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Auction: 23112 - Orders, Decorations and Medals - e-Auction
Lot: 160

Queen's South Africa 1899-1902, 3 clasps, Defence of Kimberley, Orange Free State, Transvaal (4765 Pte J. Brogan, 1st L. N. Lanc: Regt.), edge bruising, contact marks, nearly very fine

John Brogan was born at Higher Walters, Preston, Lancashire in 1877 and worked as a weaver before enlisting at Preston on 18 February 1895. Posted to Ceylon on 22 October 1895 with the 1st Battalion, where he was to serve for the better part of three years. As tension rose between the British and the Boer Republics the Battalion was posted to South Africa, arriving on 17 September 1899.

Several days after their arrival four companies and the Battalion headquarters were posted to the diamond town of Kimberly under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Kekewich. Here they were protecting not only the economically valuable town but also the person of Cecil Rhodes, one of the most important and recognisable people on the Cape.

While Rhodes' De Beers company did support Kekewich in the siege his poor relationship with Rhodes made things extremely difficult. Two raids in November brought action to the routine of the siege however things to a grim turn with Lord Methuen's reverse at Magersfontein. In spite of continuous Boer pressure and the death of George Labram- De Beers chief engineer and a key figure in the defence- the town held.

Kimberly was relived by General French's cavalry division which launched a hell for leather ride over the veldt, arriving on 15 February 1900. Brogan survived the fighting and continued to serve in South Africa until 18 September 1902.

Upon returning to Britain, he was posted to the Army Reserve on 8 October 1902 being discharged on 17 February 1907. Despite his discharge Brogan clearly was not done with the military and attested for the Class D Army Reserve the next month on 7 May 1907, he served until 1911; sold together with a typed biography and an extract from a regimental history relating to the Siege of Kimberley.

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Sold for
£210

Starting price
£110