Orders, Decorations and Medals

India General Service 1895-1902, 1 clasp, Relief of Chitral 1895 (5697 Pte. T. Maddison, 1st Bn. K. R. Rifle Corps) minor correction to ‘Corps’, good very fine £200-250

Thomas Maddison, 1st Battalion King’s Royal Rifle Corps, was a survivor from the troopship Warren Hastings when she ran aground and was wrecked off the Island of Reunion, on 14 January 1897. Surviving, he was later transferred to the Army Reserve. He was recalled for service in the Boer War and was posted to South Africa with the 3rd Battalion. He deserted on 25 November 1899, the day after the battalion reached Cape Town. The rolls for the 3rd Battalion show him entitled to the Q.S.A. with clasp for Cape Colony but because of his desertion his medal was forfeited and returned unissued. Sold with some research notes and a copied photograph of the wreck of the Warren Hastings.