Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The remarkable Great War period O.B.E. group of eight awarded to Major S. K. Flint, Royal Fusiliers, late Royal Irish Rifles, whose attachment to the Egyptian Army 1895-1906 resulted in him being awarded a unique Khedive’s Sudan Medal with 10 clasps - and four “mentions”

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, O.B.E. (Military) Officer’s 1st type breast badge, hallmarks for London 1919, with its Garrard & Co. case of issue; Queen’s Sudan 1896-98 (2/Lt. S. K. Flint, A Tpt.); 1914-15 Star (Major S. K. Flint, R. Fus.); British War and Victory Medals (Major S. K. Flint); Turkey, Order of Osmania, 4th class breast badge, silver, silver-gilt and enamel; Turkey, Order of the Medjidie, 5th class breast badge, silver, gold and enamel; Khedive’s Sudan 1896-1908, 10 clasps, Firket, Hafir, Sudan 1897, Abu Hamed, The Atabara, Khartoum, Gedaref, Sudan 1899, Gedid, Nyam Nyam, unnamed, generally good very fine (8) £5000-6000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Medals The Property of a Gentleman.

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O.B.E. London Gazette 5 December 1919.

Samuel Kirk Flint, who was born in November 1865, served in the ranks for 16 years prior to being commissioned in the Royal Irish Rifles in August 1896.

Earlier that year he had accompanied the Dongola Expedition, as a Colour-Sergeant on attachment to the Egyptian Army from the Dorset Regiment, participated in the operations of 7 June and 19 September, and gained a mention in despatches (London Gazette 3 November 1896 refers), together with the Queen’s Medal and Khedive’s Medal, with 2 clasps.

In November 1896, shortly after being commissioned, Flint was re-employed by the Egyptian Army, and accompanied the Nile Expedition of 1897, being present at the action of Abu Hamed, thereby adding 2 further clasps to his Khedive’s Sudan Medal; was present at the battle of Atbara and Khartoum, winning a further “mention” (London Gazette 30 September 1898 refers), and participated in the Blue Nile Expedition, including the relief of Gedaref, where he was in command of the transport. He was awarded the Order of Medjidie, 5th class (London Gazette 20 June 1899 refers), and added another 3 clasps to his Khedive’s Sudan Medal.

Flint was also present in the operations leading to the final defeat of the Khailifa, services that resulted in a further “mention” (London Gazette 30 January 1900), and 2 more clasps to his Khedive’s Sudan Medal. Having then joined the Royal Fusiliers, and been awarded the Turkish Order of Osmania, 4th class (London Gazette 9 August 1904 refers), he participated in the operations against the Nyam Nyam tribe in the Bahr-el-Ghazal Province in 1905, for which he gained the Brevet of Major, a fourth “mention” (London Gazette 18 May 1906 refers), and the tenth clasp to his Khedive’s Sudan Medal - a unique award as per British Battles & Medals. On this latter occasion, Major-General Wingate cited Flint in the following terms:

‘Captain S. K. Flint, Royal Fusiliers was in charge of the transport, a duty which involved very hard and continuous work; in spite of heavy losses in animals this officer succeeded in keeping the troops as well supplied as was possible under the circumstances.’

During the Great War, as a Major in the Royal Fusiliers, Flint entered the Egypt theatre of war in May 1915, but his subsequent award of the O.B.E. was for services in the Legal Department of the Sudan Government. He died in 1936.

Sold with an original handwritten message signed by Field Marshal Kitchener, dated ‘3 June’, which states, ‘I am glad to give him a strong recommendation for employment’, in glazed case with gilt frame; three excellent studio quality portrait photographs, and the remnants of the recipient’s original court-style wearing bar.