Lieutenant and Adjutant John Chadwick, 17th Lancers, was also severely wounded and his horse killed. His medal with three clasps, for Alma, Balaklava and Sebastopol, and a Turkish Medal, had been estimated at £6000-8000 in the March 4-5 auction. DNW described it as “a fine example of a Hunt & Roskell officially engraved Crimea medal”.
During the charge, Chadwick managed to reach the Russian guns but his horse, having been weakened by a loss of blood, could not move any further. He was then left to defend himself before a lance point to his neck knocked him from his horse and rendered him helpless.
The other officer taken prisoner by the Russians was Cornet Clowes of the 8th Hussars. Chadwick was released 12 months later.
The honours came by descent to the present vendor who was gifted the medal by his aunt in 1940. They were bought over the phone by a private collector based in the UK.
Feathers in your caps
Lancer headdresses are more or less guaranteed to turn heads and a particularly handsome group was offered at Kent saleroom C&T Auctions (20% buyer’s premium) on February 4.
Victorian 21st (Empress of India’s) Lancers officer’s cap – £3900 at C&T.
Top-seller was a ‘scarce’ Victorian 21st (Empress of India’s) Lancers officer’s cap which made £3900 against an estimate of £2200-2800. Another colourful example, a Victorian 12th (Prince of Wales Own) Lancers officer’s cap, came with its japanned storage tin with brass plaque engraved A H Dunlop Esq 12th Royal Lancers. With the plume also housed in its original metal storage tin, it made a mid-estimate £3300.
C&T director and specialist Matthew Tredwen said: “These helmets all came from one UK collector who specialised in collecting British military headdress of the Lancer regiments. They had quite a lot of competition from both private collectors and trade buyers both here in the UK and in mainland Europe.“
Tredwen added that C&T is changing its approach this year for the militaria sales: “With more and more buyers choosing to bid via the internet as opposed to attending the auction room, we are holding regular ‘webcast’ and postal auctions which will have limited room bidding availability at our offices.
“We are hoping this will enable us to offer militaria on a much more frequent basis and speed up our turnaround from consignment to sale.
“We will still continue to have our traditional auctions held at The Spa Hotel in Tunbridge Wells, but these will be smaller so we will not have to rush through lots due to time constraints.”
