Single Campaign Medals 1190


Hong Kong Plague 1894, silver issue (Corporal J. Mears, R.E.) very fine and scarce


£1,200-£1,500


Four officers and 33 N.C.O’s and men of the 25th Fortress Company, Royal Engineers, assisted during the plague in Hong Kong.


John Mears was born in the Parish of Newton St Cyres, near Exeter, Devon, and enlisted into the Royal Engineers at Bristol on 29 September 1894, aged 22, a carpenter by trade. He was appointed Lance-Corporal in August 1889 and was promoted to 2nd Corporal in February 1891, and Corporal in March 1894. He served overseas at Halifax, Nova Scotia from November 1885 to October 1887; at Gibraltar from October 1887 to September 1893; at Malta from September to December 1893; and at Hong Kong from 26 December 1893 until he purchased his discharge on 20 November 1894. He was a prison warder in Hong Kong from 1894 to 1899, when he joined the Shanghai Municipal Police but was dismissed from that service in November 1901 for insubordination. He is afterwards recorded as being a member of the Police in Jiujiang, China until 1909.


Sold with copied discharge papers and other research.


1191


J. Byrne is listed as ‘Deceased’ on the roll. India General Service 1895-1902, 1 clasp, Relief of Chitral 1895 (3518 Pte. J. Byrne. 1st. Bn. E. Lanc: Regt.) last digit of


number officially corrected, minor edge bruise otherwise extremely fine 1192 £100-£140


India General Service 1895-1902, 1 clasp, Relief of Chitral 1895 (4382 Pte. J. Froggett 1st. Bn. K.R. Rifle Corps) ‘r’ of surname officially corrected, good very fine


£240-£280


J. Froggett attested for the King’s Royal Rifle Corps, and served with the 1st Battalion in India as part of the Chitral Relief Force, where he was present at the action of the Malakand Pass, 3 April 1895. On 10 December 1896 he sailed from Bombay to Cape Town in the troopship Warren Hastings, and arrived in South Africa on 28 December 1896. Half of the Battalion was dispatched for garrison duties at Wynburg, whilst the other half of the battalion (Comprising A, C, G, and H companies, including Froggett, as a member of G Company) subsequently re-embarked in the Warren Hastings at Cape Town on 6 January 1897, bound for Mauritius.


On board the Warren Hastings were 526 members of the King’s Royal Rifle Corps, 510 members of the 2nd Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment, and 25 members of the 2nd Battalion Middlesex Regimen, together with 20 women, 10 children, and 253 crew, totalling 1,244 people. A good passage was had until the morning of 13 January, when the glass fell and the wind shifted to the south. Despite reduced visibility there was no cause for concern and that night the troops went untroubled to bed. At about 2.20 am on 14 January, a violent shudder was felt throughout the ship, as the Warren Hastings struck a rock off the coast of Réunion. Orders were given for the K.R.R.C. to fall in on the port side and the York and Lancasters on the starboard side. Through the torrential rain the ship’s officers perceived that the vessel was aground and that it was possible to disembark by ropes on to the rocky coast. At 4.15 am the ship began to heel to starboard. Twenty minutes later the electric lights went out. Thus by 5.00 am those men on the starboard side, some in total darkness, were standing knee deep in water. The list gradually increased until the captain himself thought the ship would turn over. Nevertheless the discipline for which the British soldier is famed prevailed, and the disembarkation was accomplished without a single fatality. The only lives lost during the whole episode were those of two natives who ran amok and jumped overboard. One officer present later wrote ‘Personally I look upon the whole business as one of the most creditable things to the British Army which has ever occurred, and without invidious comparison quite as creditable as the Birkenhead, for in the latter, if we are to believe the pictures, the men were at least all on deck, whilst on the Warren Hastings they were between decks, and quite unable to see what was going on.’ After a brief stay on Réunion, Froggett arrived in Mauritius with the rest of his battalion onboard the S.S. Lalpoora on 18 January 1897.


Froggett subsequently served with the 3rd Battalion in South Africa, and was present at operations in the Cape Colony, and at the Relief of Ladysmith (entitled to a Queen’s South Africa Medal with two clasps), before returning home in 1900. He subsequently returned to South Africa on draft to the 1st Battalion in 1902, and qualified for the King’s South Africa Medal with the rare single clasp ‘South Africa 1902’.


Sold with copied research. x1193


John Bailey enlisted in February, 1894 and died of disease on 3 November 1895. India General Service 1895-1902, 1 clasp, Relief of Chitral 1895 (3681 Pte. J. Bailey 1st Bn. Gordon Highrs.) nearly


extremely fine x1194 £120-£160


India General Service 1895-1902, 1 clasp, Relief of Chitral 1895 (3692 Pte. F. Patmore 1st Bn. Gord: Highrs.) good very fine


£140-£160


Francis Patmore enlisted in February 1894 and died at Rawalpindi on 29 November 1895. Sold with copied medal roll entry which notes ‘Deceased’.


x1195 x1196 x1197


India General Service 1895-1902, 1 clasp, Relief of Chitral 1895, bronze issue (Driver Meahr, 1st Bn. Gordon Highrs.) good very fine and rare


£180-£220


India General Service 1895-1902, 1 clasp, Punjab Frontier 1897-98 (4890 Lce. Corpl. W. Holland 2d. Bn. K.O. Sco. Bord.) edge bruising, good very fine


