the 22 of August 1917), ‘C’ Company; under the command of Major E J Carter, was detailed to assist in an infantry operation near ‘Iberian Farm’ and ‘Hill 35’, prior to which it was necessary to ford the Steenbeke River. The diary records “ it was only by the most superhuman efforts of the Section Commander, Lt. Murray-Menzies…that these tanks were moved across the River”. Once in action, it appears that Captain Murray-Menzies’ tank section was very much in the thick of it, and records show that tank C38 had silenced snipers in the area around the farm, and assisted the approach of supporting infantry, firing some 8000 LG rounds in the process prior to it becoming ‘ditched’. It was at this point that Captain Duncan Murray Menzies and Gunner Cushion were shot and killed trying to ‘unditch it’ and bring it back into action, at roughly 10am that morning. He died at the age of twenty and is commemorated at Tyne Cot Cemetery.