Scroll on parchment paper with black ink lettering, accompanying and affirming the awarding of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) to Lt Col. William Renwick Marshall. Scroll is signed by by The Principle Secretary of State and dated the 3rd of June 1915. Scroll framed in wood frame with glass cover.

For his actions and valour during the gas attack on 23-24 April 1915 in which the Canadians – in particular the 15^th Battalion (48th Highlanders) that was at the apex of the Allied position – suffered heavy casualties holding the salient against the heavy German assault, Major William Renwick Marshall was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. Immediately following the battle he was appointed Commanding Officer and began the task of rebuilding his shattered Battalion.  LCol Marshall led the Battalion in the fierce fighting at Festubert in May and Hill 60 the following year before he was killed in action on 19 May 1916. Physically fit, always at the Front and possessing a commanding presence, Marshall was revered by all ranks of the 15^th and highly respected throughout the Canadian Contingent.  He was buried with full military honours  at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery and the Battalion that he had rebuilt and led after 2^nd Ypres went on to serve with distinction in every major engagement in which the Canadian Corps took part throughout the war winning 21 Battle Honours for its actions.

William Renwick Marshall, the son of William and Isabella Marshall was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada on 20 Mar 1875. He graduated from Upper Canada College in Toronto  and was already a long serving veteran office when the First World War began in 1914. Marshall had served for 21 years in the Canadian Militia first as an Lieutenant in the 13^th Royal Regiment from Hamilton and later as a Captain on the HQ staff of the Military District 2 responsible for the training of cadet officers. He had also served two years in South Africa during the Boer War as a Captain with the Royal Canadian Regiment and the Canadian Mounted Rifles earning two bars to the Queen’s South Africa Medal.  In his civilian career, Marshall was the assistant manager of the Royal Distillery In Hamilton. When war was declared in August 1914, William Renwick Marshall joined the 48^th Highlanders draft to the 1^st Canadian Contingent that was assembling at Long Branch near Toronto and subsequently on arrival in Valcartier, Quebec in October, he attested into the 15^th Battalion (48^th Highlanders) CEF as a Major in the position of Deputy Commanding Officer.  The Battalion arrived in France from the UK in February 1915 and following a period of front line familiarization, moved with the entire 1^st Canadian Division into the Ypres salient where they were heavily involved in the 2^nd battle of Ypres 22-26 April.