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Auction: 19001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 620

(x) Four: Surgeon Lieutenant-Colonel J. A. Nelis, 2nd Sikh Infantry, late 5th Goorkha Regiment

Afghanistan 1878-80, 2 clasps, Ahmed Khel, Kandahar (Surgn. J. A. Nelis, 2nd Sikh Infy.); Kabul to Kandahar Star 1880 (Surgeon J. A. Nelis 2nd Sikh Infy.); India General Service 1854-95, 2 clasps, Hazara 1888, Samana 1891 (Surgeon J. A. Nelis 1st Bn. 5th Goorkha Regt.), naming engraved in running script; India General Service 1895-1902, 2 clasps, Punjab Frontier 1897-98, Tirah 1897-98 (Surgn. Lt. Col. J. A. Nelis. A. M. S.), this last with official correction to unit and unofficial rivets between clasps, very fine or better (4)

James Alexander Nelis was born in Omagh, Ireland in May 1854. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin, he graduated with an M.B. and qualified as a surgeon. While studying in Dublin he lived at 2 Park Villas, Blackrock. Passing his public examination at Burlington House, London on 31 March 1877, he was assigned to the Bengal Presidency, arriving at Bombay on 10 November.

Nelis initially served on the North-West Frontier as Medical Officer of the 2nd Sikh Infantry. During the Second Afghan War the Regiment formed part of the Kandahar Field Force under Lieutenant-General Donald Stewart. Nelis was present at Ahmed Khel (clasp), near Ghuznee, where a large force of Afghans was defeated on 19 April 1880. Kabul was reached on 2 May. He then took part in General Roberts' famous march from Kabul to Kandahar (Star), in which 10,000 men covered 300 miles over mountainous terrain in the height of summer in 22 days. Kandahar was being besieged by a force of Afghans under Ayub Khan, which quickly scattered as Roberts approached on 1 September (clasp).

In October 1888, Nelis served with the Hazara Field Force under Major-General McQueen (clasp) as Medical Officer of the 5th Goorkha Regiment. Following the murders of Major L. Battye and Captain H. B. Urmitson, who were surveying territory occupied by the Akazai tribe in northern Pakistan, McQueen's expedition defeated the Akazai and destroyed several villages in retribution. In April 1891, a Muslim cleric in the Samana Heights declared a 'jihad' against the British, and Brigadier-General Lockhart's force was sent in response (clasp). Promoted to Surgeon Lieutenant-Colonel on 31 March 1897, he continued to serve with the Regiment on the Punjab Frontier (clasp) and with the Tirah Field Force (clasp). He retired from the Army on 4 July 1902, and was part author of A Guide to Kashmir; sold with copied research.


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Sold for
£1,500