The Simon C. Marriage Collection of Medals to the Suffolk Regiment

An unusual Boer War D.S.O., Great War 1918 O.B.E. group of four awarded to Lieutenant Colonel C. P. Crane, 12th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry, and Royal Irish Constabulary. He served as an officer with the latter in Kerry, Dongegal and the South Eastern Province between 1880 and 1894, and as Private Secretary to the Inspector General, Sir Andrew Reed between 1895 and 1897. Crane served during the Great War with the 11th (Service) Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers, and in command of the 2/4th (Hallamshire) Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment from June 1915 until July 1916

Distinguished Service Order, V.R., silver-gilt and enamel, with integral top riband bar; The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, O.B.E. (Military) Officer’s 1st type, silver-gilt, hallmarks for London 1917; Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 4 clasps, Cape Colony, Transvaal, Wittebergen, South Africa 1901 (Capt. & Adjt. C. P. Crane 12/Impl. Yeo); British War Medal 1914-20 (Lt. Col. C. P. Crane.) mounted for wear, with (4) related miniature awards also mounted for wear, and both housed in a custom made Spink & Son Ltd, Piccadilly leather case, generally good very fine or better (lot) £1,400-£1,800

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Simon C. Marriage Collection of Medals to the Suffolk Regiment.

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D.S.O. London Gazette 27 September 1901.

O.B.E. London Gazette 7 January 1918.

Charles Paston Crane was born at Holden Clough, Yorkshire in August 1857, and was son of the Reverend Canon Crane of Killarney, Ireland. He was educated at home and later at Exeter College, Oxford (B.A.; Honours in Modern History, 1878; M.A., 1901). Crane joined the Royal Irish Constabulary as a Cadet in 1879, and served through the Land Agitation in Kerry from 1880 to 1889. He served on special duty in Donegal and the South Eastern Province in 1889 and 1894, and was Private Secretary to the Inspector-General (Sir Andrew Reed) between 1895 and 1897. Crane was employed as Resident Magistrate in Donegal from 1897 to 1900, and was seconded in 1900 to serve as Captain and Adjutant of the 12th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry, in the South African Campaign up until May 1901.

Crane subsequently served as Adjutant of the 12th Battalion until June 1901, and then in the same capacity of the Mounted Troops, Potchefstroom Column from 26 August 1900 until 30 January 1901 (Imperial Yeomanry). He served in operations in Cape Colony, south of Orange River, between March and May 1900; in operations in Orange River Colony between May and August of the same year, including actions at Rhenoster River and Wittehergen (1 to 29 July); in operations in the Transvaal, west of Pretoria, from August up to 29 November 1900; in operations in the Transvaal from 30 November 1900 until March 1901; and in operations in Orange River Colony between March and April 1901 (D.S.O., M.I.D. - and presented with his D.S.O. by H.M. the King on 29 October 1901).

Crane was seconded for service with the Army in September 1914, and was appointed Major in the 11th (Service) Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers. He served in this capacity until March 1915, when he was subsequently appointed to the command of the 2/4th (Hallamshire) Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment. Crane commanded the latter from June 1915 until July 1916, and then the 43rd Provisional Battalion from July until October 1916 (O..B.E., M.I.D.). Crane advanced to Lieutenant Colonel, and in later life wrote the travel guide to Kerry in the Little Guide Series. In 1908 he married Mary Alice Caroline, the second daughter of Colonel and Lady Mary Skrine of Warleigh Manor, Somerset. Colonel Crane died at Sloane Gardens, London in January 1939.