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Auction: 24112 - Orders, Decorations and Medals - e-Auction
Lot: 111

The Afghanistan 1878 Medal awarded to Armourer Sergeant W. L. Hall, 10th Royal Hussars, whose Regiment's disaster at the Kabul River inspired a poem by Rudyard Kipling

Afghanistan 1878-80, no clasp (1638, Armr. Sgt. W...all, 10th Rl. Hussars), previously worn as a brooch with refitted replacement suspension, drill hole refilled at 6 o' clock partially obscuring naming, light edge wear, otherwise very fine

The Afghanistan medal roll notes Armourer Sergeant W. L. Hall, regimental number 1638; the likely recipient of this medal. The roll also records that Hall is further entitled to an Ali Musjid clasp.

The 10th Royal Hussars formed part of the cavalry brigade under Brigadier General C. J. S. Gough in the Peshawar Valley Field Force led by Lieutenant General Sir Samuel Browne, the largest of three military columns prepared to invade Afghanistan in the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Browne's force entered Afghanistan by way of India in November 1878, with the 10th Hussars bearing the distinction of being the first troops to enter the country. While advancing up the Khyber Pass, they attacked the Ali Masjid fortress on 21 November, thus sparking the first Battle of the War, which ended in a British victory.

After their success at the Battle of Ali Masjid, Browne's Field Force pushed further towards the capital Kabul, occupying Jalalabad on 20 December and spending the winter encamped around the town. During the night of 31 March 1879, a squadron of the 10th Hussars were ordered to cross the Kabul River to attack a group of enemy tribesmen the next day. They were to use a ford to cross the treacherous water, but there were no stakes to identify the route. While crossing after the 11th Bengal Lancers, the 10th Hussars were edged downstream by the current and swept away in the icy, deep waters. Nineteen men of the Regiment were drowned. This tragedy inspired Rudyard Kipling to pen a poem based on the disaster, which first appeared in November 1890 in the National Observer. It is reproduced here:

Kabul town's by Kabul river -
Blow the bugle, draw the sword -
There I lef' my mate for ever,
Wet an' drippin' by the ford.
Ford, ford, ford o' Kabul river,
Ford o' Kabul river in the dark!
There's the river up and brimmin',
An' there's 'arf a squadron swimmin'
'Cross the ford o' Kabul river in the dark.

Kabul town's a blasted place -
Blow the bugle, draw the sword -
'Strewth I sha'n't forget 'is face
Wet an' drippin' by the ford!
Ford, ford, ford o' Kabul river,
Ford o' Kabul river in the dark!
Keep the crossing-stakes beside you,
An' they will surely guide you
'Cross the ford o' Kabul river in the dark.

Kabul town is sun and dust -
Blow the bugle, draw the sword -
I'd ha' sooner drownded fust
'Stead of 'im beside the ford.
Ford, ford, ford o' Kabul river,
Ford o' Kabul river in the dark!
You can 'ear the 'orses threshin',
You can 'ear the men a-splashin',
'Cross the ford o' Kabul river in the dark.

Kabul town was ours to take -
Blow the bugle, draw the sword -
I'd ha' left it for 'is sake -
'Im that left me by the ford.
Ford, ford, ford o' Kabul river,
Ford o' Kabul river in the dark!
It's none so bloomin' dry there;
Ain't you never comin' nigh there,
'Cross the ford o' Kabul river in the dark?

Kabul town'll go to hell -
Blow the bugle, draw the sword -
'Fore I see him 'live an' well -
'Im the best beside the ford.
Ford, ford, ford o' Kabul river,
Ford o' Kabul river in the dark!
Gawd 'elp 'em if they blunder,
For their boots'll pull 'em under,
By the ford o' Kabul river in the dark.

Turn your 'orse from Kabul town -
Blow the bugle, draw the sword -
'Im an' 'arf my troop is down,
Down an' drownded by the ford.
Ford, ford, ford o' Kabul river,
Ford o' Kabul river in the dark!
There's the river low an' fallin',
But it ain't no use o' callin'
Cross the ford o' Kabul river in the dark.

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Sold for
£200

Starting price
£100