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Lot 184
Military Interest - 98th Prince of Wales Regiments of Foot - A rare Victorian silver mounted Doulton Lambeth commemorative stoneware jug, the body of typical for moulded with crowned belt and buckle reserved, inscribed CHINA and PUNJAUB enclosing a dragon over XCVIII relating to battle honours awarded for the first China or opium war of 1842 and the second Anglo Sihk war of 1848 (Anglo Indian Company) the handle with stiff leaf and strap terminal, impressed oval Doulton Lambeth mark, makers mark J.G and Sons, Birmingham 1881, 17cm high
Lot 462
A 1968 SWB Land RoverThe Land Rover runs well and has been stored for the past three years, only had two owners from new, it was wax oiled some years ago, freewheeling hubs are fitted as well as a rare Safari style roof, it has a very low recorded mileage of only 40,000, the vehicle is tax exempt as it is an historic vehicle. CONDITION REPORT: PETROL.
Lot 654
A rare and attractive child's bureau bookcaseWith a moulded cornice above a satinwood crossbanded frieze over two similarly crossbanded astragal glazed doors enclosing two shelves, the lower part with a fall front centred with an inlaid urn and scrolling vinery enclosing a compartmentalised interior over three crossbanded drawers each with brass swan neck handles raised on bracket feet, 67x151x41cm. CONDITION REPORT: Lot 654Small chip to veneer on top,Minor 'stress' line on fall front, left hand side,'Scuft' on right hand front leg,Otherwise only general wear/marks,Good condition.
Lot 30
A rare set of seven Victorian bone handled cut throat razer's to a rosewood boxEach etched with a day Monday through to Sunday, along with an iron address stamp, 1917 circular brass shell case and a vintage boxed Hygienator. CONDITION REPORT: Each Razor is marked with the days of the week Sunday through Saturday on the spine of the blade- The Monday one is very feint but still ledgable.
Lot 57
DCMT Crescent - a collection of metal diecast models comprising a Tanker, red # 423 ca 1949, a Cement Mixer, a fire engine (lacking turntable ladder), a further fire engine and ladder, Lone Star Jeep, Timpo blue racing car (lacking rear wheels), a Wells Brimtoy tinplate clockwork tipper truck, a Corgi Carrimore Car Transporter and a rare green tinplate Racing Car with white tyres [11 models]
Lot 278
Denny Hulme signed white card with 6 x 4 motor racing magazine photo fixed above. Rare autograph. New Zealand racing driver who won the 1967 Formula One World Drivers Championship for the Brabham team. Between his debut at Monaco in 1965 and his final race in the 1974 US Grand Prix, he started 112 Grand Prix, resulting eight victories and 33 trips to the podium. Good Condition. All signed items come with our certificate of authenticity. We combine postage on multiple winning lots and can ship worldwide. UK postage from £3.95, EU from £4.95, Overseas from £6.95.
Lot 249
Rare Battle of Britain pilots signed 40th ann cover. Signed by Sgt Frank Tucker 236 Sqn & Denis Wilde 236 Sqn. Good Condition. All signed items come with our certificate of authenticity. We combine postage on multiple winning lots and can ship worldwide. UK postage from £3.95, EU from £4.95, Overseas from £6.95.
Lot 160
Rare Concorde Airmail letter flown on the 1976 1st London Washington flight AND also flown on the last flight 26/11/2003 and signed by the flight crew Capt Mike Bannister, Les Brody and Paul Douglas. Good Condition. All signed items come with our certificate of authenticity. We combine postage on multiple winning lots and can ship worldwide. UK postage from £3.95, EU from £4.95, Overseas from £6.95.
Lot 441
AIR MARSHAL JOHN H. HUNTER TOD KBE CB. Rare Signature and Obituary of Technical Officer serving with 23 Squadron during the Battle of Britain. Trained AI operators and flew on night operations and scrambles thus qualifying him for the BOB Clasp. Good Condition. All signed items come with our certificate of authenticity. We combine postage on multiple winning lots and can ship worldwide. UK postage from £3.95, EU from £4.95, Overseas from £6.95.
