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Auction: 19002 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 153

Three: Private H. A. Brown, Kent Cyclist Battalion

British War and Victory Medals (1794 Pte. H. A. Brown. Kent Cyc. Bn.); India General Service 1908-35, 1 clasp, Afghanistan N.W.F. 1919 (265930 Pte. H. A. Brown. R. W. Kent R.), good very fine (3)

Harry Brown enlisted in the 2/1st Kent Cyclist Battalion at Canterbury on 15 February 1915, aged 19. On 27 November that year he was posted to Bangalore with the 1/1st Battalion, serving on India's North-West Frontier during the Third Afghan War (Medal & clasp). Prior to this campaign the Battalion was stripped of its bicycles and amalgamated with the Royal West Kent Regiment. In the Afghanistan theatre, it was referred to as simply 'The Kent Battalion'. In May 1919, Brown and his comrades fought their way through the Khyber Pass, before advancing on Kabul. With his capital threatened, the Amir of Afghanistan sued for peace and an Armistice was signed at Peshawar on 8 August. 'The Kents' provided a Guard of Honour for Lord Chelmsford, the Viceroy of India, when he arrived at the Peace Talks. The Battalion's effective strength was then just 15 officers and 274 other ranks. Brown was twice hospitalised with dysentery at Bangalore. He returned to England in October 1919 and was discharged on 7 January 1920. In retirement he lived at 43 Butler Road, Harrow; sold with copied service papers, MIC, a folder of research, an 'Army Cyclist Corps' tunic button, and Kent Cyclist Battalion Old Comrades Association enamel lapel badge.

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Sold for
£140