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Loughborough Sergeant makes unique donation to military museum
Posted on 09/02/09
Loughborough Sergeant makes unique donation to military museum
The inscription on the barrel
A police officer from Loughborough is donating a rare First World War pistol to a military museum after it was discovered in a bag of clothes which had been donated to a charity shop.
Staff at the charity shop in Earl Shilton were a little surprised to find the gun in May 2008. They dont know where the clothes came from so its owner has never been traced. They immediately called the police and specialist Firearms Officers arrived to make the gun safe and take it away because it is illegal to own a handgun.
In normal circumstances it would have been destroyed but because Sergeant Rich Matlock, who has a personal interest in military history, recognised its rarity he was given permission to research its background. He was fascinated by what he found.
The gun was made by Wilkinson Wembley and the barrel is inscribed with the words, In Honour of Capt. H.W. Sayres 1st July 1916 and H.W. Sayers Lancashire Fusiliers is engraved along the handle. Sergeant Matlocks research shows that the gun was bought privately in 1912 and was inscribed so that it would be returned to him once it had been cleaned.
He had a distinguished military career which started in 1909 when he joined the army as a gentleman cadet and joined the Lancashire Fusiliers after graduating from Sandhurst. In 1912 he was sent to India and in 1915 was shot in the right shoulder while landing in Gallipoli. On his recovery he was sent to France and was promoted to Acting Major. However, he asked to return to his Battalion as a Captain so that he could fight alongside his soldiers. He was killed on the very first day of the Battle of the Somme July the 1st 1916, with his dog Nailer, at the age of 27.
Sergeant Matlock said; "Hugh Winfield Sayres was a remarkable officer who excelled at everything he did including boxing, hockey, steeplechase and cricket. He could have remained an Acting Major but chose to return to his men and was sent over the top at Beaumont Hamel in the mistaken belief that the Germans posed little threat. Of course the opposite was true and 19,000 men died that day.
"All his affects, including his gun, would have been sent home to his family who had it engraved again, this time in his memory. It is unusual for a gun to have been used in Gallipoli and at the Battle of the Somme which is what makes it so rare. I contacted the Lancashire Fusiliers Museum in Bury and they are delighted to accept the gun and all my research, including photographs, to add to their artefacts."
"We havent been able to trace the owners of the gun, nor its connection to Leicestershire, but we would urge anyone who finds any sort of weapon in their familys belongings to call the police and not to dispose of it on their own. Officers will come to your house, and make the gun safe.
"If anyone knows any more about Hugh Winfield Sayres I would like them to get in touch so I can continue to piece together his story, I have really enjoyed researching his history and its prompted me to look into my own family background during the war."
The gun is being presented to the Tony Sprason at the Fusiliers Museum in Lancashire on Wednesday 18th February 2009. Anyone with any information about Hugh Winfield Sayres born 1888 can leave a message for Sergeant Rich Matlock on Leicester (0116) 222 2222 and, when prompted type in 1540, or email him at richard.matlock@leicestershire.pnn.police.uk
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