War Medals

MAJOR JOHN BIRTWHISTLE, 32ND. REGIMENT (DUKE OF CORNWALL'S LIGHT INFANTRY) :

Punjab Campaign Medal 1848-9, bars, Mooltan', 'Goojerat', officially impressed naming (Ensign, 32nd. Foot); India General Service Medal 1854, bar, 'Northwest Frontier', officially impressed naming (Lieut. HM. 32nd. Regt.) : (JOHN BIRTWHISTLE - Born 11 February 1828 in Kirkmabreck, Kirkcudbright, Scotland : Granted a Commission by Purchase as Ensign, with 32nd. Regiment of Foot, from 11 December 1847 and proceeded with the Regiment to India : The recipient was present with the 32nd.Foot when it took part in the Second Sikh War 1848-9, including the hard fought siege and storming of Mooltan and the Battle of Goojerat, (Medal with two bars) : He subsequently served in the Ranizai, Shakot and Dargai Expeditions under the command of Brigadier-General Sir Colin Campbell during March and May 1852, (Medal with bar) : (The India General Service Medal with bar, 'Northwest Frontier' was not authorised until 1869 and the original Medal Roll for the 32nd. Regiment shows just 15 Officers and 78 men. The Officers of the 32nd. Regiment, including the recipient, entitled to the medal with bar, 'Northwest Frontier', are listed in Brigadier Brian Parritt's book, 'Red With Two Blue Stripes' : However as the medal could be claimed up to the year 1900, the final total could be around 119 recipients : The reason so few medals were claimed was mainly due to the heavy casualties the Regiment suffered during the intervening Indian Mutiny.) : The recipient was promoted Lieutenant from 3 September 1849 : Promoted Captain from 28 June 1857 and Major from 25 September 1860 : On 5 March 1861 he exchanged his Commission as Major in 32nd. Regiment with Major George William Wallace Carpenter for Commission as Major in 7th.(Royal Fusiliers) Regiment : In the Census of 1861 he is recorded resident in Cheltenham with his parents John and Martha Maria at Beaufort Villas, Cheltenham, together with his two sisters, Anna-Maria and Agnes Augusta : In March of 1861 he married Elizabeth Marshall at Northampton and retired from the Army by sale of his Commission in April 1862 : He was declared bankrupt in 1865 and in the Census of 1871 he is recorded as residing with his wife Elizabeth, in Begelly, Narbeth, Pembrokeshire : In the Census of 1881 he is recorded as resident with his wife at High House, Much Dewhurst, Herefordshire : He died on 7 April 1895 in Narberth, Pembrokeshire.) : Sold with verification, copy Army List entries; copy London Gazette entries and related research : First medal with contact marks, edge bruising and some slackness in swivel post, but naming perfectly clear and legible, thus GF/NVF, second medal NEF : A scarce pair to an Officer - £1850