£100-£140


5367 Private J. McCabe was killed in action at Elandslaagte, whilst serving with the 2nd Battalion of the Gordons. India General Service 1895-1902, 1 clasp, Punjab Frontier 1897-98 (5367 Pte. J. McCabe 1st Bn. Gord: Highrs.) rank


and name officially re-engraved, good very fine www.dnw.co.uk all lots are illustrated on our website and are subject to buyers’ premium at 20% (+VAT where applicable) £160-£200


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172  |  Page 173  |  Page 174  |  Page 175  |  Page 176  |  Page 177  |  Page 178  |  Page 179  |  Page 180  |  Page 181  |  Page 182  |  Page 183  |  Page 184  |  Page 185  |  Page 186  |  Page 187  |  Page 188  |  Page 189  |  Page 190  |  Page 191  |  Page 192  |  Page 193  |  Page 194  |  Page 195  |  Page 196  |  Page 197  |  Page 198  |  Page 199  |  Page 200  |  Page 201  |  Page 202  |  Page 203  |  Page 204  |  Page 205  |  Page 206  |  Page 207  |  Page 208  |  Page 209  |  Page 210  |  Page 211  |  Page 212  |  Page 213  |  Page 214  |  Page 215  |  Page 216  |  Page 217  |  Page 218  |  Page 219  |  Page 220  |  Page 221  |  Page 222  |  Page 223  |  Page 224  |  Page 225  |  Page 226  |  Page 227  |  Page 228  |  Page 229  |  Page 230  |  Page 231  |  Page 232  |  Page 233  |  Page 234  |  Page 235  |  Page 236  |  Page 237  |  Page 238  |  Page 239  |  Page 240  |  Page 241  |  Page 242  |  Page 243  |  Page 244  |  Page 245  |  Page 246  |  Page 247  |  Page 248  |  Page 249  |  Page 250  |  Page 251  |  Page 252  |  Page 253  |  Page 254  |  Page 255  |  Page 256  |  Page 257  |  Page 258  |  Page 259  |  Page 260  |  Page 261  |  Page 262  |  Page 263  |  Page 264  |  Page 265  |  Page 266  |  Page 267  |  Page 268  |  Page 269  |  Page 270  |  Page 271  |  Page 272  |  Page 273  |  Page 274  |  Page 275  |  Page 276  |  Page 277  |  Page 278  |  Page 279  |  Page 280  |  Page 281  |  Page 282  |  Page 283  |  Page 284  |  Page 285  |  Page 286  |  Page 287  |  Page 288  |  Page 289  |  Page 290  |  Page 291  |  Page 292  |  Page 293  |  Page 294  |  Page 295  |  Page 296  |  Page 297  |  Page 298  |  Page 299  |  Page 300  |  Page 301  |  Page 302  |  Page 303  |  Page 304  |  Page 305  |  Page 306  |  Page 307  |  Page 308  |  Page 309  |  Page 310  |  Page 311  |  Page 312  |  Page 313  |  Page 314  |  Page 315  |  Page 316  |  Page 317  |  Page 318  |  Page 319  |  Page 320  |  Page 321  |  Page 322  |  Page 323  |  Page 324  |  Page 325  |  Page 326  |  Page 327  |  Page 328  |  Page 329  |  Page 330  |  Page 331  |  Page 332  |  Page 333  |  Page 334  |  Page 335  |  Page 336  |  Page 337  |  Page 338  |  Page 339  |  Page 340  |  Page 341  |  Page 342  |  Page 343  |  Page 344  |  Page 345  |  Page 346  |  Page 347  |  Page 348  |  Page 349  |  Page 350  |  Page 351  |  Page 352  |  Page 353  |  Page 354  |  Page 355  |  Page 356  |  Page 357  |  Page 358  |  Page 359  |  Page 360  |  Page 361  |  Page 362  |  Page 363  |  Page 364  |  Page 365  |  Page 366  |  Page 367  |  Page 368  |  Page 369  |  Page 370  |  Page 371  |  Page 372  |  Page 373  |  Page 374  |  Page 375  |  Page 376  |  Page 377  |  Page 378  |  Page 379  |  Page 380  |  Page 381  |  Page 382  |  Page 383  |  Page 384  |  Page 385  |  Page 386  |  Page 387  |  Page 388  |  Page 389  |  Page 390  |  Page 391  |  Page 392  |  Page 393  |  Page 394  |  Page 395  |  Page 396  |  Page 397  |  Page 398  |  Page 399  |  Page 400  |  Page 401  |  Page 402  |  Page 403  |  Page 404  |  Page 405  |  Page 406  |  Page 407  |  Page 408  |  Page 409  |  Page 410  |  Page 411  |  Page 412  |  Page 413  |  Page 414  |  Page 415  |  Page 416  |  Page 417  |  Page 418  |  Page 419  |  Page 420  |  Page 421  |  Page 422  |  Page 423  |  Page 424  |  Page 425  |  Page 426  |  Page 427  |  Page 428  |  Page 429  |  Page 430  |  Page 431  |  Page 432  |  Page 433  |  Page 434  |  Page 435  |  Page 436  |  Page 437  |  Page 438  |  Page 439  |  Page 440  |  Page 441  |  Page 442  |  Page 443  |  Page 444  |  Page 445  |  Page 446  |  Page 447  |  Page 448  |  Page 449  |  Page 450  |  Page 451  |  Page 452  |  Page 453  |  Page 454  |  Page 455  |  Page 456  |  Page 457  |  Page 458  |  Page 459  |  Page 460  |  Page 461  |  Page 462  |  Page 463