Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Robert Barltrop

Bob bought his first ‘proper’ medal, a British War Medal, when he was fifteen, after an earlier acquisition of an enamelled commemorative coronation medallion had left his father unimpressed. Over the next decade he made random purchases as and when his student finances allowed, until he decided his collection needed a focus and that the Manchester Regiment would be his theme; he had spent 21 years in total in Manchester and always felt it was his ‘home city’. For the next four decades he collected only to the regiment’s Regular and Territorial battalions and its predecessors, the 63rd (West Suffolk) and 96th Regiments of Foot, while retaining a lively and enquiring interest in everything medallic. He researched all his medals and their recipients thoroughly and many of his research notes became articles in the Journal of the Orders and Medals Research Society.

Born in Nottingham, Bob went to Rydal School and then to Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge where he studied Law. In 1980 he joined the Diamond Trading Company, part of the De Beers group, as a management trainee. He stayed with De Beers for the next 29 years, including four years in Angola (then in the middle of a bloody civil war), rising to Head of Administration in the London office.

Bob took early retirement in 2009 but remained very active, playing golf and refereeing junior rugby; a major bucket-list achievement was climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. Retirement gave him time to put something back into his hobby. He had been a member of the Orders and Medals Research Society (O.M.R.S.) since 1982 and a founder member of the London Branch since 2005; from 2011 he served on the Executive Committee and joined the Journal editorial team, taking on the role of Editor. His leadership of the team, half a dozen volunteers drawn from the society, over the next 13 years was undoubtedly his most valuable and long-lasting contribution to the world of medal collecting. Leading a team of volunteers requires different skills from managing employees and Bob’s experience, tact, patience and sheer good-naturedness always stood him in good stead. Every quarterly issue during his tenure was posted to the members on schedule, including during the Covid lockdowns. He was awarded the Society’s Distinguished Service Medal in 2020.

Bob and Hilary Barltrop were regular and popular attendees at the European Conferences of Phaleristic Societies, held in a different European city every year. They attended well over half the 16 conferences to date, thoroughly enjoying them all and becoming firm friends with many of the European delegates. Bob lived life to the full and made friends everywhere; his untimely death leaves a big gap, particularly in the O.M.R.S.
Peter Liversidge

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