Lot 159
Rare Concorde Airmail letter flown on the 1976 1st Bahrain to London flight AND also flown on the last flight 26/11/2003 and signed by the flight crew Capt Mike Bannister, Les Brody and Paul Douglas. Good Condition. All signed items come with our certificate of authenticity. We combine postage on multiple winning lots and can ship worldwide. UK postage from £3.95, EU from £4.95, Overseas from £6.95.
Lot 7
δ Terry Frost (1915-2003) Far Away and Alone (Kemp 74) The rare screenprint in black, 1976, signed and dated pencil, one of only a few artist proof's there was no edition, on wove paper, printed by the Artist, Newlyn, sheet 510 x 760mm (20 1/8 x 30in) (unframed) δ This lot is sold subject to Artists Resale Rights, details of which can be found in our Terms and Conditions.
Lot 71
δ Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) La Cavalier (Bloch 40; Mourlot VIII) The rare lithograph, 1921, signed and numbered from the edition of 50 in pencil, on Arches wove paper, printed by Atelier Bruant, Paris, published by Galerie Simon, Paris, the full sheet, 253 x 315mm (10 x 12 3/8in) (unframed) δ This lot is sold subject to Artists Resale Rights, details of which can be found in our Terms and Conditions.
Lot 124
δ Allen Jones (b.1937) Life Class (Lloyd 48 A-G) The rare complete portfolio, 1968, comprising 16 lithographs printed in colours, each sheet signed in pencil, numbered from the edition of 75, printed by Emile Matthieu, Zurich, published by Editions Alecto, London and Arts Moderna, Basel, on wove paper, the sheets in the original plastic sleeves and card portfolio, overall size 820 x 570mm (32 ½ x 22 ¾ in) (16) (unframed) δ This lot is sold subject to Artists Resale Rights, details of which can be found in our Terms and Conditions.
Lot 39
δ Salvador Dali (1904-1989) Flordali (Flora Dalinae) (Michler & Löpsinger 227-236) The rare complete portfolio, 1968, comprising ten etchings with drypoint and pochoir in colours, each signed in pencil, with title-page, list of plates, prospectus and justification, numbered from the edition of 175, on Japon Nacre paper, the full sheets, loose within the original calf skin folder with title embossed in gilt on the uppers, each sheet 770 x 560mm (30 ¼ x 22in) overall size 780 x 595 mm (30 ¾ x 23 ¼ in) (10) (unframed) δ This lot is sold subject to Artists Resale Rights, details of which can be found in our Terms and Conditions.
Lot 171
*Afghanistan, Hero of Revolutionary Afghanistan, type 2 (1987-92), in gold with red enamelled ribbon bar, reverse with Persian inscription and with stamped number 057, width 28.5mm, 17.00g (cf Haynes 3001 (1986-87 type)), with screwback suspension, extremely fine and extremely rare. Apparently awarded on only twelve occasions between 1986 and 1992.
