The Collection of Medals Formed by Bill and Angela Strong

A good Jameson Raider’s group of six awarded to Captain S. V. Bowden, Royal Artillery, late Cape Police

Cape of Good Hope General Service 1880-97, 1 clasp, Bechuanaland (308 Pte. S. V. Bowden, C. Pol.); Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 2 clasps, Defence of Kimberley, Orange Free State (Lieut. S. V. Bowden, Cape Police); King’s South Africa 1901-02, 2 clasps, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902 (Lieut. S. V. Bowden, C.P. Dist. 1); British War and Victory Medals (Capt. S.V. Bowden); Defence Medal 1939-45, generally good very fine (6) £1200-1400

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Bill and Angela Strong Medal Collection.

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Sydney Vincent Bowden, who was born in Dumfries in January 1871 and was educated at Fettes, enlisted in the Cape Mounted Rifles as a Private in September 1889. Discharged in September 1894, he next enlisted in the Bechuanaland Border Police and, in mid-December 1895, as a Trooper in ‘K’ Troop of the British South Africa Company Police, in which capacity he was present in the Jameson Raid, taking part in the action at Vlakplaats Farm on 1 January 1896, prior to being taken prisoner by the Boers on the following day.

In common with many of his fellow raiders, Bowden was repatriated to England in the Harlech Castle, but he returned to South Africa in the following year, where he enlisted in the Cape Police at Kimberley and went on to serve in the Bechuanaland rebellion. So, too, in the Boer War, including the defence of Kimberley, in which period he was appointed a Lieutenant in District No. 1. Qualifying as an Inspector in 1904, and as a Chief Constable in 1908, he was dismissed from the service in July 1911 on being found guilty of disrespect to the Magistrate of Kenhardt.

Having then returned to England, Bowden applied for a commission in the B.E.F., and was appointed a 2nd Lieutenant in 2/4th Howitzer Battery, 1st West Riding Brigade, R.F.A. (Territorials) in March 1915. Appointed an Acting Captain at the end of the same year, he joined a Trench Mortar Battery in 62nd Division in early 1916 and, with the exception of a period of attachment to 3 Corps in 1917, appears to have served in that capacity until the War’s end, gaining a mention in despatches (London Gazette 23 December 1918 refers). Bowden was placed on the Reserve of Officers in December 1919.