Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Crimea 1854-56, 4 clasps, Alma, Balaklava, Inkermann, Sebastopol (Jas. Binns, Rifle Bde.) officially impressed naming, contact marks, nearly very fine £700-900

James Binns joined the Rifle Brigade at Portsmouth on 20 February 1854, aged 17 years. Soon on active service, he went with the regiment to the Crimea, landing at Eupatoria on 14 September 1854. He was in action at Alma, 20 September 1854; served in trenches before Sebastopol; saw action at Balaklava, 25 October 1854; fought at Inkermann, 5 November 1854 - his rifle being hit and broken by grape shot; took part in a night attack on 20 November 1854 - and received a minor wound to his lip by a spent ball; then took part in the taking of the Quarries and the storming of the Redan. Further service followed in India and the suppression of the Indian Mutiny and then in the Cape Province.

His military service is recorded in ‘Short Account of the Experiences of James Binns (late of the Rifle Brigade)’. With photocopies of the six pages of this short account.