East and West Africa 1887-1900, for Mwele 1895, 1 clasp, Juba River 1893 (1895 J. W. Tritton Esqre. Mwele) naming partially officially re-impressed, good very fine and rare £2,000-£3,000

Provenance: Glendining’s, May 1958; Christie’s, November 1990; Richard B. Magor Collection, Dix Noonan Webb, July 2003.

Approximately 40 Juba River clasps were issued for the expedition led by Lieutenant P. Vaughan Lewes to rescue Captain Tritton and Mr McDougall from the Somalis of Jubaland. Tritton’s award of the medal for ‘Mwele 1895’ is confirmed in Paul G. Lane’s recently published roll of the East and West Africa medal as one of two ‘Non-Naval Awards’, with the note ‘Sent to Foreign Office’. No roll has yet been found to confirm the clasp for ‘Juba River 1893’ but the known existence of both officially impressed medals to Tritton and McDougall would indicate that they were indeed issued, as confirmed also in British Battles and Medals.

J. W. Tritton served as a Captain in the Imperial British East Africa Company’s Kenia, a shallow-draft stern-wheel steamer which broke down in the Juba River at Gobwen. Both he, and a District Officer, Mr. K. MacDougall, were in the greatest danger of being attacked by the Somalis and unable to leave the ship. A small expedition comprising 40 Naval volunteers under Lieutenant P. Vaughan Lewes was despatched from H.M.S. Blanche for the purpose of rescuing these two European officials. On reaching Gobwen, Lieutenant Lewes embarked on board the steamship Kenia and ‘found Captain Tritton and Mr McDougal well, but worn out as they had been expecting an attack at any time for ten days.’

Magor states:

‘She [the Kenia] had been built to operate on the Tana River but this proved an unsuitable waterway. She was equipped with a novel means of defence against native canoes in the shape of a perforated tube which ran round the vessel underneath the gunwale, connected by a pipe to the main boiler and a cloud of steam could be made to envelope the steamer at will. A more practical defence in the form of a Q.F. Hotchkiss gun was fitted forward of the promenade deck.

Having repaired the donkey feed pipe, Lieutenant Lewes put the ship in a state of defence by means of breastworks of iron plates, cut-up canoes, sand bags and bales of piece goods, with two maxim and two Hotchkiss guns mounted for armament. They proceeded up river and shelled and destroyed Magarada and Majawen, where the Somalis, armed with sniders replied to the Kenia’s fire, but were defeated and fled into the bush. The naval contingent then returned to their ship leaving the Kenia moored by three anchors in the middle of the Juba River, in the charge of two friendly chiefs.’

Lieutenant Lewes was subsequently awarded the D.S.O., whilst his full despatch of this expedition was published in the London Gazette of 12 December 1893.