Rare militia memorabilia collection heading to auction

Written by survivor Sergeant Alfred Addyman to his mother, it will be sold along with his Victorian King’s Royal Rifle Corps Medals and related material in the Militaria and Ethnographica Sale at Tennants Auctioneers on June 24.

The medals comprise the Indian General Service Medal with clasp for Samana 1891, and the Queen’s South Africa Medal with clasps for Talana, Defence of Ladysmith, Transvaal and Laing’s Nek.

The items will be offered with an estimate of £600-700 (all figures exclude buyer’s premium).

The letter recalls events concerning the Royal Indian Marine Troopship Warren Hastings which ran aground on Réunion island on January 14, 1897.

This happened after the ship was caught in a storm while travelling to Mauritius from Cape Town.

There were 1,244 people on board, including women and children.

Having veered eight miles off course due to fog and a malfunctioning compass, the ship hit the rocks, and only two people died during the evacuation.

Another lot is a late 18th or early 19th-century flintlock ‘Cemetery/Spring’ Gun offered with an estimate of £500-700 (Image: Tennants Auctioneers)

The detailed letter talks about the events before, during, and after the wreck, reflecting Sergeant Addyman’s personality.

Other medals in the sale include a 1745 Jacobite Rebels Retreat to Scotland Silver Medal (estimate: £200-300).

Another lot up for auction is a late 18th or early 19th-century Flintlock ‘Cemetery/Spring’ Gun, valued at £500-700.

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These were used to deter ‘Resurrection Men’ (grave robbers) during the 18th and early 19th centuries as bodies were needed for medical research.

Other items include daggers disguised as a fountain pen and a pipe, issued by the Special Operations Executive in the Second World War, and a Smith 8 Day ‘Zig-Zag’ Convoy Bulkhead Clock (estimate: £200-300).

Ethnographic pieces in the sale include Crow Indian Moccasins (estimate: £200-300) and a North American Indian Carved Wood Bow and Arrow (estimate: £200-300).