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Auction: 18001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 300

(x) 'Pop Salmon was actually the first to see him [Major-General Godwin-Austen, G.O.C., East Africa], while wandering through the woods one day, and this meeting left the General a little worried about the average age of our personnel. Pop was, of course, always anxious to give the impression that he was one of the younger members and as a result, the G.O.C. expected to find the majority of us in the last stages of senile decay. He was immensely relieved to find the C.O. a comparative chicken and the rest of us at least in our prime … '

The Story of the Ninth, refers.

An exceptional campaign group of eight awarded to Sapper H. P. 'Pop' Salmon, South African Engineer Corps, late South African Constabulary and King's Royal Rifle Corps, whose lengthy career embraced participation - as a volunteer - in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 through to active service in East Africa in the Second World War

Queen's South Africa 1899-1902, 5 clasps, Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902 (545 Tpr. H. P. Salmon, S.A.C.), dated clasp unofficially riveted; 1914-15 Star (R-15449 Pte. H. P. Salmon, K.R. Rif. C.); British War and Victory Medals (R-15448 Pte. H. P. Salmon, K.R. Rif. C.); 1939-45 Star; Africa Star; War Medal 1939-45; Africa Service Medal 1939-45, these four officially inscribed, '34245 H. P. Salmon', together with his Silver War Badge, the reverse numbered 'SA3499', the first with edge bruising and contact marks, nearly very fine, the remainder very fine or better (8)



Horace Philip 'Pop' Salmon was born at St. Pancras, London on 29 March 1877, the son of a picture dealer. Of his subsequent part as a volunteer for the Greeks in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 little is known, but he may have been on a buying trip for the family firm when hostilities commenced in March of that year.

We next encounter Salmon at the temporary recruiting office of the South African Constabulary at Westminster, London, in December 1900, where he produced riding and shooting certificates and stated he had served as a volunteer 'in the late Greek War'. He was duly signed-up and embarked for South Africa, where he served in No. 4 Troop and gained appointment as a 1st Class Trooper. He was demoted in March 1902, however, 'for disobeying the lawful command of a superior officer' and was transferred to the Reserve.

He settled at Barbeton as a prospector but regularly journeyed to the U.S.A., where he married Mary Killam Tyler at Georgetown, Massachusetts. They later divorced and Salmon became a prospector in Rhodesia.

Following the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, Salmon embarked for England and enlisted in the King's Royal Rifle Corps in September 1915. He was posted to the 3rd Battalion in France in the following month, where he would have served in the 'Rhodesian Platoon' in 'D' Company. A few weeks later, the unit was ordered to Salonika, where '2nd Lieutenant F. D. Fletcher and his Rhodesians' carried out regular reconnaissance work. In October 1916, Salmon was discharged sick and returned to his prospecting and mining work at Bulawayo, Rhodesia.

In August 1940, Salmon decided to do his bit by enlisting in the Active Citizen Force of the Union Defence Force at Johannesburg. He was now aged 63 - but claimed to be 46 - and was mustered with the 9th Field Company, South African Engineers. As The Story of the Ninth recalls, 'So effectively did he - 'Pop' Salmon - attend to his first day's work that he promptly developed a double hernia'. On being discharged from hospital, he returned to his unit and was appointed a Company Orderly. He was embarked for Kenya in February 1941, where he had his memorable encounter with Major-General Godwin-Austen, the G.O.C. With the Italians in full retreat, 9th Field Company was recalled to South Africa in early 1942 and it was here that Salmon's arthritis finally caught up with him. He was discharged medically unfit in July 1942, when he returned to Bualwayo, Rhodesia; above details courtesy of the Royal Green Jacket (Rifles) Museum, Winchester.



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