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Auction: 24113 - Orders, Decorations and Medals - e-Auction
Lot: 99A

The Afghanistan Medal awarded to probable Maiwand survivor Paymaster Sergeant R. Hitchcock, 66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot

Afghanistan 1878-80, no clasp (1499. Pte. R. Hitchcock. 66th Foot.), light contact marks, very fine

Richard Hitchcock was born in January 1852 and enlisted into the 66th Regiment of Foot at Westminster, London when he was 17 years old. He was first promoted Corporal on 18 September 1871, to Paymaster Sergeant the next year on 16 October 1872, and to Sergeant in November 1873 - however, the very next month in December he once again became a Paymaster Sergeant. He retained this rank for the next five years, before being reduced to the rank of Private on 23 May 1878 for reasons unknown.

Hitchcock was posted to Afghanistan with his Regiment and together the 66th Foot left Sibi on 21 February 1880 to march to Kandahar, where they arrived the next month on 25 March. That July, the unit marched to Helmand as a Brigade under command of Brigadier-General George Burrows.

Hitchcock surely would have been present at the infamous Battle of Maiwand with his Regiment, which suffered catastrophic losses. Few members of the Berkshires lived through the Battle, making Hitchcock's survival remarkable. However, he was not to survive the campaign and is recorded to have died a few months later at Kandahar on 25 September 1880; sold together with copied and handwritten research.

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Sold for
£350