An extraordinarily detailed first-hand account of a 19th century shipwreck in the Indian Ocean is recounted in a letter written by survivor Sergeant Alfred Addyman to his mother, which is to be sold along with his Victorian King’s Royal Rifle Corps Medals and related material in the Militaria and Ethnographica Sale at Tennants Auctioneers on 24th June. The medals comprise the Indian General Service Medal with clasp for Samana 1891, and the Queen’s South Africa Medal with clasp for Talana, Defence of Ladysmith, Transvaal and Laing’s Nek, and the lot will be offered with an estimate of £600-700 (all figures exclude buyer’s premium).
On 14th January 1897, the Royal Indian Marine Troopship Warren Hastings fell afoul of a storm and ran aground on the rocky shores of Réunion whilst travelling to Mauritius from Cape Town. There were 1,244 souls on board, including women and children. Having veered eight miles off course due to fog and a malfunctioning compass, the ship hit the rocks. In an extraordinary feat of discipline and order, only two people died during the evacuation, in what could have been a large-scale tragedy. The wonderfully verbose letter details the events before, during and after the wreck, imbued with his personality; for example, a little indignant at having had to be on duty and take care of his fellow soldiers in the aftermath of the shipwreck, on arrival onboard their next ship he promptly refused orders and went to bed, and, being British, Addyman’s closing words to his mother were a complaint about the weather. Other medals of interest include a 1745 Jacobite Rebels Retreat to Scotland Silver Medal (estimate: £200-300).
One of the more unusual lots in the sale is a late 18th or early 19th century Flintlock ‘Cemetery/Spring’ Gun offered with an estimate of £500-700. Such guns were placed in cemeteries near the graves of freshly interred corpses to deter grave robbers (also known as Resurrection Men). During the 18th and early 19th centuries, advances in medical science were made primarily through the dissection of human bodies. The need for cadavers was great and the supply was small. The Resurrection Men robbed the graves and sold the corpses to the medical profession for research. Other interesting items of militaria include two covert daggers issued by the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War, one disguised as a fountain pen (estimate: £180-250), and one disguised as a pipe (estimate: £300-400). Also of Second World War interest is a Smith 8 Day ‘Zig-Zag’ Convoy Bulkhead Clock, which was a device set to sound a bell every ten minutes, signalling the ship and the rest of the convoy when to zigzag to avoid enemy submarines (estimate: £200-300).
Amongst a good offering of helmets and uniform are a Late Victorian/Edwardian Court Dress to Sir Christopher Furness Bart. (estimate: £400-500), an Early 20th Century Royal Court Dress Uniform also from the Furness family (estimate: £250-350), a good Pre-1914 Full Dress Uniform to a Trooper the 21st Lancers (estimate: £600-700), and a Pre-1914 Full Dress Uniform to a Trooper in the 12th Lancers (£650-750). A scarce German M1915 EM’s Pickelhaube to Infantry Regiment Bremen (1st Hansatisches) No.75 is offered with an estimate of £500-600.
The Ethnographic section of the sale includes North American Indian items, such as a Pair of Late 19th Century Crow Indian Moccasins (estimate: £200-300), and an Early 20th Century North American Indian Carved Wood Bow and Arrow, which is inscribed on a label “Bow and Arrow 1904. Made by Apache Chief Geronimo. Purchased by Great Uncle Wallis at the World Fair, Missouri in the Americas”. When Geronimo was a prisoner, he made and signed numerous items to raise money for the Apache Fund (estimate: £200-300).
View Sale
