Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Dartmoor Autumn Manœuvres Medal 1873, by Upton & Hussey, 22 St. James’s Street, 37mm, silver, the obverse depicting Deputy Controller Strickland, C.B.; the reverse depicting a tent in the pouring rain, 6 clasps, Princes Town, Roborough, Black Tor, Haxary, Ringmoor, Cadover Bridge, with top top loops for affixing to a silver riband buckle, the buckle missing, maker’s name engraved to edge, suspension claw loose, nearly extremely fine, rare £300-£400

The Dartmoor Autumn Manoeuvres of 1873 was a major Army exercise that took place in August 1873 when the 1st and 2nd Divisions, consisting of over 12,000 men and 2,000 horses, carried out formation training in the Ringmoor, Roborough, and Yennadon Downs area. During the exercise blank cartridges were used for the first rime by the artillery and infantry. The exercise had to be called off early because of atrocious weather (a very senior organising officer drowned when thrown from his horse into a Dartmoor bog), and a special medal was struck to celebrate surviving the rainstorms. Overall command was held by Deputy Controller Strickland, C.B., of the Commissary General’s Department.