Groups and Single Decorations for Gallantry


Knight Bachelor London Gazette 21 February 1942. C.B. London Gazette 8 June 1938. D.S.O. London Gazette 3 June 1919:


‘For distinguished service in connection with military operations in Egypt.’ M.C. London Gazette 3 June 1918. Belgian Croix de Guerre London Gazette 9 July 1918.


Sir Frederick Gwatkin was born on 12 April 1885 at Murree, India (now Pakistan), the son of Colonel F. S. Gwatkin, C.B., and was educated at Clifton College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Commissioned Second Lieutenant on the unattached list, 19 August 1903, he was posted to the Indian Army the following year, and was attached to the 40th Pathans. He transferred to the 18th (Prince of Wales’ Own) Lancers on 17 August 1905, and was promoted Lieutenant on 19 November of that year, and Captain on 19 August 1912. He served during the Great War with the 18th (King George’s Own) Lancers on the Western Front from 14 December 1914 until 7 March 1918, and with the Egyptian Expeditionary Force from 18 March 1918 until the 31 October of that year. For his services during the Great War he was Mentioned in Despatches (London Gazette 5 June 1919), and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and the Military Cross, the former award for services in Egypt.


Towards the end of the Great War Gwatkin was appointed a General Staff Office 2nd Grade, and was promoted Major on 3 October 1918. After serving with the 5th Cavalry Division in Kurdistan, May to December 1919, he relinquished this post on 20 February 1920, and subsequently attended the Staff College at Quetta. His next appointment was that of Brigade Major of the 2nd Indian Cavalry Brigade, which role he took up on 1 March 1925. He transferred from that role to become an Instructor at the Staff College, Quetta, on 1 January 1927, and remained at the Staff College for a further three years. On 14 January 1930 he was appointed to the command of the Royal Deccan Horse, and remained the Regiment’s Commanding Officer until he was promoted to Colonel on 4 August 1934, when he was appointed to command the 2nd (Sialkot) Indian Cavalry Brigade and granted the rank of temporary Brigadier.


In June 1938 Gwatkin attended the Imperial Defence College and was promoted to Major-General, one of only 21 Officers of that rank on the Indian Army, and was also appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath. The following April he was appointed Military Advisor-in-Chief to the Indian State Forces. This role involved him working with the private armies that were under the control of the rulers of the various Princely States, and which had all pledged allegiance to the British Empire in times of War. The size and capability of these forces varied considerably, with states such as Gwalior, Hyderabad, and Jammu and Kashmir having large armies modelled to a great extent on the British Indian Army.


Gwatkin was appointed Colonel of the Royal Deccan Horse on 2 August 1939, and was knighted at the Viceroy’s Palace in New Delhi on 21 February 1942. He retired from the Indian Army on 12 April 1943, after 40 years’ service, and relinquished the role of Colonel of the Royal Deccan Horse on 1 September 1950, following the partition of the Indian Army.


Sir Frederick Gwatkin married Miss Lydia Stanton, the daughter of Colonel E. C. Stanton, in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, in 1920, with whom he had two sons and one daughter. Both his sons were killed on the same day, 14 March 1945. In later life he became a collector of and noted authority on Burmese stamps and postal history. He died on 20 April 1969.


Sold together with the recipient’s medal riband bar; Bestowal Document for the Belgian Croix de Guerre, this torn and severely damaged; portrait photographic image of the recipient, and various copied research.


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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