Single Campaign Medals


gallant officer was beforehand with him, and shot him, and five others who followed him, dead with his revolver. Still in the end numbers might have prevailed, when at the critical moment the bulk of the Brigade, Highlanders, the Sikhs, and the 53rd, poured in to the rescue. How these had forced their way remains now to be told. Impatient of the delay which would be caused by jumping singly through a narrow hole, the bulk of the storming party had turned to the left to force a way by the gate of the enclosure. This gate was locked and barred; and although the men used all their efforts, firing their pieces at the lock, some time elapsed before it gave way. But at last it yielded, and the 93rd and Sikhs dashed through it. Almost simultaneously the 53rd forced a barred window to the right of it and joined in the rush to the rescue of Ewart, of Cooper, still fighting in spite of his wound, and their comrades.’


Cooper was subsequently engaged in all the subsequent operations which led to the relief of the Residency, the subsequent relief of Cawnpore and defeat of the Gwalior Contingent with pursuit to Serai Ghat, the action of Khala Nuddee, the occupation of Furruckabad, the siege and capture of Lucknow, including the storming of La Martiniere, and minor operations. The following year he was involved in the pursuit of the rebels through Rohilcund and Oude, and the actions before and the fall of Bareilly from 5-9 May 1858 (Medal with clasps for the Relief of Lucknow and Lucknow). He transferred to the Scots Fusilier Guards as a Captain on 28 May 1858, and subsequently held the honorary rank of Colonel in the 4th Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment.


Twenty years later there was still dissatisfaction that Cooper had not been granted more recognition for his actions at the storming of the Secunderabagh, a day when 6 Victoria Crosses were awarded for the same action: ‘The splendid gallantry of Ewart, Cooper and Lumsden went unnoticed and unrewarded. I have been particular in describing in full detail the services of these two gallant officers, both belonging to the 93rd Highlanders, of Lumsden attached to the same regiment, and of Burroughs, not only because they and the ten or twelve men who followed them were the first to penetrate within the enclosure of the Secunderabagh, nor because their action had a direct effect on the ultimate issue, holding, as they did, the rebels in check while the main body of the storming party were engaged in endeavouring to force an entrance by the main gate, but because, whilst many officers were mentioned in the despatch 97, the splendid services of these two gallant men did not receive even a bare notice. It is fit that, even after the lapse of twenty years, history should atone, as far as atonement is possible, for official neglect.’ (ibid)


In the event, no official recognition was forthcoming, and Cooper died, unrewarded, in 1890. Sold with copied research.


449


Crimea 1854-56, 3 clasps, Alma, Balaklava, Sebastopol (Pte. Andw. Smith. 93rd Ft.) contemporary Hunt & Roskell engraved naming by the so-called ‘Diamond Geezer’ engraver, one unofficial rivet, contact marks, otherwise nearly very fine


£300-£400


Refer ‘By Order of Her Majesty’, by Martin, Pickering and Satterley, page 128, 7.2.4, for reference to the ‘Diamond Geezer’ engraver at Hunt & Roskell.


Sold with copied medal roll extracts confirming Balaklava clasp to one of the ‘Thin Red Line’.


450


Crimea 1854-56, 3 clasps, Alma, Inkermann, Sebastopol (William Banks. 4th. Regt.) contemporarily engraved naming, contact marks and minor edge bruising, very fine


£200-£240


William Banks was born in Marylebone, London, on July 1821, and attested for the 4th Regiment of Foot at Rochester, Kent, on 26 July 1839. He served with the Regiment in the Crimea, and reported sick with fever on 15 November 1854, the day following the severe storm, and was admitted to the General Hospital at Balaclava. In January 1855 he was invalided from Balaclava to Scutari, and on 5 April transferred to Malta to the Reserve. He was medically discharged at Chatham on 26 August 1856, after 16 years and 321 days’ service.


Sold with a large quantity of copied research. 451


Crimea 1854-56, 3 clasps, Alma, Inkermann, Sebastopol (T. Butcher. 50th Regt.) officially impressed naming, three small edge bruises, otherwise good very fine


£400-£500


3658 Private Thomas Butcher died in the Crimea on 14 March 1855. Sold with copied medal roll extracts.


452


Turkish Crimea 1855, British issue, unnamed as issued, pierced with ring suspension, good very fine


£70-£90


x453


Turkish Crimea 1855, British issue, unnamed as issued, pierced with small ring suspension, minor edge bruising, good very fine


£60-£80 www.dnw.co.uk all lots are illustrated on our website and are subject to buyers’ premium at 24% (+VAT where applicable)


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