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Hello Bill

Yes, Drummer Thomas Croake (69B/854) is on the Afghan War medal roll for the 18th Foot. His regiment garrisoned Peshawar from Jan 1880, moving into the Khyber region in May and staying in and around the area until March 1881, when they returned to India.

Best regards - Garen

Thanks for that, Bill.

My sources on the date are the newspapers, and they will have syndicated the mails that came out from Bombay which stated that the Malabar arrived at Bombay on Friday 13 Nov - this was reported on Sat 14th Nov, which would seem to discount the Sun 15th Nov date. In many pieces it went along with the news that the Malabar's captain, Capt. Nott, had died on board during the journey (Oct 26 at Ismailia).

I guess we can't be sure of Gretton's sources for his book - it may be that the ship was expected on the 15th but arrived early - arrival estimates weren't always accurate - and he could have found that date. Or he may have misread a document, mistranscribed it in his notes, or copied a mistake.

Or he cold be right, and the newspapers wrong. Sometimes the dates in newspapers are a little off, but the reporting for the Malabar arriving at Bombay seems very unambiguous (eg. it "arrived yesterday", rather than it being "expected" today or tomorrow, etc).

I think I'd go with the newspapers on this one, but keep an eye out for other first-hand sources to confirm.

All I can say is it's not the Crocodile as I researched that, and it was at Portsmouth in Apr 1879 (must get round to the others some day!)

https://www.garenewing.co.uk/angloafghanwar/resources/troopship_crocodile.php

Hi Bill

Thanks for that - from your info, and what ShaunJ said, it seems he wasn't with the regiment in Afghanistan, but with the Depot Brigade in Clonmel - perhaps due to his age and/or physical condition. If his family had been back in Ireland, perhaps this is another reason he returned home.

If he served in the Afghan War he would have been in receipt of a medal. There were some regiments that garrisoned Kandahar after the end of the war and didn't get the medal, but this was end of 1880 into 1881.

The 18th arrived in India in 1874, and moved into Afghanistan in January 1880 - some men may have been sent back to the Depot HQ at this point. They returned to India in March 1881, and to England in 1885.

All best - Garen