1879 South Africa Medal named 1879 BAR

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1879-South-Africa-ZULU-Wars-Medal-named-1879-BAR-/290440442690?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item439f997342

Could I have your views on this please chaps. What do you think?

HI David68

A Rare medal to Natal Hussars as there were only about 40 medal issued to them. If you collect different units medals who took part in the Zulu War, then it is a must have.

If I had the funds I would bit on it.

A little history of the Natal Hussars

The Natal Hussars mustering about thirty-five under command of Captain P Norton were mobilized on 25th November 1878 (Government Notice No. 365, 1878) They marched out of Greytown on 3rd December. They went to Potspruit near Kranskop where they were joined by the Durban Mounted Rifles. These two units at that time formed part of a force called the Lower Tugela Column. They spent Christmas at Potspruit. In the first week of January 1879 they marched to Thring’s Post where they were accepted, having expressed, through there Officer Commanding their willingness to cross the border, and their services having been accepted, started crossing the river on about 13th January. On 21st January the Natal Hussars were ordered to reconnoitre Dabulamanzi’s kraal at Gingindhlovu. On 22nd January the Column was engaged with the Zulus at Nyezane. The Natal Hussars had no casualties. It is said that Captain Adjutant T Menne did very good work. After the fight Colonel Pearson (Officer Commanding the Column) sent a message to the Natal Volunteers saying how pleased he was at their behaviour during the action. On 23rd January the column moved on and reached the Eshowe mission station. On receiving the news of the disaster at Isandhlwana the Natal Hussars were hurriedly sent back to Natal.
They saw no further action in this campaign and were disbanded in June or July 1879.

Thank you very much for taking the time to post this info. Could not have asked for more.

The original name of the Regiment was the Greytown Mounted Rifles. In 1866 the Natal Hussars was raised by a Major Eastwood in the same area. In 1869 the two units amalgamated under the designation of the Natal Hussars.

hi David68
A colonial medal isnt worth as much as one awarded to the imperial forces , in the 2008 medal year book a
colonial medal with the 1879 Clasp is valued between 350 - 380 pds , two years later maybe 410 - 430 pds ?
cheers 90th.

"A colonial medal isnt worth as much as one awarded to the imperial forces"

90th what if they had taken part at Isandlwana. Would that still be the case/

Good question Dave. I would say it would go for alot more.

Littlehand Thanks for that. Very good explanation.

hi Dave.
Good question , I would think that any medal awarded to an Isandlwana colonial participant would go for a lot more than those
colonial units that werent there . I am not exactly sure why colonial medals arent seen to be worth as much as Imperial
medals . Hope that makes sense.
cheers 90th.

ps. I would think a colonial medal from someone at Isandlwana should be worth more than any imperial
soldier who didnt take part at Isandlwana .

Hi that’s some good information there ..how do you re search these events or soldiers … my gg grandfather had 1879 medal ..how can I research his military history - William Hambidge army service corps 1133 ? This is all new to me ..please help thanks

Steve,

A service record for C/1133 William Hambidge survives, in the Roy Dutton medal roll book he is named Hambridge.

His record is available through findmypast, prob Ancestry as well. You can get a free trial on these sites so you could do that, or is there something specific you would like to know.

Dash