Orders, Decorations and Medals

MILITARY GENERAL SERVICE 1793-1814, 2 clasps, Nivelle, Nive (Geo. M. Dickens, Lieut. Royal Staff Corps) small edge bruise, otherwise good very fine and scarce

Ex Elson collection 1963.

George Mordaunt Dickens was appointed Ensign in the Royal Staff Corps in March 1810, and promoted Lieutenant in November 1811. This Corps, originally formed in 1800 and shortly after attached to the Quarter Master General's Department, comprised specially appointed officers and men whose duties were as combat engineers. At the capture of Badajoz, they assisted in placing the ladders for the escalade of the Castle and took part in the storming of one of the Bastions. A Sergeant was one of the first to enter the breach at Ciudad Rodrigo in 1812, and four officers led columns into action across the river Bidassoa in 1813. During the Peninsula Wars they were effectively the only trained combat or field engineers in the British Army. Fourteen officers survived to claim the medal in 1847.