Auction Catalogue

25 February 1998

Starting at 1:00 PM

.

Orders, Decorations and Medals

The Arts Club  40 Dover St  London  W1S 4NP

Lot

№ 749

.

25 February 1998

Estimate: £1,800–£2,200

A rare Order of British India and Army Best Shot group of eleven awarded to Subadar Major Walayat Khan, 1st 15th Punjab Regiment, late 2nd 25th Punjabis

Order of British India, 1st class, 2nd type neck badge, gold and enamels; Pakistan Independence 1947; India General Service 1908-35, 3 clasps, Waziristan 1921-24, North West Frontier 1930-31, North West Frontier 1935 (1703 L-Nk. Walayat Khan, 2-25 Pjbis); 1939-45 Star; Burma Star; War Medal; India Service Medal; Jubilee 1935, named; Coronation 1937, named; Coronation 1953; Army Best Shot Medal (The King’s Medal), G.VI.R., 1st issue, with clasp ‘1938’ (3959 C.H.M. Walayat Khan, 1/15 P.) excluding the first, the group court mounted, together with a bronze N.I.R.A. shooting medal, unnamed, light contact marks, otherwise good very fine or better and extremely rare (12) £1800-2200

Walayat Khan, a Khattak Pathan, enlisted on 5 September 1919. He was commissioned Jemadar in the 1/15th Punjabis on 1 September 1939, and Subadar on 1 February 1941. The Indian Army List for 1945 gives his rank as Acting Subadar Major. He was clearly an accomplished shot, winning the Magdala Gold Medal for the best shot in the Indian Army in 1934, and the Magdala Bronze Medal for gaining third place in the Indian Army Championship the following year. It was not until 1935, or shortly thereafter, that the King’s Medal was sanctioned for award to the Military forces of India and other Commonwealth countries. Company Havildar Major Walayat Khan won the King’s Medal in 1938, his award being one of only a small number to the Indian Army before the intervention of the war the following year, and it is probable that no further awards were made before Independence in 1947.