Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Pair: Lieutenant-Colonel H. B. G. Walton, Royal Army Medical Corps, who was commended for his gallantry whilst on attachment with the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons during the Second Boer War

East and West Africa 1887-1900, 1 clasp, Sierra Leone 1898-99 (Lieut: H. B. Walton, R.A.M.C.) officially renamed; British War Medal 1914-20 (Lt. Col. H. B. G. [sic] Walton.) suspension claw crudely re-affixed on last, and loose, nearly very fine (2) £260-300

Provenance: Glendinings, March 1975.

Henry Beckles Gall Walton was born in Barbados, in January 1873. He was the son of Dr George O’Donnell Walton of St. George’s, Barbados, and was educated at Harrison’s College. He travelled to England, and studied at St. Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, 1892-1897. Walton was commissioned Lieutenant in the Royal Army Medical Corps in July 1898. He served with the R.A.M.C. in West Africa, 1898-99, and contracted enteric fever when proceeding up country from Freetown. According to family tradition, ‘owing to tse-tse, there were no horses or cows in Sierra Leone. During his convalescence, he wondered where the milk came from, which was his main diet. One day he opened the tent flap, and saw an African woman filling his mug with her milk. Without it, he would have certainly died.’

Walton served as Medical Officer to the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons Guards during the Second Boer War (entitled to Q.S.A. with 5 clasps and K.S.A. with clasps) and is mentioned several times in With The Inniskilling Dragoons, The Record of a Cavalry Regiment During the Boer War 1899-1902 by Lieutenant-Colonel J. Watkins Yardley. Including during the fighting at Zand River, 9 May 1900, when ‘Lieut. Walton, R.A.M.C., showed conspicuous bravery, attending to the wounded under heavy fire.’

Walton advanced to Captain in July 1901, and served in the West Indies, 1902-1905. He returned to the UK (obtained a Diploma in Public Health in 1906), and was posted as the Medical Officer for the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry depot at Pontefract in 1907. He advanced to Major in April 1910, and served in India 1910-15. He was mobilised with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel at the end of 1915, and commanded 119 Field Ambulance near Valenciennes, January-April 1916. Walton served in the Egyptian theatre of war, April-May 1916, prior to seeing out the remainder of the war in India (entitled to BWM and VM).

After the war Walton served as Assistant Director of Medical Services to the British Army of Occupation, Upper Silesian Force HQ, 1920-22. He served as Assistant Director of Pathology, Eastern Command, prior to his retirement. He was a GP in Suffolk until his death in June 1945.