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Auction: 25111 - Orders, Decorations and Medals - e-Auction
Lot: 400

Four: Private C. Showell, Rifle Brigade, who fought at the Battle of Sebastopol, the capture of Lucknow and in the expedition against the Mohmands in India

Crimea 1854-55, 1 clasp, Sebastopol (Chas. Showell. 1. B. R.B), unoffically engraved naming; Indian Mutiny 1857-58, 1 clasp, Lucknow (Chas. Showell. 3rd Bn. Rifle Bde.); India General Service 1854-95, 1 clasp, North West Frontier (1434 Pte. C. Showell. 3 Bn. Rif. Bde.); Turkish Crimea 1855, British issue (C. Showell. 1. B. R.B.), privately engraved naming, contact wear, some with minor edge brusies, overall very fine (4)

Charles Showell was twenty years of age when he enlisted as a Private with the 1st Battalion Rifle Brigade on 31 October 1854, being given regimental number 4206. He was posted to the Crimea that spring to assist in the Siege of Sebastopol, having missed the actions at Alma in September and Inkerman in November for which his Regiment had been present. The siege ended in September 1855 and peace was made with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in March 1856.

The unit returned home after the end of the war and proceeded to Aldershot where they remined for the next couple of years. There, Showell was transferred to the 3rd Battalion on 1 October 1856 and given the new regimental number 1434. The unit's home service came to an end on 25 July 1857 when they were embarked for India to respond to the rebellion. Showell was to remain on the Indian continent for approximately the next eight years.

At Lucknow, the 3rd Battalion joined Commander-in-Chief Sir Colin Campbell's force and took part in the final operations to capture the city. Remaining in India, they were next part of the Mohmand Expedition that took place from 5 December 1863 until 2 January 1864, for which Showell earned his Northwest Frontier clasp. The expedition was under the command of Brevet Colonel A.F. Macdonell, C.B., who led his force against Sultan Muhammed Khan. The unit spent the rest of the year in Peshawar and then in Nowshera. Showell was discharged on 3 July 1865 and ostensibly returned home to England; sold together with copied research.


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Sold for
£650

Starting price
£320