Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Pair: Lieutenant-Colonel G. W. Forbes, Montgomeryshire Yeomanry, late 17th Lancers and 1st Dragoon Guards

South Africa 1877-79, 1 clasp, 1879 (2260 Lce. Sgt. G. W. Forbes, 17th D.C.O. Lrs.); Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 4 clasps, Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, South Africa 1901 (Colonel G. W. Forbes, 9/Imp. Yeo.), the first with contact marks, nearly very fine, the second rather better (2) £800-1000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Collection of Medals to Welsh Regiments formed by the Late Llewellyn Lord.

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George Wentworth Forbes was born in Bodmin, Cornwall in April 1855, the second son of Lieutenant-General G. Wentworth Forbes, R.M.L.I.

Young George served for six years in the ranks of the 17th Lancers, including participation in the operations in South Africa in 1879, when he was present in the cavalry affair at Erzungayan and the battle of Ulundi (Medal & clasp).

In August 1881, he was commissioned Lieutenant in the 1st Dragoon Guards, direct from his service as a Sergeant in the 17th Lancers. Advanced to Captain in December 1886, he served as Adjutant of the Montgomeryshire Yeomanry Cavalry in the period October 1888 to October 1893, and resigned his commission in December 1897. In the following year he was appointed a Major back in the Montgomeryshire Yeomanry Cavalry, followed by swift advancement to the honorary rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in September 1899.

It was in the latter rank that he was appointed second-in-command of the 9th (Welsh) Battalion of the Imperial Yeomanry in early 1900, in which capacity he served with distinction in South Africa, gaining a mention in despatches (London Gazette 10 September 1901, refers) and special promotion to the substantive rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. At one point he held command of the 29th (Denbighshire), 30th (Montgomeryshire) and 31st (Pembrokeshire) Companies and served in clearing operations under General Hunter and Colonel White. Most notable of his actions was a hot engagement with a Boer commando at Victoria Nek in mid-December 1900, when he also commanded a detachment of the 16th Lancers, in addition to his Welsh Yeomanry: ‘They charged home, laying about them with clubbed rifles ... In this brilliant little action eight Boers were killed, 33 wounded and 17 captured’ (The Times History of the Boer War in South Africa, refers).

In common with 40 of his men, Forbes received his Queen’s Medal, with 4 clasps, from King Edward VII at a special Yeomanry gathering on Horse Guards Parade in July 1901. He died at Eaton Square, London in May 1911 and was buried in the parish churchyard at Brackley; sold with copied research.