Memorial Plaque To Pioneering Black Army Officer Sells For Thousands

A recently discovered First World War memorial plaque has been sold at auction for £10,540 – 13 times its pre-sale top estimate of £800.

The plaque relates to Lieutenant Euan Lucie-Smith from 1st Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, who is thought to have been the first black officer commissioned into a British Army regiment during the First World War.

He is also believed to be the first black officer casualty of the conflict, having been killed in action on 25 April 1915 at the Second Battle of Ypres.

The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers Museum was able to buy the plaque after a substantial fundraising effort.

"The greatest wish of any medal collector or amateur historian is to discover an item of genuine historical importance which challenges the accepted narrative," said former MEP James Carver, who discovered the medal.

He added: "I am thrilled with the result of today’s sale, but it’s not the price that’s important to me, it’s the story of Euan Lucie-Smith and black soldiers like him, who, despite being largely overlooked, played an important part in our military heritage."

Mr Carver also said he hopes his find "inspires more people to explore the role played by British servicemen" to secure "the freedoms that we enjoy today".

"I am very pleased that it has been bought by a museum and will now be seen by future generations," he continued.

Who was Lieutenant Euan Lucie-Smith?

Euan Lucie-Smith was born in Jamaica in 1889.

His father hailed from a line of civil servants and his mother was the daughter of the distinguished lawyer and politician Samuel Constantine Burke.

Lt Lucie-Smith was educated in England and then returned to Jamaica, where he was commissioned into the Jamaica Artillery Militia in 1911.

Six weeks after the outbreak of the First World War, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant into the regular force of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.

On 17 March 1915, he landed in France. Just over a month later, he was initially reported missing, but on 25 April 1915, he was confirmed killed, shot in the head in the Second Battle of Ypres.

Lt Lucie-Smith has no known grave and his war effort is commemorated on Panel 2 to 3 of the Ploegsteert Memorial in Belgium, as well as on the Berkhamsted School Memorial, the Eastbourne College Memorial and features in an entry in 'Jamaica in the Great War'.

Cover image: Lieutenant Euan Lucie-Smith (Picture: Dix Noonan Webb).