A Defence of Malakand Indian Order of Merit pair awarded to Jemadar Uttam Singh, 45th Sikhs

Indian Order of Merit, Military Division, 1st type, 3rd Class, Reward of Valor, silver and enamel, the reverse inscribed on three lines ‘3rd / Class / Order of Merit’, lacking ribbon buckle; India General Service 1895-1902, 3 clasps, Punjab Frontier 1897-98, Malakand 1897, Tirah 1897-98 (2339 Jemdr. Uttam Singh, 45th Sikhs) centre re-enamelled on the first, edge bruising and contact marks, otherwise nearly very fine (2) £2000-2500

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The collection of Medals formed by the Late Clive Nowell.

View
Collection

Order of Merit, 3rd Class, G.G.O. 49 of 1898: Subadar-Major Mangal Singh, Jemadar Uttam Singh and four others of the 45th (Sikh) Regiment of Bengal Infantry:-

‘For conspicuous gallantry at Malakand on the night of the 26th July 1897, in holding a narrow defile with a party of about twenty other men of the regiment against a large force of the enemy and checking their advance for twenty minutes, until the arrival of the remainder of the regiment.’

This action is vividly described by Winston Churchill in his book The Story of the Malakand Field Force, chapter four, The attack on the Malakand:

‘In the attack on the Malakand camp all the elements of danger and disorder were displayed. The surprise, the darkness, the con- fused and broken nature of the ground; the unknown numbers of the enemy; their merciless ferocity; every appalling circumstance was present. But there were men who were equal to the occasion. As soon as the alarm sounded Lieutenant-Colonel McRae of the 45th Sikhs, a holder of the Gold Medal of the Royal Humane Society and of long experience in Afghanistan and on the Indian frontier, ran to the Quarter Guard, and collecting seven or eight men, sent them under command of Major Taylor, of the same regiment, down the Buddhist road to try and check the enemy's advance. Hurriedly assembling another dozen men, and leaving the Adjutant, Lieutenant Barff, with directions to bring on more, he ran with his little party after Taylor in the direction of the entrance gorge of the Kotal camp. Two roads give access to the Malakand camp, from the plain of Khar. At one point the Buddhist road, the higher of the two, passes through a narrow defile and turns a sharp corner. Here, if anywhere, the enemy might be held or at least delayed until the troops got under arms. Overtaking Major Taylor, Colonel McRae led the party, which then amounted to perhaps twenty men, swiftly down the road. It was a race on which the lives of hundreds depended. If the enemy could turn the corner, nothing could check their rush, and the few men who tried to oppose them would be cut to pieces. The Sikhs arrived first, but by a very little. As they turned the corner they met the mass of the enemy, nearly a thousand strong, armed chiefly with swords and knives, creeping silently and stealthily up the gorge, in the hope and assurance of rushing the camp and massacring every soul in it. The whole road was crowded with the wild figures. McRae opened fire at once. Volley after volley was poured into the dense mass at deadly range. At length the Sikhs fired independently. This checked the enemy, who shouted and yelled in fury at being thus stopped. The small party of soldiers then fell back, pace by pace, firing incessantly, and took up a position in a cutting about fifty yards behind the corner. Their flanks were protected on the left by high rocks, and on the right by boulders and rough ground, over which in the darkness it was impossible to move. The road was about five yards wide. As fast as the tribesmen turned the corner they were shot down. It was a strong position.

Being thus effectively checked in their direct advance, the tribesmen began climbing up the hill to the left and throwing down rocks and stones on those who barred their path. They also fired their rifles round the corner, but as they. were unable to see the soldiers without exposing themselves, most of their bullets went to the right.

The band of Sikhs were closely packed in the cutting, the front rank kneeling to fire. Nearly all were struck by stones and rocks. Major Taylor, displaying great gallantry, was mortally wounded. Several of the Sepoys were killed. Colonel McRae himself was accidentally stabbed in the neck by a bayonet and became covered with blood. But he called upon the men to maintain the good name of "Rattray's Sikhs", and to hold their position till death or till the regiment came up. And the soldiers replied by loudly shouting the Sikh war-cry, and defying the enemy to advance.

After twenty minutes of desperate fighting, Lieutenant Barff arrived with thirty more men. He was only just in time. The enemy had already worked round Colonel McRae's right, and the destruction of the few soldiers left alive could not long have been delayed. The reinforcement, climbing up the hillside, drove the enemy back and protected the flank. But the remainder of the regiment was now at hand. Colonel McRae then fell back to a more extended position along a ride about fifty yards further up the road and reinforcing Lieutenant Barff's party, repulsed all attacks during the night. About 2 a.m. the tribesmen, finding they could make no progress, drew off leaving many dead.

The presence of mind, tactical knowledge and bravery displayed in this affair are thus noticed in the official despatches by General Meiklejohn:

There is no doubt that the gallant resistance made by this small body in the gorge, against vastly superior numbers, till the arrival of the rest of the regiment, saved the camp from being rushed on that side, and I cannot speak too highly of the behaviour of Lieutenant-Colonel McRae and Major Taylor on this occasion.”