The Jack Webb Collection of Medals and Militaria

New Zealand 1845-66, reverse dated 1865 to 1866 (Ensign J R K. Tredennick, 57th. Regt.) edge bruise, nearly very fine £600-£800

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Jack Webb Collection of Medals and Militaria.

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James Richard Knox Tredennick was born at Ballyshannon, co. Donegal, on 4 October 1843, and was commissioned Ensign in the 57th Foot on 22 May 1863. He served with the Regiment in New Zealand from 21 January 1865 to 5 August 1867, where he was the only officer from the Regiment to receive the New Zealand Medal with the dates 1865 to 1866, and took part in the affair of Kakamarea in 1865, the Wanganui Campaign of 1865-66, and the storming and capture of the fortified Otapawa Pah in 1866:
‘Early in 1866 the 57th had their greatest day in New Zealand. The Maoris had established a formidable work at a place called Otapawa. The position was about 120 yards long flanked at either end by a well-formed bastion, with a fence and a deep trench in front of the pah, which was itself palisaded and connected with the trench by underground passages. This was regarded by the natives as their greatest fortress, and since it had never been captured in any of the wars was considered impregnable. The force detailed for the attack of Otapawa on 13 January 1866 consisted of a half-battery of artillery, 200 men of the 14th, 130 of the 57th under Lieutenant-Colonel Butler, and 236 men of the local militia.
As one eye-witness wrote: “The Pioneers were in front. Close behind marched in line a company of the 57th, the old Die Hards, whose fathers had fought at Albuhera, as these men had fought at Inkermann and the Redan. When the Pioneers wavered for an instant, Colonel Butler called out, ‘Stead, Die Hards! Go back, or come on. I’m going on. Charge!’ At the double and with a rush they launched themselves at the stockade. The fence is broken, and with a yell the shots lessen, the bayonets flash, and cheering like mad, the men poured through the breach and into the trench.”’ (The Story of the Middlesex Regiment, by C. L. Kingsford refers).

Tredennick was promoted Lieutenant on 23 March 1867, and served as Adjutant from 27 October 1870. He was promoted Captain on 19 June 1872 and Major on 23 January 1878, and served with the 57th Foot in South Africa during the Zulu War, where he commanded the Regiment from the middle of April until the end of the War after Colonel Charles Clarke had been given command of an independent Column. He was officially appointed Commanding Officer of the Regiment, with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, on 8 May 1880, and had the distinction of being the last C.O. of the old 57th Regiment of Foot, and the first C.O. of the new 1st Battalion, the Middlesex Regiment. He retired on 8 May 1885, and was advanced honorary Major-General on 26 May 1886. He died in Dublin on 8 November 1928.

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