From:New Zealand Cricket Museum
Name/TitleMedal: 1914-15 Star, WWI medal awarded to LP Cave
About this object1914-15 Star awarded to Gunner, Leonard Philip Cave, of the New Zealand Field Artillery 7th Reinforcements.
About the medal:
The 1914-15 Star is a bronze medal authorised in 1918. Awarded to all who served in any theatre of war against Germany between August 5 1914 and December 31 1915. Although this example of the 1914-15 Star is without its ribbon, it would've originally had a watered silk with red, white and blue stripes ribbon.
About LP Cave:
In the years before WWI, cricket in Wanganui was dominated by the Cave family; five brothers who all shared a passion for cricket and farming. When Taranaki and Wanganui combined to take on the Melbourne Cricket Club in 1900, Leonard, Ken and Henry took to the field while Wilfred and Arthur stood as umpires. Ken would go on to umpire New Zealand’s first Test in 1930, while Henry would see his son, Harry, represent New Zealand.
In 1915, Leonard left the farm he was working with Harry and joined the 7th Reinforcements of the New Zealand Field Artillery. Embarking from Wellington in October 1915, Leonard’s service saw him stationed at the Somme in 1916 where he was wounded, forcing a stay in a London Hospital for several months. In 1917 he returned to action where, by October, he was stationed in Belgium. On October 18 1917, Leonard Philip Cave was killed during a German air raid.
Read more about Leonard & his nephew Harry here.
Date Made1918
Medium and MaterialsBronze
Inscription and MarksEngraved on the reverse with 2/2091; Gnr L P Cave; NZEF.
Measurements45mm (W) x 62mm (H)
CollectionNew Zealand Cricket Museum Collection
Credit LineNew Zealand Cricket Museum, nzcricketmuseum.co.nz
Object TypeMedal
Object number2016.8.6
