A Choice Collection of Medals to War Correspondents

A fine group of five awarded to Captain Sir W. Maxwell, K.B.E., who, during a most adventurous career, served as War Correspondent for the Standard at the Battle of Omdurman, and also subsequently during the Boer War where he was shut up with the British forces at Ladysmith. Having witnessed some of the momentous opening exchanges of the Great War on behalf of the Daily Telegraph, he accepted a commission and served as Chief Field Censor on Sir Ian Hamilton’s Staff in the Dardanelles; he was recruited into the Secret Service after the war

Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, no claps (Mr. W. Maxwell. “Standard”); Delhi Durbar 1911, silver, unnamed as issued; Japan, Empire, Order of the Rising Sun, Fifth Class breast badge, silver-gilt and enamel, with central cabochon; Khedive’s Sudan 1896-1908, 1 clasp, Khartoum, unnamed as issued; Japan, Empire, Russo-Japanese War Medal 1904-05, unnamed as issued, about very fine (5) £1,600-£2,000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Choice Collection of Medals to War Correspondents.

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Provenance: Sotheby’s February 1990, when sold together with K.B.E. neck badge and breast star, and Turkish Order of the Medjidjie Commander’s 3rd Class neck badge; and Spink May 1991 when sold with Turkish Order of the Medjidjie Commander’s 3rd Class neck badge.

K.B.E. (Civil) London Gazette 8 January 1919: ‘Captain William Maxwell’

William Maxwell was born in 1860 in Workington, Cumberland to Irish born parents. He was described in the 1881 census as a ‘Newspaper Reporter’ and in 1885 he was assigned by the morning Standard to replace John Cameron in the Sudan, the latter having perished with Hicks relief expedition in 1885. As war correspondent, he experienced the march to Khartoum with Kitchener’s army in 1898 and witnessed the defeat of the Mahdi at the Battle of Omdurman (Queen’s Sudan medal). After describing the spectacular tour of the German Emperor through Palestine and Syria, and covering the first peace conference at the Hague, 1899, he was packed off by his employers to cover the Boer War where he was shut up with the British Forces under White at Ladysmith. Undaunted by this trying experience, he then went to Kimberley and was with Robert’s army in every engagement from the capture of Bloemfontein to the Battles of Lydenburg and Komati Point (medal). He then served as the Standard’s correspondent on the Prince and Princess of Wales’s tour around the Empire, March to November 1901 and the following year published his own account of the voyage - With the “Ophir” Round the Empire.

In 1903 Maxwell joined the Daily Mail with which paper he was assigned to cover the Russo-Japanese War, 1904-05. He accompanied General Kuroki’s Army from the Battle of Yalu to the Battle of Shaho and was with General Nogi at the surrender of Port Arthur (Order of the Rising Sun and medal), the campaign was described in his book From the Yalu to Port Arthur: a personal record (1906). This was followed by a number of Eastern trips including the Prince of Wales’ Indian tour and his attendance at the Coronation of the Shah and the Delhi Durbar of 1911 (medal). A journey up the Yangtze to cover the revolution in Peking was then followed by a visit to Borkum to report on the German island defences and he accompanied the Bulgarian forces whilst reporting on the Balkan Wars, 1912.

At the outbreak of the Great War Maxwell was in the service of the Daily Telegraph attached to the Belgian Army and, in the first of many adventures during that war, he was arrested by a British patrol outside Mons after fleeing Brussels as it fell to the German Army in August 1914. He was present at the Battles of the Marne and the Aisne and received a commission as Captain on the Special List attached to the Imperial General Staff on 16 April 1915 (London Gazette 16 April 1915). He immediately embarked for the Dardanelles where he joined the Headquarters Staff of Sir Ian Hamilton as Chief Field Censor. Under regulations drawn up and enforced by the British Army, press correspondents at Gallipoli were required to submit all their writings to Captain Maxwell, whose approval was required prior to their transmission. Maxwell therefore played a central role in the unsuccessful attempt to palliate reports about the events unfolding in the Gallipoli Campaign. After the war he became a section head in the Secret Service.

Captain Sir William Maxwell died at Wraysbury in 1928, aged 66.

Sold with a 1902 copy of With the “Ophir” Round the Empire.

Note: No Great War Medal Index Card or medal roll entries for Maxwell have been found. His Great War campaign medal entitlement is therefore not confirmed.