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Auction: 8010 - Orders, Decorations, Medals & Militaria
Lot: 115

A Rare ´North West Frontier, Tirah Campaign´ D.S.O. Group of Four to Major-General J. Hill [C.B.], Indian Army; Brigade and Divisional Commander During the Great War, Mentioned in Despatches Six Times a) Distinguished Service Order, V.R., silver-gilt and enamel b) India General Service 1854-95, two clasps, Samana 1891, Lushai 1889-92 (Lieutt. J. Hill. 15th. Bl. Infy.) c) India General Service 1895-1902, V.R., four clasps, Relief of Chitral 1895, Punjab Frontier 1897-8 [sic], Samana 1897, Tirah 1897-98, the last three contemporary tailor´s copies (Lieutt. John Hill 15th. Bl. Infy.) d) Coronation 1911, generally very fine or better, mounted court style for display purposes (4) Estimate £ 2,400-2,800 D.S.O. London Gazette 16.5.1899 Captain John Hill, Indian Staff Corps ´´In recognition of services during the recent operations on the North-West Frontier of India.´´ M.I.D. London Gazette 7.6.1898 Lieutenant J. Hill, 15th Sikhs Major-General John Hill, C.B., D.S.O., born Bangalore, India, January 1866, the eldest son of Major-General W. Hill, and educated at Bedford School. Commissioned Second Lieutenant, Oxfordshire Light Infantry, February 1887; transferred 15th Sikhs, Indian Army, February 1888; served in the First Lushai Expedition under the command of Colonel V.W. Tregear, January to May 1889; served with the second Miranzai Expeditionary Force under the command of Brigadier General Sir W.S.A. Lockhart, K.C.B., C.S.I., in the Miranzai Valley and the Samana Heights, April to May 1891, crushing the ´´jihad´´ that had been proclaimed by Syed Mir Basha, a renegade local Muslim cleric. Present at the Relief of Chitral as part of the force under Lieutenant-General Sir R.C. Low, G.C.B., April to August 1895. Served on the North-West Frontier of India, throughout the operations on the Sumana and in the Kurram Valley, August to September 1897. Saw action with the Flying Column in the Kurram Valley under the command of Colonel Richardson, September to October 1897. Present at the actions of Chagru Kotal and Dargai, the capture of the Sampagha and Arhanga Passes, and the operations in the Waran Valley during the Tirah Campaign, under the command of General Sir W.S.A. Lockhart, G.C.B., K.C.S.I., October 1897 to April 1898, where he was promoted Captain, 5.2.1898, Mentioned in Despatches, and awarded the Distinguished Service Order, the latter being presented to him at a Review Order Parade in Ferozepore by the Officer Commanding, 5th August 1899. General Lockhart, in his Despatch, wrote of his admiration for the officers and men under his command, saying that ´´in no previous campaign on the North-West Frontier of India has a more exemplary punishment been inflicted, or a more complete submission enforced.´´ Advanced Major 5.2.1905; Lieutenant-Colonel, 5.2.1913; Served throughout the Great War as Commandant of the 15th Sikhs, and saw action at Gallipoli, in Palestine, and on the Western Front; Brigade Commander, 34th Infantry Brigade, Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and British Armies in France, 2.10.1915-9.2.1917; Brigade Commander, 180th Infantry Brigade, Egyptian Expeditionary Force, 30.8-10.9.1917; Divisional Commander, 52nd Division, Egyptian Expeditionary Force and British Armies in France, 11.9.1917-24.9.1918; Appointed Aide-de-Camp to the King, 3.6.1916; Major-General, 3.6.1918. For his service in the Great War he was appointed C.B., received the Egyptian Order of the Nile 2nd Class and the Serbian Order of the White Eagle 3rd Class, and was Mentioned in Despatches on six occasions. In 1924 Hill received his ´´most cherished honour´´- the Colonelcy of his old Regiment, now re-named the 11th Sikhs. Major-General Hill died in January 1935.

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£2,800