Lot 191
*A Rare Officer’s Prisoner of War MGS awarded to Captain George Tito Brice, 3rd Dragoon Guards, who was severely wounded by a cannonball at Talavera and captured by the advancing French forces whilst lying wounded on the field of battle. He was initially held at the infamous prison-fortress & town of Verdun until the end of the Peninsular War, when his passport was reportedly signed by Napoleon himself at the time of his release, comprising: Military General Service, 1793-1814, single clasp, Talavera (G. T. Brice, Capt 3rd Dragn Gds.), offered with complete box of issue and original ribbon, old cabinet tone, just one or two tiny marks, otherwise practically as struck and rare with original box. Ex Spink, December 1986; Ex DNW, 23 September, 2011; Ex Baldwin, 2013, retail purchase. George Tito Brice was born in 1872 in Wimborne, near Poole, Dorset, the first son of Reverend George Tito Brice – Vicar of Great Canford, Dorset. As a young man of some private means, he purchased a Cornetcy in the 3rd Dragoon Guards for £630 on 17 October 1799, being promoted to Lieutenant on 24 April 1801, and then being reduced to half-pay. He was re-appointed Lieutenant on 2 September 1802, and was very soon after promoted to Captain on 17 December 1803. Serving in the Peninsular War, he landed with the 3rd Dragoon Guards at Lisbon on 26-27 April 1809 as part of Fane’s cavalry brigade. Marching on 4 May to join Wellington’s army they took part in the battle of Talavera on 27 and 28 July, where he was wounded by a cannonball during abortive preparations for a cavalry charge against the opposing French infantry. Captain Brice and one other Trooper were wounded and subsequently captured and taken as prisoners of war from the battlefield as the British troops withdrew to Portugal. According to analysis in Michael Lewis’ ‘Napoleon and his British Captives’ the Army accounted for only 25%, or 1,000 officers and other ranks, of a total of 4,000 British sailors and soldiers held as prisoners of war by Napoleon. Lewis indicates that a total of 229 Army officers were held as prisoners during the Napoleonic War, so a medal to one is really quite rare. A particularly high number of officers were taken prisoner – with many wounded – after Talavera; Lewis indicates no less than 52. In addition, analysis suggests that perhaps 16 Surgeons and Assistant Surgeons elected to attend to the needs of the wounded after the battle in full knowledge that they would fall into captivity as Wellington’s forces left the field. After presumably being treated and transported to France, he arrived at the military fortress of Verdun on 13 May 1810 for registration as a P.O.W. High-ranking officers such as Brice were given the opportunity to live on parole and to pay for their own lodgings elsewhere within the town itself, having given their word as gentlemen not to escape, but with strict curfews issued and daily rolls enforced nonetheless. He remained in Verdun until April 1814 (having in the meantime received the brevet of Major in May of the year before), and for his wounds received at Talavera he was issued an annual pension of £100, dated from 25 December 1811. His death was erroneously announced in The Gentleman’s Magazine in January 1814 (Vol. 84, Part I) with other accurate details included beside it, where it stated: ‘At Great Cranford, where he had lately arrived from France, Capt. Brice, 3rd drag. guards, son of the Rev. George Tito B. vicar of that parish. He was severely wounded at the battle of Talavera, and had been a prisoner four years at Verdun. Bounaparte signed his passport, with those of four other wounded officers, at Dresden, the beginning of September.’ Returning to ‘life’ in Britain alive, he was confirmed as Major in January 1818, and in due course settled in Fordingbridge, Hampshire. In later life he became a local magistrate and Deputy Lieutenant for his county, and he died at Packham House on 29 March 1862, aged 80. His son Major-General George Tito Brice C.B., of the 17th (Leicestershire) Regiment of Foot, served with distinction in the Crimea and in Canada, and his medals are held by the Leicester City Museum.
Lot 24
Germany, A WWI Iron Cross and Memorial Cup Pair with original citation card, comprising: Imperial, Iron Cross, 2nd Class, dated 1914, in silver and iron, with ‘M’ mark on suspension ring; A named and engraved 800 silver Memorial Cup and original citation & photo card, engraved ‘Sebastian Hofer 13 April 1918; Also offered with ‘Sterebild’ citation card & portrait picture, confirming the recipient as Sebastian Hofer, 2nd Reserve Infantry Regiment, killed in action on 13 April 1918 by an artillery shell, at the age of 37 years and 4 months old. Medal good very fine, cup somewhat unevenly toned, very fine or better, and rare (2). Many such ‘Ehren Pokal’ cups were sold for scrap during the post WWI depression in Germany, and as such they are rare to the market, particularly when offered with the original ‘Sterebild’ citation. The above recipient was also entitled to the military merit cross, as noted on the card. The 2nd Reserve Infantry Regiment appears to have been part of the 3rd Reserve Division, which at the time of Sebastian Hofer’s death is recorded as having been positioned in a trench system to the north of Ailette, France, near the Chemin Des Dames in the Aisne area.
Lot 3
*China, Order of the Double Dragon, First type, Second Class, Third Grade neck badge in silver-gilt and enamels, with central coral, rev., plain, double ring suspender with barrel loop, 118.5 x 92mm, chased in fields, good very fine and rare. Provenance: Awarded to Ludwig Johann Charles von Zeppelin Obermüller (b. 1874), who was the Dutch Consul-General and Senior Consul in Shanghai. See also lots 2, 8, 35, 64 and 69.
