Second Anglo-Afghan War 1878-80

[Garen]

Can you tell me his regiment, Margaret? Is he in the Royal Artillery?

Many thanks - Garen

[magsb123]

Hello Garen,
I found the entry for Robert Nicholson on A......... -  UK Military Campaign Medal and Award Rolls 1793-1949. It looks as though he may have been in the Royal Artillery with the initials OC RA Sirkund Div or Dist (?)5 January 1882. He appears to have served at Charasdia (?) and Kabul and defence of Sherpin (?). His rank looks like D Privet (?). Hope you can make something out of the above. Thanks, Margaret.

[JaneyCanuck]

The thing to do would be to try and discover the regiment (possibly the 66th Foot if he joined up in Berkshire - in which case he did very well to avoid service in Afghanistan and their eventual fate - Maiwand) and then check the muster rolls to see if he appears there.

Thank you -- Berkshire does seem to be where he would have been, so that is a very handy bit of info, and something to while away some time reading up on.

In this family there is a complex web of how people from apparently disparate geographic and socioeconomic backgrounds could have met -- we have the marriage in Berkshire in the mid-1870s of the rich heir boy from Wales (bankrupted in the 1880s, apparently as a result of fondness for the ponies) and the girl from Cornwall who was on the stage in London, Hill's sister, her economic situation just unfathomable, but whose estranged? father was in the same business as the boy's uncle: was it their family business connections, or was he a stage-door johnny?? On a birth certificate c1880, the husband is identified as late of 105th foot, and the Gazette shows him resigning his commission just before: possibly yet another way the couple could have met, i.e. through her brother the deserter if he and the rich boy were acquainted in India. And so that could be another place to look for Hill in the military. He appears to have followed the couple to where they settled after the rich boy left the military.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/105th_Regiment_of_Foot_%28Madras_Light_Infantry%29
(Looking for the rich boy here and there, it does not help at all that he had the exact same full name and was just about the same age as a very famous Admiral, which gave me 2 minutes of excitement when I first tried to figure out whom this previously unheard of sister had married ...)

I'm not sure about his 'contracted 5 years' … soldiers signed up for 12 years (after the 1870 Cardwell Reforms) - 6 in the Colours, 6 in the Reserve - with an option to extend to 21.

I know ... that 5 years does sound like a bit of a self-serving invention, doesn't it?

Thank you very, very much for your reply. If I ever find him in military records, I'll let you know here!

By the way -- a few years ago when I was first discovering all this, I happened to pick up the charity shop Penguin copy of Kipling's The Man Who Would Be King that had long been languishing on a bookshelf, and coincidentally, the Michael Caine / Sean Connery film version came on TV shortly after. I'm sure you know them, but for anyone who doesn't, a bit of English-in-Afghanistan historical fantasy (but don't read the plot!):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Would_Be_King
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Would_Be_King_%28film%29


(Military problems run on both sides of my family: Hill's counterpart's son on my other side was discharged with ignominy from the Dragoon Guards at the age of 16! He promptly re-enlisted under an altered name, gained a WWI battlefield commission, and went on to further ignominy in Ireland in the 20s. And another one on that side enlisted in the 9th regiment of foot on Christmas Eve 1814 at 16: very hungry, or very drunk?)

[Garen]

Hello Garen,
I found the entry for Robert Nicholson on A......... -  UK Military Campaign Medal and Award Rolls 1793-1949. It looks as though he may have been in the Royal Artillery with the initials OC RA Sirkund Div or Dist (?)5 January 1882. He appears to have served at Charasdia (?) and Kabul and defence of Sherpin (?). His rank looks like D Privet (?). Hope you can make something out of the above. Thanks, Margaret.

Hello Margaret

Thanks for that info. From your details I could see he was in the Royal Artillery, so I was able to find him on my own copy of the roll.

He was in F Battery A Brigade Royal Horse Artillery (F/A RHA) and was a Driver. As you say, his service number was 2326 and he had the Afghan War medal with clasps for Charasia and Kabul (including the defence of Sherpur).

The other bits are under the column 'Medal to whom' and say O.C. RA Si[..]d D[..] 5/1/82. I think that means the medal was sent to the Officer Commanding the Royal Artillery at Sirhind (I think) Division or Depot on 5 Jan 1882.

If this is indeed your Robert Nicholson then we can see from the medal roll that he did not die in Afghanistan - he survived the conflict, and he is not on the casualty roll as wounded either. If he did die then it must have been later in India.

F/A RHA started out their Afghan campaign with Roberts at the Peiwar Kotal (though Nicholson was not involved in that action) and then spent the rest of the first campaign in the Kurram Valley and at Ali Khel. In the second campaign the battery was in reserve at the battle of Charasia before moving on to Kabul where they saw heavy action in December (action of Killa Kazi - see here). They were in Sherpur during the siege of that cantonment throughout the rest of the month, being put to good use against the enemy. They saw more action at Childukhtean in Apr 1880 and returned to India in May.

With best wishes - Garen

[gortonboy]

hi, Margaret,,,,THERE IS A SERVICE RECORD FOR


First name(s):Robert

Last name:NICHOLSON

Calculated year of birth:1854

Parish of birth:Clonmel

Town of birth:Clonmel

County of birth:Tipperary

Age at attestation:22 years 6 months


Attestation date:4 December 1876


Attestation corps:Royal Artillery

[magsb123]

Thank you Garen and Gortonboy for your information on Robert Nicholson. It was interesting to read about the Royal Artillery in Afghanistan but it looks as though I have the wrong Robert. I will have to pursue Robert and his brother at the NA when I am next in Uk. Thank you so much for your interest. Regards, Margaret.

[Garen]

By the way -- a few years ago when I was first discovering all this, I happened to pick up the charity shop Penguin copy of Kipling's The Man Who Would Be King that had long been languishing on a bookshelf, and coincidentally, the Michael Caine / Sean Connery film version came on TV shortly after. I'm sure you know them, but for anyone who doesn't, a bit of English-in-Afghanistan historical fantasy (but don't read the plot!):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Would_Be_King
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Would_Be_King_%28film%29

Ah, one of my very favourite films ... in fact I even took part in a podcast discussing it (where I also mentioned a few bits about the Afghan War - just to keep on topic :-))

All the best with your continued searches - Garen

[Garen]

hi, Margaret,,,,THERE IS A SERVICE RECORD FOR

First name(s):Robert
Last name:NICHOLSON
Calculated year of birth:1854
Parish of birth:Clonmel
Town of birth:Clonmel
County of birth:Tipperary
Age at attestation:22 years 6 months
Attestation date:4 December 1876
Attestation corps:Royal Artillery

Thanks gortonboy - and I can confirm this is the chap who was in F/A RHA - his father also called Robert, from Tipperary.

[The Broon]

Hi…just joined the site!

I have come across a distant relatives campaign medal for the second Afghan war. His name is T.Tiffney Reg No 1333 of the 8th Hussars. The medal has no ribbon attached and I am interested in finding one together with any of the clasps that may of been attached. Can anyone tell me where I could find a ribbon for this medal together with any knowledge of which clasps would of been mounted for the 8th Hussars?

Thanks