Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

South Africa 1877-79, 1 clasp, 1879, riveted above privately engraved clasps for ‘Ghinghehlovo, 3 April 1879’ and ‘Inyezane, 22 Jany. 1879’ (Corpl. Robbins, Stanger Md. Rifles), good very fine and unusual
£1200-1500

James Robbins, a mechanic from Umhlali, and a member of the Stanger Mounted Rifles, actually served in the Natal Volunteer Guides and was present at the battle of Inyezane on 22 January 1879 and the action at Ghinghelovo on 3 April 1879, on which latter occasion he was severely wounded. A small unit of some 55 men, the Natal Volunteer Guides largely comprised men drawn from the Stanger and Victoria Mounted Rifles; see For God, Queen and Colony, by Terry Sole, for further details.