The important K.C.B. group of eight awarded to Director-General Sir William Alexander MacKinnon, Army Medical Department, awarded the C.B. for services in New Zealand and later Principal Medical Officer during the Ashantee War of 1874-74

The Most Honourable Order of The Bath, K.C.B. (Military) Knight Commander’s set of insignia, neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel; breast star, silver, silver-gilt and enamel, this with slight enamel damage; The Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Knight of Grace set of insignia, neck badge, 57mm. and breast star, 57mm., silver and enamel; Crimea 1854-56, 3 clasps, Alma, Balaklava, Sebastopol (Wm. Alexr. MacKinnon, 42 Royal Highlanders), contemporary engraved naming, clasp backstraps engraved with dates of actions; Indian Mutiny 1857-58, no clasp (Asst. Surgn.); New Zealand 1845-66, undated (Sur. Major, Staff); Ashantee 1873-74, 1 clasp, Coomassie (Dy. Surgn. Genl., C.B., 1873-4); France, Second Empire, Legion of Honour, 5th Class breast badge, silver, gold and enamel; Turkish Crimea 1855, Sardinian type contemporary copy (Wm. Alexr. MacKinnon, 42nd Royal Highlanders), engraved naming, good very fine (10) £4000-5000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Collection of Medals to the Medical Services formed by Colonel D.G.B. Riddick.

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William Alexander MacKinnon was born in Strath on the Isle of Skye on 27 June 1830 and educated at Glasgow and Edinburgh Universities. Appointed an Assistant Surgeon on 18 February 1853, he served with the 42nd Regiment in the Crimean War, being present at the battles of Alma and Balaklava, the expedition to Kertch and Yenikale and the siege and fall of Sebastopol including the First and Final Attacks on the Redan. For his services he was awarded the Legion of Honour 5th Class. During the Indian Mutiny he served as Surgeon on the personal staff of Lord Clyde, from April 1858 to the end of the war and was present in the campaigns in Rohilcund, Byswarrah and Trans-Gogra, including the actions of Bareilly, Shahjehanpore, Doondiakeira, Bergundia, Musjedia and the Raptee. Promoted to Surgeon in January 1862, firstly with the Staff then with the 57th Regiment; he served in the New Zealand War of 1863-66, including the capture of the rebel position at Katikara and the repulse of the attacks at Gilbert’s Clearing, for which he was mentioned in despatches. Appointed Sanitary Officer to the New Zealand Force, November 1863-April 1866, he served in the campaigns in the Waikato, Tauranga and Wanganui districts; on the H.Q. Staff of Sir D. Cameron, and attached to the Quarter Master General’s Department; was present in the action at Rangiawhia, the assault of the Gate Pah, Tauranga (mentioned in despatches and awarded the C.B.), repulse of the enemy’s attack on the camp at Nukumarn, and the affair at Kakaremea. In Medical Officers of the British Army it is recorded that ‘In the attack on a chief’s pah ... the combatant officers being all hors de combat, MacKinnon took command and captured the position’. For his many and excellent services in the New Zealand war, MacKinnon was specially promoted to Surgeon-Major in September 1866. During the period 1867-73, he was employed as Assistant Professor of Surgery at the Army Medical School at Netley. MacKinnon’s next appointment was as Principal Medical Officer in the Ashantee War of 1873-74. He was present at the battles of Amoaful and Ordahsu and at the capture of Coomassie; for which services he was several times mentioned in despatches and promoted to Deputy Surgeon General. Again in Medical Officers of the British Army it is recorded that ‘At Amoaful .... he tied the carotid artery of the Sergeant-Major, 42nd Ft., on the field during the fighting’. MacKinnon was promoted to Surgeon General in May 1880 and Director-General in May 1889 and was honoured with the Knight of Grace of the Order of St. John in 1889 and the K.C.B. in 1891. Sir William was appointed the Queen’s Honorary Surgeon in 1893. He died in London on 28 October 1897, his ashes being laid to rest at Kilchrist, “Strath of the Mackinnons”. Sold with copied research and a photograph of his portrait.