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If anyone has �7,500 to spare
peterw


Joined: 30 Aug 2005
Posts: 865
Location: UK
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P001 South Africa (Zulu) Medal clasp 1877-8-9 to Private John Horn, 'H' Company 1st Battalion 24th Regiment of Foot (2nd Warwickshire) . Horn enlisted at Preston in June 1869 aged 18 years and served in Malta, Gibraltar, St Helena and South Africa. Killed in action Isandlwana 22 January 1879, 'H' company at first occupied a position to the left of the defensive line. Overwhelmed by a superior Zulu force it withdrew to the camp, where about 60 survivors rallied to make a last desperate stand. Discovered when Chelmsford's Column returned to the field in May 1879 to bury the dead, their Company Commander Captain Wardell lying close to his men with Lieutenant & Adjutant Dyer and one other unidentified officer.

South Africa (Zulu) clasp 1877-8-9
1673 Pte J Horn 1/24th Foot

With research mainly from the Regimental Pay & Muster Books.

Ex Dix Noonan Webb Lot 318 Auction date 2 July 2003

John Horn enlisted on 3 June 1869 aged 18 years at Preston and joined the 24th Regiment Depot. In April 1870 the 1st Battalion left for Malta and in March 1872 arrived in Gibraltar. Leaving Gibraltar in December 1874 the Battalion arrived in Cape Town in January 1875, Horn re engaging at King William's Town 18 September 1878 and is noted as serving in 'H' Company in St Helena 1876-1877, returning to King William's Town aboard HMS Orontes in September 1877.

Captain George Vaughan Wardell commanded "H" Company of the 1st Battalion, 24th Foot at Isandlwana on 22 January 1879. His company occupied a position towards the centre of the defensive line. To his left were the two guns of N/5 Battery, Royal Artillery and to his right was "G" Company, 2/24th Foot commanded by Lieutenant Charles D'Aguilar Pope (killed by an Assegai in hand to hand combat). It was at this section of the line that the Zulus broke through and on towards the British camp. Wardell's company was cut to pieces during the general British withdrawal. His body was later found along with that of Lieutenant Dyer of the 2/24th in the remains of one of the many last stands that took place in and amongst the 24th's tents.

Some men of the Natal Carabineers who escaped the massacre reported they saw Captain Wardell, surrounded by his Company making a most desperate stand against the savage foe. In Lt Colonel Black's description of the field as he found it when his men buried the dead five months afterwards, it is stated that over 60 men of the 24th Regiment were found in one spot, together with the remains of Captain Wardell and two other officers who could not be identified (sic) one in fact was Lieutenant & Adjutant Henry Julian Dyer, Lt Colonel Black recording 'Pierced to the heat with an Assegai, and lying in a group with sixty others who had formed a rallying point in the retreat

http://www.jcollinsmedals.co.uk/pages/campaigngroups.shtml

It's a lot of money but in the current market is reasonably priced. H Company medals are - to me at any rate - that bit more interesting because of the company photograph taken on the Cape Frontier.

Peter
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peterw


Joined: 30 Aug 2005
Posts: 865
Location: UK
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Medal now reserved (but not by me).

Peter
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