rorkesdriftvc.com :: View topic - Pte Bushe

Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2006 11:48 am

If anyone has a spare �18-22,000 sloshing around, they might want to consider this which is coming up for auction at Dix Noonan Webb in London on 29th June:

The Zulu War medal awarded to Corporal James Bushe, 2nd Battalion 24th Foot, who was wounded in the nose during the defence of Rorke�s Drift, by a bullet which had just killed Private Cole, and mentioned by Chard in his account of the action specially written for Queen Victoria

South Africa 1877-79, 1 clasp, 1877-8-9 (2350 Lce. Corpl. J. Bushe, 2-24th Foot) minor edge bruises, otherwise good very fine and a rare casualty �18000-22000

Footnote: James Bushe was born in the Parish of St John, Dublin, and enlisted there for the 24th Foot on 14 September 1870, 18 years old and a tailor by trade. He served with the 2nd Battalion in the Kaffir War in 1878, and in the Zulu War in 1879, when he was a Private in �B� Company during the defence of the Mission Station at Rorke�s Drift, on which occasion he was slightly wounded as described in the following extract from Lieutenant Chard�s letter to Queen Victoria:

�I was glad to seize an opportunity to wash my face in a muddy puddle, in company with Private Bush (sic) 24th, whose face was covered with blood from a wound on the nose caused by a bullet which had passed through and killed Private Cole 24th. With the politeness of a soldier, he lent me his towel, or, rather, a very dirty half of one, before using it himself, and I was very glad to accept it.

In wrecking the stores in my wagon, the Zulus had brought to light a forgotten bottle of beer, and Bromhead and I drank it with mutual congratulations on having come safely out of so much danger.�

Appointed Lance-Corporal shortly afterwards, on 10th February, Bushe left the Cape in January 1880, to spend seven months serving in the Mediterranean before moving to India as a recently appointed Lance-Sergeant in August 1880. He re-engaged at Secunderabad in December 1880, to complete 21 years service, and reverted to Private at his own request in October 1881. Appointed Lance-Corporal once more, he went to Burma in May 1886, where he served until November 1888, earning the I.G.S. medal with clasp �Burma 1887-89� as a Corporal, to which rank he had been promoted in April 1887. After a further two and a half years in India, Bushe returned to the U.K. in May 1891, where he was discharged on 10 October 1891. Sold with copy discharge papers.

24th Foot casualties at Rorke�s Drift amounted to 4 killed or died of wounds and 2 wounded in the 1st Battalion; 9 killed or died of wounds and 8 wounded in the 2nd Battalion - a total of 13 killed and 10 wounded.

Estimate: �18000-�22000

Peter

Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2006 10:56 am

Hammer price �31,000.......

Peter

Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2006 8:13 pm

Just missed out, by a few thousand ! (I wish)
Still, I reckon that it's a great investment for somebody.

Graham

Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2006 8:16 pm

I just hope it doesn't end up in a bank vault somewhere. Objects like this deserve to be gazed upon by future generations so as to keep the history of the event alive.

Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2006 8:41 pm

Alekedemus wrote:

I just hope it doesn't end up in a bank vault somewhere. Objects like this deserve to be gazed upon by future generations so as to keep the history of the event alive.

But if it does, so what? The fact is someone has paid a substantial amount of money for it. I am sure that they will cherish it and take pleasure from it. Insurance dictates that most high value objects cannot be displayed in public or even in the privacy of home. Take the VCs at Brecon, for example. Those on display are replicas, the originals only being brought out for rare occasions.

I think we have to be realistic - should Brecon have all the South Africa medals? Would it have the space to display them all? And if all the South Africa medals, why not all those for the Punjab and the Mutiny? And WW1 and 2. Where do you stop?

It is a fact of life Museums or public institutions cannot have (nor indeed want in some cases) all medals to a regiment. For instance the Wardrobe, the regimental museum of the Berkshire and Wiltshire regiments, has taken the decision to display only a few of its medals, but to provide a story for each.

Bushe's medal sold for a substantial amount of money, significantly more than the auctioneers, experts in their field, anticipated. Whoever bought it will have a love of history and I am sure wil appreciate what they now own.

Peter

Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2006 9:35 pm

I agree to a certain extent. Although my local museum could do with a few exhibits. They have have nothing from Isandlwana or Rorke's Drift which is quite sad as several local men lie under cairns. However, they did have a burglary a few years ago and I don't think they had the real stuff hidden away.

My main point though is that much artwork and other high value items are being purchased by institutions and put in a vault as the market values were increasing higher than what was being achieved on the stock exchange. All for their pension schemes. I doubt if this was the case with a 31,000 pounds medal though.

I'm as guilty as anyone though. I recently sold a few medals myself and wasn't bothered who bought them. I just wanted the best price available.