Lot 286
*The Rare George Medal Group of Four awarded to Lieutenant-Commander Thomas Albert Herriott, Royal Navy, who having served in the Boer War, the Boxer Rebellion at the ‘Relief of Pekin’ and also in WWI, re-joined the Royal Navy in 1940 at the age of 62, and was awarded the George Medal for ‘fortitude and devotion to duty’ at Tower Pier whilst fighting incendiaries during an air raid upon the Port of London during the Blitz on the night of 7-8 September 1940 – the first night of the ‘London Blitz’. His right arm was shattered during the incident, and was later amputated, and the rest of his party were either killed or wounded, comprising: George Medal,G.VI.R., 1st Type (1940-47) (Lieut. Cdr. Thomas Herriott, R.N.); Queen’s South Africa, 1899-1902, no clasp (T. A. Herriott, Lg. Sean. H.M.S. Terrible); China 1900, single clasp, Relief of Pekin (T. A. Herriott. Lg. Sean, H.M.S. Terrible,); 1914-15 Star (Gnr. T. A. .Herriott, R.N.); Medals swing mounted on bar with reverse brooch pin, lightly toned, occasional marks and small bumps, generally about good very fine (4) G.M.: London Gazette: 23 September 1941 – ‘for fortitude and devotion to duty while serving with a fire party during an air raid on the Port of London’ (Original recommendation states: ‘The ship was alongside the pontoon of Tower Pier during a heavy raid. Many fire-bombs were dropped. Lieutenant Commander Herriott led a party of two Officers and four Seamen on to the pontoon to put out fires, and to bring an A.F.S. pump into action. Soon after midnight a heavy bomb struck the pontoon, killing or mortally wounding the four Seamen and wounding both Officers. Lieutenant Commander Herriott’s right arm was shattered and has since been amputated. In spite of this he devoted himself, with total disregard to his own condition, to tending and encouraging the wounded. When a rescue party arrived, he refused to have anything done for himself. He took charge of the work removing the injured. This Officer displayed the greatest courage throughout the whole attack.’) With:Royal Navy Long Service and Good Conduct, G.VI.R. (M.35674 A. E. Herriott. E.A.I, H.M.S. Dainty); toned, extremely fine Lieutenant-Commander Thomas Albert Herriott, was born 3 September 1878 at Lillington, Sussex, and entered the Royal Navy in time to serve as Leading Seaman aboard H.M.S. Terrible towards the end of the Second Anglo-Boer War. He was also present aboard this ship during the Boxer Rebellion in China, where he took part in the Relief of Pekin. He reached the rank of Gunner, and served for a time aboard H.M.S. Drake between November 1904 and January 1910, where none other than Captain John Jellicoe considered Herriott ‘Zealous and Promising’. He continued to serve aboard Seahorse, Shannon, and Good Hope before the outbreak of WWI, often taking on additional duties as Navigating Officer. He served aboard H.M.S. Duncan on 8 August 1914, and later transferred to the General Craufurd on 6 January 1917 – thus being present in support of the First Ostend Raid in April 1918. He was promoted to the commissioned position of Chief Gunner soon after on 13 September 1918, and passed his officer examinations to become Lieutenant on 31 December 1921 whilst serving aboard Racer. He continued to serve in this capacity until repeated dislocation of his shoulder appears to have led to his discharge and retirement at Haslar on 3 September 1928, when he was placed on the retired list. He was then promoted to Lieutenant-Commander (Retired) on 21 December 1929. In civilian life he resided in Cowplain near Portsmouth, and took up the positions of Chairman of Havant and Waterlooville Urban District Council, member of Hampshire County Council. He re-joined the Royal Navy early in 1940 to serve in WW2, presumably for home service (given his age at 62). While doing so, he was recommended for the George Medal for battling with incendiaries which had fallen on Tower Pier, Tower Bridge, at the Port of London, on the night of 7-8 September 1940. This night was the first night of the London ‘Blitz’ which would continue unrelenting for a further 56 nights. Whilst specific details regarding the incident remain scant (other than those provided above), we know that Lieutenant-Commander Herriott was seriously wounded and most of his team were killed by a German bomb, and that Herriott lost his forearm as a direct result of his injuries. Tower Pier was located just in front of the Tower itself, and close by the iconic Tower Bridge (see photo, taken on the same evening of 7 September 1940). Herriott was awarded the George Medal the following year, and his picture was included in several important newspapers at that time. He sadly died soon after the culmination of war on 30 July 1946, at the age of 67, being buried at Waterlooville Cemetery. The associated Royal Navy Long Service and Good Conduct Medal to A. E. Herriott (confirmed), is presumed to be a close relation of the recipient, but further investigation is necessary. The remaining entitlement of Lieutenant-Commander Heriot (British War & Victory Medals, Defence Medal) is not present with the group, and may never have been received by the recipient.
