Richard Pembridge was at Sluys in 1340, at Crécy in 1346 and at Poitiers in 1356 — the sea battle and the two great land victories that shaped the opening half of the Hundred Years' War, all three of them, one man. At Crécy he fought alongside Edward III himself. When the fighting years were done the appointments followed: custodian of Southampton Castle in 1361, then Constable of Dover Castle and Warden of the Cinque Ports in 1370, and in 1372 the offer of the lieutenancy of Ireland, which he declined. Recognition of a different kind had already come in 1368, when he was made a Knight of the Garter — one of the earliest men appointed to an order still young at the time, and the mark of a soldier the king wanted close. He died in 1375 and was buried in the Black Friars house at Hereford.

Tradition of London give him blue and gold bars under a bold red bend, carried across the horse's full barding and his own jupon, with the sword already up. His alabaster effigy survives, life-size and fully armed, and it wears the Garter on the left leg below the knee — which is how we know what the honour looked like on a real man rather than in a book. That monument has had an odd afterlife: when it was moved it arrived with only one leg, a wooden replacement was carved for it, and later Lord Saye and Sele presented the cathedral with a new alabaster one. For a display, he belongs at Poitiers with Augier de Montaut, Sire de Mussidan, who rode in the same army, facing Gautier VI Compte de Brienne, who died there for France. Add Thomas de Beauchamp for another English commander of the period, and King & Country's English Archer Set for the men who actually won both his land battles for him.

Model: MK09 / Tradition of London / 54mm (1/32) scale / 1 piece set

All hand painted Toy Soldier sets packed in the Classic Tradition Red Boxes. All Toy Soldiers cast in quality white metal, and individually hand painted in gloss enamels.

Please allow 2-3 weeks delivery.