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Auction: 26001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 73

The tragic India General Service Medal awarded to Drummer H. Little, Northamptonshire Regiment, killed in action during his regiment's Last Stand at Saran Sar in November 1897 which saw Second Lieutenant MacIntire and a dozen men of the Northamptons hold their ground against overwhelming odds, in a heroic yet doomed attempt to save wounded comrades

India General Service 1895-1908, 3 clasps, Punjab Frontier 1897-98, Samana 1897, Tirah 1897-98 (2682 Drummer H. Little, 1st Bn. North’n. Regt.), extremely fine

Harry Little was born around 1870, it is unclear when he enlisted but he must have been serving for at least a year as he appears in several photos of the Regiment in India in 1896. He was present with them when after participating in the Samana expedition, the Northamptons marched with the 2nd Division of the Tirah Field Force, entering the Afridi Tirah on 31 October 1897.

On November 9th, the battalion formed part of a reconnaissance in force to the crest of the Saran Sar, under the command of Brigadier-General Westmacott. In his subsequent despatch, General Sir W. S. A. Lockhart reported:

'During the advance but few of the enemy showed themselves, but in the retirement, which began at 2 p.m., the Northamptonshire Regiment forming the rear-guard was closely pressed. Its movement from the crest into the valley, which was much delayed by the steepness of the descent and by the number of wounded men who had to be carried by their comrades, was covered by the guns, the flanks being held by the two Sikh regiments [15th & 36th]. Eventually a portion of the Northamptonshire Regiment became entangled in a deep ravine, where they were fired into at close quarters by the tribesmen. The 36th Sikhs were sent back to extricate them, but evening was coming on, and before assistance could be rendered a party consisting of an officer and 12 men was cut off and shot down. Had the battalion kept to the high ground where its flanks were protected by the two Sikh regiments, its loss would probably have been small; but unfortunately a route was chosen which offered every tactical advantage to the enemy, the result being that some of our troops became isolated, and were then attacked in overwhelming numbers.'

One of the forces which had become isolated was a detachment of a dozen men under 2nd Lieutenant MacIntire which was in an extreme position on the exposed flank of the Battalion and as such found themselves cut off. Accounts vary on how this came to pass but it is clear that they were unable to withdraw as they had with them injured men who could not be carried down from their sanger.

As such the men dug into their position and continued to fight whilst the Afridis tightened the knot around them and brought them under and increasingly heavy fire. One by One the defenders were shot down with Little listed as being killed in action by a gunshot wound, he died there at Saran Sar on Saran Sar on 9 November 1897. Immediately on hearing of the serious nature of the incident, Sir William Lockhart at once ordered a military court of enquiry into what formed one of the saddest incidents in the Tirah Expedition.

'They sold their lives dearly,' said one contemporary account, 'and, surrounded by a pitiless foe, they fought with undaunted courage to the end. When a force went out next morning the bodies of the boy officer and the whole of the party were found together. They bore testimony to the severity of the unequal struggle. Poor MacIntyre had two bullet wounds, one through the head and the other through the arm. Not a man of the little band but had one or more bullet wounds, many having been shot through the head. The bodies had been stripped, and many of them had been hacked about with swords; but feelings of relief possessed all when it was found that there had been no mutilation of the horrible character elsewhere practised by our frontier foe. It was a sad, a heart-rending spectacle.'

Sold together with a coloured print, this entitled 'The Last Stand of the "Northamptons" at Saran Sar, Nov. 9, 1897', this from the orinial picture by Edgar A Holloway, framed and glazed, sold also with copied research and photographs.

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Estimate
£2,000 to £3,000

Starting price
£1600