Lot 9
*China, Order of the Striped Tiger, Nationalist Issue, First / Second Class set of insignia, in silver-gilt and enamels including Nationalist standard placed on ground before the seated tiger, comprising First Class sash badge, width 77.2mm, on First Class sash and Second Class breast star, width 80mm, all in original lacquer case for a Second Class set, sash badge mounting hook strained and both pieces of insignia showing some wear and minor enamel damage, generally good very fine, seemingly worn as a set and extremely rare (lot)
Lot 188
*A Rare N.G.S. with clasp ‘25 July Boat Service 1809’ awarded to Able Seaman David Hume, R.N., for service aboard H.M.S. Princess Caroline during the bloody and hard-fought night time action against a group of Russian Navy Gunboats at Frederickshamn in the Gulf of Finland, with one enemy ship – gunboat No.62, suffering 100% casualties before being forced to surrender, comprising:Naval General Service, 1793-1840, single clasp, 25 July Boat Service 1809 (David Hume.), light, attractive toning, occasional tiny marks, extremely fine or better, and rare. Ex Whalley, 1877; Ex Lord Cheylesmore, July 1930; Ex Dalrymple White, Glendinings, June 1946; Ex Christies, November 1988; Ex Spink, 21 July, 2011; Ex Baldwin, 2012 retail purchase. Able Seaman David Hume was born and baptised in the Scottish coastal village of Kinghorn, Fife on 7 May 1779 to David Hume and Margaret Drysdale. According to his service records, David first served in H.M.S. Texel, a third rate converted to operate as a guard ship and floating battery in Leith Roads, between May and August 1807. The ship’s musters indicate that he was ‘pressed’ into service with the Royal Navy, possibly in Prestonpans, on the southern side of the Firth of Forth, being rated as an Able Seaman. In August 1807 he was transferred to the third rate, HMS Monmouth. On 15 September 1807, flying the flag of Rear-Admiral William O’Bryen Drury. Monmouth sailed with a convoy of nine Indiamen to the East Indies, and during the voyage, on 25 January 1808 Monmouth captured the Danish ship Nancy. On 12 February she arrived off the Danish possession of Tranquebar on the Indian coast, just in time to observe the landing of troops of the 14th Regiment of Foot and the Honourable East India Company’s artillery. The British immediately went on to capture the settlement and fort, which fell without resistance. Monmouth returned to Britain in September 1808, having escorted home a convoy of Indiamen, and paid off. He was soon after present aboard H.M.S. Princess Caroline during the bloody and hard-fought cutting out expedition against Russian Naval gunboats at Frederikshamn; in the Gulf of Finland near the Aspo Roads, on 25 July 1809. A British force of seventeen boats (from the vessels H.M.S. Cerberus, Minotaur, Princess Caroline and Prometheus) was led by Captain Thomas Forrest of the Prometheus against a small but resolute Russian force of 4 gunboats and an armed transport brig, with a night-time attack commencing at 10.30pm. Four of the Russian vessels were captured, with roughly 150 prisoners taken, but the defence was so fierce in the case of Russian gunboat No.62 that its entire crew of 44 was either killed (24) or wounded prior to the vessel’s capture. The British forces suffered 3 officers and 6 men killed, with approximately 50 wounded (including Captain Forrest), and the Russian forces lost 28 killed and 59 wounded. David Hume served in Princess Caroline until February 1811, and then transferred to H.M.S. Cressy, another third-rate. He was on board Cressy on 23 – 24 December 1811 when the ship was off the west coast of Jutland in the company of H.M.S. St. George, under Rear-Admiral Robert Carthew Reynolds, and HMS Defence. A hurricane blew up but, because St. George was jury-rigged, Captain Atkins of the Defence refused to leave her without the Admiral’s permission. As a result both St. George and Defence were wrecked near Ringkøbing. Cressy, aware of the danger of the nearby shore, broke away from the other two ships. Both Captain’s and Master’s Logs paint a graphic picture of the storm: “Weather was worsening throughout 23 December and the Master frequently adjusted sail to maintain contact with the squadron. Whilst ‘heaving the lead’ the Quartermaster ‘fell overboard and was drowned.” The ship’s logs state that at 9.15 ‘wore ship having broke off….seeing no possibility of clearing the land.’ Ominously at the end of the day the Logs report ‘St. George, Defence…..out of sight’. The storm continued into 24 December and the chain-pumps were rigged because ‘the hand (pumps were) not sufficient to keep her free’. Both St. George and Defence lost almost all their crews, including the Admiral. Most of the bodies that came ashore were buried in the sand dunes of Thorsminde, which have been known ever since as ‘Dead Men’s Dunes’. Continuing to serve on board Cressy, David Hume was made a Petty Officer (Quartermaster’s Mate) on 2 March 1812 and served on convoys to the West Indies and Brazil. He was discharged from Cressy to H.M.S. Prince on 7 May 1814. Prince would seem to have been serving as a receiving ship, and within a week David was discharged from the Navy. This is a scarce NGS for an action against the Russian Navy, and is offered with a copied statement of service, and some useful research. Approximately 36 clasps were issued for this action, of which 15 are known to the market (with two of these held by the National Maritime Museum, one by the Royal Naval Museum, and another in the Patiala Collection at the Sheesh Mahal Museum in India).
Lot 192
The Extremely Rare Swedish Gold Medal for Valour awarded to Commander Joshua Kneeshaw, R.N., for ‘valour in the field’ whilst a Lieutenant in command of the gun-brig H.M.S. Pincer during the Siege and Capture of Glückstadt, 1813-14. ‘An old officer’ who had ‘lost his right arm in the service of his country’, he was given the honour of carrying home Captain Arthur Farquhar’s subsequent despatch – this medal his only entitlement, and one of just 5 issued to British officers, comprising: Sweden, The Order of the Sword, Gold Medal for Valour in the Field (För Tapperhet I Fält), in gold, unnamed as issued, 30.75mm width, 15.00g, offered with original named warrant document, dated 17 January 1814, and with an old, most-likely original ribbon, occasional hairlines and surface nick by first line of reverse inscription, otherwise lustrous, good extremely fine, and extremely rare, particularly so with surviving warrant document. Official Warrant in formal, diplomatic French, states as follows: “Lieutenant Joshua Kneeshaw Esq., the Crown Prince would like to give you, Sir, his public thanks for the thoroughness, energy, zeal and bravery which you have shown during the present war. It is my honour to send you, for your services, the gold medal awarded to officers of all ranks, for your remarkable deeds and bravery, which are only awarded in times of war.” Commander Joshua Kneeshaw, was born on 10 November 1773 at Whitby, York, and joined the Royal Navy c.1793-4 as Midshipman aboard H.M.S. Bellona (74). Whilst aboard this ship he was present at the Defence of Fort Matilda on the island of Guadeloupe in 1794, and at the destruction of the privateers at Deseada in 1795 (including the vessels Duras (20) and La Duquesne (44), and an attack upon a French squadron at St Eustacia. He also took part in the unsuccessful attempt upon San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1795, as well as the capture of Trinidad and the attack upon a Spanish squadron in 1797. In September 1800 he was promoted to Lieutenant, and in 1802 he was given a pension of £200 per annum for the loss of his right arm during his naval service (although at present, the details of this wound/injury are not yet known). After a short period as Commanding Officer of the schooner Corso, he came aboard H.M.S. Georgiana. During a reconnaissance of French forces up the River Seine he was forced to scuttle his armed cutter on the river banks near Honfleur on 25 September 1804. Setting