Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Three: Trumpeter D. Baxter, 20th Hussars

Egypt and Sudan 1882-89, undated reverse, 1 clasp, Toski 1889 (2519 Trumptr., 20th Hussars); Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 4 clasps, Orange Free State, Transvaal, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902 (2519 Tptr., 20th Hussars); Khedive’s Star, undated, the reverse impressed ‘2519, 20 H.’, contact wear and edge bruising, otherwise generally good fine, the first unique as a single clasp to a Trumpeter of the regiment (3) £500-600

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Medals to Trumpeters from the Collection of Roderick Cassidy.

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David Baxter was born in Hackney, London and enlisted in the 20th Hussars in March 1885, aged 14 years. Appointed a Trumpeter in August 1888, he served out in Egypt and the Sudan in 1889-90, including the Battle of Toski, and became one of just 17 men in his regiment to receive the Egypt Medal with a single “Toski” clasp - and the only Trumpeter. Although coming through these operations unscathed, his service record does note that he fractured his left radius and injured his face as a result of ‘a fall when walking in his sleep 4.4.91’. Baxter, whose subsequent services in the Boer War won him entitlement to the above described Medal and four clasps, was discharged in November 1907.