Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria, to include the Brian Ritchie Collection (Part III)

The outstanding Gardiner Family Group to Sergeant-Major Alexander Gardiner, wounded with the Scots Greys at Waterloo, whose son lost a leg with the Greys at Balaklava and was plucked to safety by Private Ramage who thus won the Victoria Cross, and to his grandson who served with the Imperial Yeomanry in the Boer War

(a) Waterloo 1815 (Corp. Alexander Gardner, 2nd or R.N. Brit. Reg. Drag.) fitted with original steel clip and bar suspension

(b) Crimea 1854-55, 2 clasps, Balaklava, Sebastopol (Pte. A. D. Gardiner, 2d Drgns.) contemporary engraved naming; Turkish Crimea, British issue, unnamed

(c) Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 2 clasps, Cape Colony, South Africa 1902 (38905 Pte. W. E. Gardiner, 32nd Bn. Imp. Yeo.) the first with edge bruising and contact marks, therefore good fine, otherwise good very fine (4) £5000-7000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Medals to the 2nd Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys).

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Alexander Gardiner was born at New Kilpatrick, Dunbarton, Scotland, circa 1794, and enlisted for the 2nd Dragoons at Glasgow on 25 January 1809, aged 15 years. Promoted to Corporal in April 1815, he served at Waterloo in Captain Poole’s Troop, and is noted in the various rolls as having been wounded. He was promoted to Sergeant in August 1818, and to Troop Sergeant-Major in January 1826. He was, however, reduced to Private from November 1829 until February 1830, when he was restored to the rank of Sergeant. He was discharged at Dalkeith on 5 May 1835, aged 41, intending to reside at Oswestry, Salop, where he died in June 1848. The local newspaper, Eddowes’s Journal and General Advertiser for Shropshire, and the Principality of Wales, carried a lengthy report on Wednesday 28th June covering the ‘Funeral of the late Sergeant-Major Gardiner, late of the Scots Greys.’ He was buried with full military honours with an escort being provided by the North Shropshire Yeomanry. ‘The late Sergeant-Major,’ the report concluded, ‘served in the Greys twenty five years, was with that fine regiment at Waterloo, and has now three sons in its ranks, the eldest of whom is a corporal, and all respected by their commanding officers.’

Alexander Douglas Gardiner was born at Norwich, circa 1826, second son of Troop Sergeant-Major Alexander Gardiner, who was then stationed in that town. He enlisted into the 2nd Dragoons at Athlone on 14 April 1848, being recruited by his brother, Private James Gardiner, of the same regiment. He was, in fact, one of three brothers to follow into their father’s regiment, the now famous Scots Greys. Aged 22, he enlisted for a period of 12 years, but army life cannot have been to his immediate liking, if ever it was, as he had committed some misdemeanour before the year’s end that landed him in prison for a week. He was in trouble again in August 1851, this time serving a sentence of three months. Gardiner was so severely wounded at Balaklava that he was discharged from the army at Chatham on 23 October 1855, in consequence of being ‘disabled by amputation of left thigh at its centre after cannon shot wound received at Balaklava.’

Gardiner’s wound, which was reported in the London Gazette on 12 November 1854, and the circumstances of the occasion are of great interest in that his life was saved by Private Henry Ramage, who won the Victoria Cross on that day. His citation states: ‘At the battle of Balaklava, Pte. McPherson, of the 2nd Dragoons, was severely wounded and surrounded by seven Russians. Pte. Ramage rode to his help, cut his way through the enemy and saved his comrade’s life. On the same day, when the Heavy Brigade was covering the retreat of the Light Cavalry, Pte. Gardiner’s leg was shattered by a round shot, and he lay on the ground exposed to a very heavy cross-fire. Ramage dashed to his rescue and carried him to the rear, the place where he had fallen being almost immediately covered by Russian cavalry.’

Alexander D. Gardiner died at Warrington on 14 May 1879, aged 52 years.

Wilfred Ernest Gardiner was born at St Paul’s, near Warrington, Lancashire, on 10 May 1872, the fifth child and second son of Alexander Douglas Gardiner. He volunteered for service with the Imperial Yeomanry in South Africa at Worsley on 6 January 1902. He served in South Africa with the 144th Company, 32nd Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry, from 7 May until 18 October, 1902, just in time to witness the closing stages of the Boer War. He was discharged at Aldershot on 26 October 1902, at his own request after serving for only 294 days. He subsequently pursued a career as a Foreman Engineer, and died at Manchester on 29 April 1846, aged 73 years.

The Gardiner family group is accompanied by a comprehensive archive of research.