his ship to explode before it could fall into French hands, he escaped with his crew in her boats. Despite having lost the ship, Kneeshaw was not only exonerated, but was praised for his conduct. Some years later he took part in the Walcheren expedition of 1809 whilst commanding the gun-brig H.M.S. Martial, and soon afterwards came aboard H.M.S Piercer in June 1811. His ship formed part of the Heligoland squadron, under the orders of Captain Arthur Farquhar, where British Naval and Military forces gave assistance to a division of the army under the command of the Crown Prince of Sweden, first taking the fortress of Cuxhaven on 1 December 1813, and then seeking to capture the fortress of Glückstadt, at the mouth of the River Elbe. The six British ships (with eight supporting gunboats), assaulted the town itself with cannon and carronade (in the case of the Piercer) whilst also landing a force of artillery (two 6-pounders, six 18-pounders, two 32-pounders and mortars) and men to assist with the reduction of the fortification’s outer walls. H.M.S. Piercer inevitably drew a certain amount of the enemy fire from the water, and was much damaged in the process After a fierce and continued ‘red-hot-shot’ bombardment of 16 days the fortress capitulated, and it was then that Captain Arthur Farquhar wrote in his despatch of 5 Jan 1814 : “To Lieutenants Kneeshaw and Sir George Keith every praise is due, for their able support during the bombardment. Lieutenant Kneeshaw, who will have the honour of carrying home this despatch, is an officer of great merit his attention to his duty since he has been under my command, claims my warmest approbation. He is an old officer, and has lost his right arm in the service of his country.” Given the honour of returning home with this despatch, on 12 January 1814 - the day of his arrival at the Admiralty - Lieutenant Kneeshaw was promoted to the rank of Commander. In addition to this honour, he was just a few days later awarded the Swedish Gold Medal of the Order of the Sword, for ‘Valour in the Field’ on 17 January 1814. Just 5 such awards were given, to Lieutenant (now Commander) Kneeshaw, Sir George Keith of the Red Breast, Lieutenant Charles Haultain for command of the batteries, Lieutenant Hanmer as Senior Lieutenant of the gun boats, and Lieutenant Strangways, R.A., who succeeded the command of the Rocket Brigade upon the death of Captain Bogue. Strangely, none of the above men appear to have received either a Naval (or Military) General Service Medal, and in most cases the Swedish Gold Medal mentioned above remains their only official entitlement. Commander Joshua Kneeshaw afterwards re-appointed to the Piercer, then rated a sloop of war, and also commanded H.M.S. Censor the following year – retiring in 1816. He died at his home in Union Street, Troy Town, Rochester, Kent, on 1 November 1843, at the age of 70. It is not known how many of these very rare medals survive up to the present day, let alone with their original warrants. Just two Naval General Service Medals were awarded to H.M.S. Piercer for this action, those to Midshipmen Thomas Scriven, and Ordinary Seaman George Slowly.
Lot 228
1914-15 Star (Pte A. S. Reidpath S. A. Aviatn. C.), minor correction to unit, lightly toned, good very fine, and a rare unit. The South African Aviation Corps was the original unit which would later become the South African Air Force – the second oldest in the world after the British Royal Flying Corps. With training underway in 1913, at the outbreak of WWI it supplied six officers to volunteer with the Royal Flying Corps. In January 1915 the S.A.A.C. was formally established and made a contribution to the campaign in German South West Africa, providing aerial reconnaissance and dropping rudimentary bombs from their Henri Farman F-27 aircraft. At the culmination of this campaign, its pilots and men were transferred to the R.F.C., becoming No. 26 (South Africa) Squadron R.F.C. Worthy of further research.
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