54 23rd June 2012 medals Zulu War still fascinates
■ Isandlwana casualty medal shows strength of the market for those with 1879 connection
Tom Derbyshire reports
IT may have been a crushing blow to the British Empire’s colonial prestige, but a recent sale has shown that the battle of Isandlwana in the Zulu War continues to hold a fascination for medal collectors. The Isandlwana casualty medal (South
Africa Medal) given to the family of Private Richard John Morse, 24th Foot South Africa 1877-79, with one clasp, 1877-8-9, fetched a healthy hammer price of £6600 against an estimate of £5500-6500 at Dominic Winter (buyer’s premium 19.5% + VAT) in Lichfi eld on May 24. Private Morse, born in Middlesex 1848,
served with the 1/24th (2nd Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot and was one of 1321 NCOs and other ranks of regular troops and native units killed alongside 52 offi cers in the famous 1879 battle. The British commander Lord
Chelmsford had divided his force into three columns to invade Zululand. He took about two-thirds of the central column out to look for the Zulu army on January 22, leaving the rest of the troops to guard the camp, but while he was away the main enemy force overwhelmed the camp. The South Africa campaign medal was
awarded for various African confl icts in 1877-79, with clasps for the actual years served. The result refl ects other recent sales of Isandlwana medals and shows the
continued strength of that market – although awards from the famous heroic defence of Rorke’s Drift following the battle form, as one would expect, the biggest prizes for collectors. Henry Meadows of
Dominic Winter was pleased with the price and noted that it held its own alongside recent prices for comparable medals in London over the past couple of years, which were in the £6100- 6200 range. After a battle with three phone bidders and an internet bidder, Morse’s medal went to a bidder in the room, believed to be a private collector. London-based Dix
Lance-Sgt John Key of the 2/24th
Foot making £24,000
(estimate £20,000-25,000) at DNW on September 23, 2011, and another one given to Private James Dunbar of that unit going for £30,000 (estimate
£30,000-35,000) at DNW on September 10, 2010.
A Rorke’s Drift VC awarded to
Private Robert Jones was sold by DNW in 1996 for £80,000 against an estimate of £80,000-120,000. It is now part of the Lord Ashcroft collection on show at the Imperial War Museum, alongside the one given to Lt John Chard RE, the offi cer
left to command Rorke’s Drift. Many of the VCs for
Above: Isandlwana casualty medal (South Africa Medal) sold at Dominic Winter for £6600.
Noonan Webb (20% buyer’s premium) featured three Isandlwana casualty medals in a March 28 sale – for a trooper of Natal Mounted Police, a staff clerk to Colonel John Crealock and a sergeant of the 2/24th Foot. The fi rst of those sold for £6800 (estimate £6000-8000), the second for £7200 (£6000-8000), and the third for £7800 (£5000-6000). Mr Meadows said the fi lm Zulu (1964)
sparked a lot of the interest in Rorke’s Drift, glamourising the against-the-odds defence. Medals from that action are not only much rarer than Isandlwana, because it only featured about 150 British and native troops, but include 11 Victoria Crosses – the most awarded to one regiment in a single action. Non-VC medals for Rorke’s Drift have
recently achieved about fi ve times the prices for those of Isandlwana with, for example, a Zulu War medal awarded to
that action are in the South Wales Borderers Museum in Brecon (the 24th Foot became the South Wales
Borderers in 1884). ■ A fi ne DSO Boer War group to
Brigadier General Charles Watson, The Queen’s Royal West Surrey Regiment, made £5500 at Tamlyns (18% buyer’s premium) on May 29 after an estimate of £3000-3500. It is an example of how many soldiers
served in both the Boer War and First World War, resulting in medal groups featuring both confl icts. Watson’s group includes: CMG;
DSO (1901 Edward crown); QSA medal with clasps – Cape Colony, Laing’s Nek, Transvaal, Reilef of Ladysmith, Orange Free State, Tugela Heights; KSA medal with clasps – South Africa 1901 and 1902; 1914 Star with clasp; War Medal; Victory Medal with MID; IGS with clasp Burma 1930-32; French Legion of Honour. All in excellent condition, they were accompanied by a photograph of
www.hallsgb.com/fine-art
For thcoming auction of medal s 22nd August 2012, entr ies close 16th July
Welsh Bridge Shrewsbury Shropshire SY3 8LA
Captain Watson taken before his wedding in January 1906 in full dress uniform, wearing his DSO and Boer War medals. Watson served with the BEF in France
in 1914, being wounded, Mentioned in Despatches and earning the DSO, and following a series of promotions commanded the 180th Brigade, 60th Division, in Palestine – becoming the fi rst offi cer to enter Jerusalem. He was wounded again during that campaign. In 1922 he commanded the 2nd bn, the Royal Worcestershire regiment, and was then Brigadier General in charge of the Rangoon Brigade before retiring from the army in 1931. The medal group was consigned by the
family. Several similar medal groups including
Boer War and First World War examples were sold at Dix Noonan Webb on March 28, taking around the £4000 mark with estimates about £3000. More such
groups will be on offer at DNW’s June 27 sale, with those awarded to higher ranks – and of course particularly those including gallantry medals – carrying the heftier estimates, such as a Boer War DSO group of six given to Lt-Col S.S. Binney, 19th Hussars, killed at Ypres in March 1916, while in command of the 10th Royal Welsh Fusiliers. Estimate: £4000-5000. Lower down the ranks, a group of
Above: the impressive selection of Boer War clasps from a group sold for £5500 at Tamlyns.
seven awarded to Temporary Warrant Offi cer Class 1 J. Leahy, Royal Field Artillery, refl ects Boer War and First World War service is estimated at £400-500.
This unique Second World War Bomber Command
G.C. D.F.C Group of six sold for a hammer price of £23,750 at Halls in Shrewsbury on 23rd May 2012
E: f inea r t@hal l s . to
T: 01743 284777 The Medals column covers campaign and gallantry medals. Please send items of interest and accompanying images to
medals@atgmedia.com
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