4th Battalion, Coldstream Guards (Pioneers).

Awarded the Military Medal in the London Gazette of 28 September 1917.

Airey was a native of Brierfield, Lancashire.

The Burnley Express of 29 September 1917, reported, BRIERFIELD SOLDIER'S MILITARY MEDAL. Mr. & Mrs. Airey of 18, Carleton Street, Brierfield, have received information that their son, Private (14094), Herbert Airey, Coldstream Guards, aged 23, has been awarded the Military Medal. Private Airey enlisted into the Coldstream Guards on the 1 December 1914, and went to France over 2 years ago. He formerly worked as a weaver at Messrs James Crabtree & Co., Brook Street, Nelson, and was a member of the Brierfield Primative Methodist Church and Sunday School. In a letter to his mother the soldier states that on the night of 30 July, 1917, they advanced under the cover of darkness and set to work to built a bridge over a canal. The guards then went over and took all their objectives. He added they had to hold on to the canal and were under heavy bombardment for over 36 hours.