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Auction: 19001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 203

(x) Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 2 clasps, Tugela Heights, Relief of Ladysmith (2105 Pte. C. Fallon, W. Yorkshire Regt.), extremely fine

C. Fallon was killed in action with the 2nd Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment during the capture of Railway Hill, Natal, 27 February 1900. That day the Battalion was temporarily attached to the Lancashire Brigade, under the command of their own former Colonel, F. W. Kitchener. The capture of Railway Hill will always be one of the proudest of the Regiment’s feats and is recounted in The War in South Africa:

'Kitchener gave the word. In a great wave of khaki they surged up the steep hill-side, the guns keeping up their fire in front of them to the last and swept onto the summit...As the West Yorks, now joined by some of the South Lancashires, pushed across the summit they were met with a heavy fire from the far side. But they were not to be stopped and swept right over the top, capturing a maxim and several prisoners.'

It should be remembered that the task was designed for two Battalions, that by an accident it was left to Fallon's Battalion alone, and they did it. For Private Fallon, Sergeant Poplar and Private Freele it would cost them their lives.

In the same action Captain Conwyn Mansell-Jones earned the Victoria Cross for ‘his self-sacrificing devotion to duty at a critical moment’ in the action. Seven officers and nine N.C.O’s and men were mentioned for exceptional gallantry, four of the latter being recommended for the Distinguished Conduct Medal; sold with copied roll and research.

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Sold for
£380