Pair: Colour-Sergeant J. Humphries, West Riding Regiment, attached Royal Niger Company,...

Pair: Colour-Sergeant J. Humphries, West Riding Regiment, attached Royal Niger Company, West African Frontier Force British South Africa Company Medal 1890-97, reverse Rhodesia 1896, no clasp (1892 Sgt. J. Humphris [sic]. R.W. Rid. Regt.); East and West Africa 1887-1900, 1 clasp, 1898 (Clr:- Serjt: J. Humphries. 3rd. W. Riding Regt.) extremely fine and a unique combination to the Regiment (2) £600-£800 --- John Humphries (also recorded as Humphris) served with the 2nd Battalion, West Riding Regiment during the operations in Matabeleland and Mashonaland, 24 March to 31 December 1896, one of approximately 270 men from the Battalion receiving the medal with the Rhodesia reverse. In 1897 the Battalion was sent to India; Humphries though had left the Battalion by this stage and had transferred to the Regiment’s 3rd Militia Battalion, then based at Halifax, Yorkshire. Seconded to the Niger Company Forces, he saw active service with the Lapai expedition under Lieutenant-Colonel T. D. Pilcher, Bedfordshire Regiment, 8 to 27 June 1898. This was the first campaign service of the newly-formed West African Frontier Force, and Humphries was one of only 25 Europeans involved with the expedition (and the only man from the West Riding Regiment). His medal combination is therefore unique to the Regiment, and possibly to the British Army as a whole. The Lapai expedition was conducted to a successful conclusion, and in his Report of the expedition Pilcher specifically commended Humphries: ‘I wish to bring to notice the excellent work done by the officers and non-commissioned officers I had the honour of commanding. I never wish to have a more capable, conscientious, and hard-working body of men under me. My special thanks are due to ... Colour-Sergeant J. Humphries, West Riding Regiment ...’ (Annual Colonial Report 1897-98 refers). Sold with a photographic image of the recipient; medal roll extracts; and copied research.