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Auction: 24001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 90

(x) A superb group of five awarded to Lieutenant-Colonel J. Danels, Army Veterinary Corps, who served as a Director of Veterinary Services in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and received an Egyptian order of the Nile and was also Mentioned in 1915

1914 Star, clasp (Capt: L. Danels. A.V.C.); British War and Victory Medals with M.I.D. oak leaves (Major L. Danels.); Delhi Durbar 1911, silver (Captain L. Danels. A.V.C.) impressed; Khedive's Sudan 1910-22, silver, type I (Capt L Danels. A.V.C.) engraved lightly toned, good very fine or better (5)

Egypt, Order of the Nile, 4th Class. London Gazette 31 August 1917.

M.I.D. London Gazette 17 February 1915.

Leonard Danels was born in London on 8 August 1884, and was admitted as a Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (MRCVS)on 8 August 1905 and was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Army Veterinary Services on 26 August 1905. He was stationed in Aldershot until the end of 1908 when he was posted to Muthra, India in 1909, and was later transferred to Meerut. He was promoted to Captain on 26 August 1910. He was stationed at Tidworth where he served from the end of 1912 until June 1913. He sailed for Port Said on 20 June 1913 on SS Egypt with the onward destination being Sudan, being seconded to the Egyptian Army. On arrival in Sudan he was granted the local rank of Bimbashi and first served as Veterinary Inspector in Mongalla Province in the South of the Country.

Danels was on leave in the United Kingdom when the Great War broke out in August 1914 he was immediately re-transferred to the British Army and landed in France on 15 August 1914. Re-transferred to the Egyptian Army in August 1915, and at the beginning of 1916 Bimbashi Danels was a Veterinary Inspector based at Khartoum. Later in 1916 Danels had been transferred to Halfa in the extreme north of Sudan on the Egyptian border. His role to ensure free and easy passage of diseasefree stock from Sudan and Egypt. Towards the end of 1917 he was recognised by the Sultan of Egypt with the award of the Order of the Nile, 4th Class.

It was perhaps this recognition that led to his accelerated promotion in the Egyptian Army to the rank of Kaimakan (equivalent to a Lieutenant Colonel in the British Army) and the granting of an honorary title "Bey" whilst still a substantive Captain and whilst still a Veterinary Inspector serving in Kordofan. At about this time he also gained the Khedive's Sudan medal with clasp Nyima 1917-18 which was awarded to 47 British officers under Special Army Order dated 22 January 1919. The Nyima clasp was awarded to personnel who took part in a series of "punitive" raids against the Nuba people of south-west Kordofan in late 1917 and early 1918. The British administration of this time considered the Nuba to be troublesome, uncivilized and primitive group of people who could only be brought into the modern Sudan by being shown, on a regular basis and on the slightest excuse, the power of the Administration.

Towards the middle of 1918 he was named Assistant Director of Sudan Veterinary Services, he was promoted to Temporary Major in the British Army.


Danels served in Khartoum until he became Director on 16 December 1922 when he was also promoted to the Egyptian rank of Miralai (British equivalent Colonel) and was also made a Temporary Lieutenant Colonel in the British Army on the same day. He served in that position until he left Sudan on 19 June 1924. He was restored to the establishment of the British Army after leaving Sudan. In 1928 Major Danels married, Grace Gertrude Hopkins. In the spring of 1930 Leonard Danels was appointed to the position of Assistant Director General of the Army Veterinary Services while still only a Major and it was not until two years later that he was promoted to Brevet Lieutenant Colonel. Danels died at the Millbank Military Hospital, Westminster on 10 June 1932.

Subject to 5% tax on Hammer Price in addition to 20% VAT on Buyer’s Premium.

Sold for
£2,200

Starting price
£600