Orders, Decorations and Medals

Pair: Superintendent H. F. Hertz, Imperial Police Service

India General Service 1854-95, 4 clasps, Burma 1885-7, Burma 1887-89, Burma 1889-92, Kachin Hills 1892-93 (Mr H. F. Hertz, Inspector, Sagaing Civil Police); Delhi Durbar 1911, silver, unnamed, mounted as worn, good very fine, scarce (2) £900-1000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Medals from the Collection of Brigadier Brian Parritt, C.B.E..

View
Collection

Henry Hertz was born in India on 14 May 1863 and was educated at St. Xavier’s School, Calcutta. Of Danish ancestry, one of his grandfathers was the Bishop of Ribe in Denmark. By profession a Barrister, a member of the Danske Geografiske Selskab and proficient in the Burmese, Shan and Kachin languages, Hertz entered the Imperial Police Service in June 1886. In Burma he first became an Inspector of Police 3rd Class at Mandalay in October 1887. Transferred to Madaya in November, he was appointed Assistant District Superintendent of Police 2nd Class in January 1888. Following on from the Second Burma War, Hertz took an active part in the operations around Mandalay during 1886-87 and in the Shan States during 1887-89, for which he received the I.G.S. medal and two clasps and thanks of the Local Government. Hertz then took part in the Tonhon Expedition, December 1889-April 1890 and North Eastern Column Expedition, December 1891-April 1892, for which he received his third Burma clasp. As District Superintendent of Police he then took part in the expedition to the Kachin Hills, the aim of which was to establish a post on or near the villages of Sima and Namkhan. Hertz was present in the advance to Sima, including the action in which Surgeon-Major O. R. P. Lloyd earned the Victoria Cross. Having relieved the garrison at Sima, the relief column itself became besieged in the fort. Hertz, Lieutenant Newbold and 25 Gurkhas managed to break out and bring news of the siege to Imperial forces at Bhamo. There then followed several bloody engagements culminating in the attack by Captain G. C. Atkinson and 300 men on the blockhouse in the village of Pslap, Hertz being present at this action. For his services Hertz received the thanks of the Home Government and the Government of India and the final clasp to his I.G.S. medal. In 1900 he was made a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire. Henry Hertz continued to serve as a police officer until 4 November 1916 when he retired as Superintendent of Police Supplies stationed at Rangoon. He was the author of A Practical Handbook of the Kachin Language. He died on 6 November 1932. Sold with copied research.