Orders, Decorations and Medals

Africa General Service 1902-56, 1 clasp, Somaliland 1902-04 (5746 Pte. E. Whitehead, 3rd Rifle Brigade), suspension claw refixed, contact marks and edge bruising, thus fine £140-160

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Collection of Medals to the Cheshire and Manchester Regiments, Rifle Brigade and Royal Green Jackets formed by the late David Boniface.

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Collection

A little over 30 such Medals & clasps were awarded to the Rifle Brigade.

Ernest Whitehead was born in Chelsea, London and enlisted in the Rifle Brigade in April 1898, aged 19 years. In his subsequent career of 12 years with the Colours, he served variously in Aden, Malta, India and Africa, seeing action in the relief of Ladysmith operations in the the Boer War - for which he received the Queen’s South Africa Medal & 5 clasps and the King’s South Africa Medal & 2 clasps - in addition to the Somaliland operations in 1904, when he was attached to No. 2 British Mounted Infantry, 1st Somali Corps, thereby winning entitlement to his Africa General Service Medal 1902-56 - see Jason Glover’s article, The Rifle Brigade in Somaliland 1903-04 (O.M.R.S. Journal, Autumn 1995), for full details. Whitehead was discharged at Tipperary in December 1910, having been found unfit for further military service.