Orders, Decorations and Medals

An exceptional C.B., C.M.G., Edward VII China D.S.O. group of twelve awarded to Brigadier General George Pereira, Grenadier Guards, late Military Attaché at Peking, an intrepid explorer and traveller who died shortly after completing his historic 7,000 mile trek from Peking to Calcutta
The Most Honourable Order of The Bath, C.B. (Military) breast badge in silver-gilt and enamels, converted for neck wear; The Order of St. Michael and St. George, C.M.G., breast badge in silver-gilt and enamels, lacking ribbon buckle; Distinguished Service Order, E.VII.R.; Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 3 clasps, Cape Colony, Transvaal, S.A. 1902 (Major, D.S.O., Gren. Gds.) backstraps of clasps cut away to facilitate mounting; China 1900, 1 clasp, Relief of Pekin (Major, Gren. Gds.) backstrap of clasp cut away to facilitate mounting; 1914-15 Star (Lt.Col., C.M.G., D.S.O., G.Gds.); British War and Victory Medals (Brig. Gen.); Japan, Order of the Rising Sun, 4th class with rosette; French Croix de Guerre 1914-1918, with bronze palm; Japan, Russo-Japanese War Medal 1905; U.S.A., Military Order of the Dragon (Major, No. 668) complete with original ribbon and Pagoda top brooch, all but the first and last mounted as worn, generally good very fine and rare (12)

See colour illustration on back cover.

George Edward Pereira was born on 26 January 1865, the son of Mr Edward Pereira by his marriage to the Hon Margaret Stonor, daughter of the 1st Lord Camoys, he was a nephew of Archbisop Stonor, and was sent to the Oratory School at Edgbaston. Joining the Grenadier Guards, he served at home till 1899, when he went out to China on special service, being attached to the Chinese Regiment which was raised at Wei-Hai-Wei. He was slightly wounded at the Capture of Tientsin City, was mentioned in despatches and created a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order London Gazette 25 July 1901, ‘In recognition of services during the recent operations in China’. The insignia were sent directly to Major Pereira in 1902. He again saw active service in South Africa 1902, serving in the operations in the Transvaal and Cape Colony in May 1902.

After the South African War he was with the British Mission to Pope Leo XIII. During the Russo-Japanese War 1904-05, Major Pereira was attached to the Japanese Army in Manchuria and received the Japanese War Medal and the Order of the Rising Sun, 4th class. He was created Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George in 1905, in respect of these services and whilst Military Attaché to the British Legation at Peking, a position he held till 1910. During this period he travelled extensively in Chinese Turkestan and Western China. Before the Russo-Japanese War he had spent a year tramping over Korea, and knew that country even better than China. Both in Korea and China he lived entirely on the country, and could never be induced to carry with him any of the European necessaries of life.

During the Great War, in which he was wounded, he was at first on the staff of the 47th Division, of which he afterwards commanded the Pioneer Battalion, the 4th Royal Welch Fusiliers. Both as a battalion commander and later as commander of the 47th Infantry Brigade, he gave proof of rare courage and a genius for leadership. For his services during the War he was three times mentioned in despatches, received the Brevet of Colonel in June 1916, was created a Companion of the Bath in 1917, and granted the Honorary rank of Brigadier General in March 1919.

General Pereira’s great trek, which was started from Peking in January 1921, was undertaken as an exploring-shooting expedition. He spoke Chinese with great fluency and never had an interpreter. His wonderful knowledge of Chinese etiquette enabled him to penetrate districts little known to Europeans, and to make many friends including most of the Viceroys and chief men of China. On most of his journeys he travelled alone, save for his Chinese cook and boy, who had been with him for many years and were greatly attached to him. He accomplished a tremendous amount of surveying work, and his reports and maps, full of detail and fresh information, were of the greatest value to the authorities at home.

When he arrived at Calcutta in December 1922, he had covered over 7,000 miles, of which he had walked nearly half. His journey had taken him across a great part of Western China and the whole of East Tibet. In Tibet he got permission to enter Lhassa, and was made the guest of the Commander-in-Chief, staying for ten days during which time he met the Dalai Lama. The General got within some 40 miles of a great mountain, in the bend of the Yellow River, called Amnemachin, its huge peak towering solitary into the sky. After his return to India the idea got abroad that Amnemachin might perhaps be the highest mountain in the world, overtopping even Mount Everest. The General, however, never held this view, and he himself estimated the height of the mountain at about 25,000 feet - some 4,000 feet lower than Everest.

General Pereira died from gastric ulcers on 20 October 1923, whilst on a tour of Tibet. Though he died at the early age of 59, he accomplished what has been given to few travellers to achieve. No living European had ever covered anything like the area in China which he had visited. On his last tour he was in fact covering the only part of China with which he was not familiar. A deeply religious man and a devout Catholic, his Christianity took a broad form, and in his wanderings throughout China he found a hearty welcome in the homes of hundreds of Protestant missionary families.