Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Pair: Private T. Swift, Gordon Highlanders

Egypt and Sudan 1882-89, dated reverse, 4 clasps, Tel-El-Kebir, Suakin 1884, El-Teb_Tamaai, The Nile 1884-85 (1736. Pte. T. Swift. 1/Gord: Highrs.); Khedive’s Star 1882, unnamed as issued, minor edge bruising and pitting to first, good very fine (2) £400-500

Thomas Swift was born in Sheffield, Yorkshire in 1861 and attested for the 39th Brigade at Aldershot, Hampshire, on 10 September 1879. Posted to the 75th Regiment of Foot (renamed the Gordon Highlanders following the reforms of 1881), he served with the 1st Battalion in Egypt and the Sudan from 2 August 1882 until 16 September 1885, and took part in the march to Kassassin and the subsequent attack on and capture of Tel-el-Kebir, 13 September 1882; the operations at Suakin, February to March 1884, including the actions at El-Teb, 29 February 1884, and Tamaai, 13 March 1884; and in the expedition to relieve General Gordon in Khartoum, 1884-5. Returning to the U.K., he transferred to the Army Reserve on 26 September 1885, and was discharged on 9 September 1891, after 12 years’ service. Following the outbreak of the Boer War he re-enlisted in the Corps of Royal Reserve Regiments on 7 June 1900, and served a for a further year, although did not proceed overseas. Sold with copied research.