Lucas Tooth Medal
I was reading this post with interest as I have a couple of Lucas Tooth Medals. As a former member of the Church Lads' Brigade, I collect CLB memorabilia. When the CLB was part of the Cadet Force - mainly the 1910s/1920s - its companies were regular winners of the Lucas Tooth Shields for their respective counties.
I was able to find out that Sir Robert Lucas Tooth sent a £50,000 donation to the Duke of Teck on the 27th September 1913, to establish a training fund for boys. On the 29th September, the Duke wrote to Lucas Tooth to thank him for his generous donation. There were press releases in many newspapers in November 1913 giving initial details of the scheme.
This may suggest that Lucas Tooth Medals may have been introduced in 1914 or 1915. I have seen a medal dated 1916. I will be keeping my eyes open to see if earlier medals appear.
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My avatar shows the St Martin's Banner, which was dedicated to all those from the Church Lads Brigade who were killed in the 1st World War, some 20,000 men. It is in the safe keeping of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster Abbey.
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