battiscombe Posted 22 August , 2012 Share Posted 22 August , 2012 In a bid to identify these RHA officers- any suggestions on the medals/neck orders apart from their 1914 trios?? On the basis of the MC and 1914 star and bar on the right (and that the officer in question was, I believe for other reasons, commissioned in Dec 1912..) I suspect the captain may be one of the following, perhaps in Egypt in the mid 1920s? John Forbes Batten. mc Kenneth Gordon Dymott. mc Richard Ewart Kane. mc Bernard Talbot Reynolds. mc Edenby Gordon Lutyens. mc William Henry Buchanan Mirrlees mc any suggestions welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Wilson Posted 22 August , 2012 Share Posted 22 August , 2012 Well it looks like the first Officer is wearing the Order of the Nile just below his tie. I would hazard a guess that the last medal in his group could well be the General Sevice Medal with clasp (issued from 1918 to 1962) the GSM has a slightly ornate suspension - see no 174 in Medal Year Book. It's certainly not the 1908 India General Service Medal with clasp as the suspension for that medal is far more ornate. Alternatively it might be the Khedives Sudan Medal 1910 with clasp - see no 165 Medal Year Book for details of clasps awarded during the Great War, the medal has a straight suspension. Philip (OMRS 943) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battiscombe Posted 22 August , 2012 Author Share Posted 22 August , 2012 thanks for that interesting suggestion - this suggests a few names from RA men serving in Sudan 1910-11, although none quite fit as yet... clasps could well be for 1916 Darfur campaign and others.. but ... one possibility could be a Major J O Thurborn MC (commissioned into RHA) - in Egyptian Army lists 1917! .. and Major in 1925. a useful tip. many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battiscombe Posted 22 August , 2012 Author Share Posted 22 August , 2012 following this up this could well be James Oliver Thurburn who served in both the Darfur and Nyima Hills campaigns to earn 2 clasps! thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battiscombe Posted 22 August , 2012 Author Share Posted 22 August , 2012 Whitehall, July 21, 1926. The KING has been pleased to give and .grant unto the undermentioned gentlemen His Majesty's Royal licence and authority to wear Decorations conferred upon them by His Majesty the King of Egypt, in recognition of valuable services rendered by them:— ORDER OF THE NILE. Insignia of the Third Class. Oliver Francis Haynes Atkey, Esq., Director, Sudan Medical Service. Harold Wynne, Esq.., Director of Posts and Telegraphs, Sudan Government. James Douglas Craig, Esq., Deputy Civil Secretary (Native Affairs), Sudan Govern- ment. .Major James Oliver Thurburn, M.C., Royal Artillery, formerly Commandant of Artillery, Egyptian Army. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Wilson Posted 22 August , 2012 Share Posted 22 August , 2012 Well its your lucky day - here is THURBURN'S entry in Soldiers of The Nile - A Biographical History of British Officers of the Egyptian Army 1882 - 1925 by Henry Keown-Boyd. A very useful book for those of us with an interest in Egypt and The Sudan. Philip (OMRS 943) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Porter Posted 26 May , 2013 Share Posted 26 May , 2013 battiscombe, If that is James Oliver Thurburn then he was appointed Adjutant of 1st Somerset Brigade RFA (T.A.) post war. Do you know the date of the photo and is there any chance of seeing the full group? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battiscombe Posted 26 May , 2013 Author Share Posted 26 May , 2013 I will get this scanned. I would guess with some of the 3rd RHA Brigade in Egypt at Abbassia c.1926, presumably after date when permitted to wear his Order of the Nile but no longer serving with the Egyptian Army, as such. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Porter Posted 26 May , 2013 Share Posted 26 May , 2013 Thanks, there is no need for a scan as I think you are right, and it is later than I thought. I have a few pictures of the 1st Somerset Brigade RFA and he doesn't seem to be there so he couldn't have been with them very long. I found him mentioned as Adjutant on formation in June 1920. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
11kilo Posted 1 June , 2013 Share Posted 1 June , 2013 Hello Battiscombe: Could I ask how you managed to get the list of officers down to just your original list? Do you have many photos of RA MC recipients? Cheers Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battiscombe Posted 1 June , 2013 Author Share Posted 1 June , 2013 .. The RHA photo came with a photo of the commissioning class of Dec 1912 at RMA Woolwich [almost certainly only held by someone in it..] - those names were the RA members of the Dec 1912 class still a Captain - with the right medals .... an MC - but no DSO [a few had DSOs] .. still serving in 1925, as far as I could determine. And the officer on the left is Thurburn - I have seen a photo of him on service in Sudan. I am thinking that the most likely candidate is Mirrlees, but I have nothing definite... Probably not Batten as he was at Larkhill in 1925 as a gunnery instructor... I have a fair number of photos of RA officers, but relatively few can be be identified .. something I am trying to rectify ! any suggestions welcome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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