Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The British War Medal awarded to Major-General Sir Samuel B. Steele, K.C.M.G., C.B., M.V.O., Canadian Permanent Staff, who commanded the Imperial and Canadian Troops at Shorncliffe during the Great War; a legend of the North-West Mounted Police, and a veteran of the Red River and North-West Canada Expeditions, he served as Commandant of Lord Strathcona’s Horse during the Boer War, before dying of the Spanish flu in January 1919

British War Medal 1914-20 (Major-Gen. Sir S. B. Steele.) good very fine £200-£300

Sir Samuel Benfield Steele was born at Purbrook, Ontario, Canada, on 5 January 1849, the son of Captain Elmes Steele, R.N., and was educated at the British American Commercial School, Toronto. He joined the 35th Battalion Simcoe Foresters in 1866, and served in the Red River Expedition in 1870 (Medal with clasp). He joined the Canadian Permanent Artillery in 1871, and the North-West Mounted Police in 1873, being advanced Superintendent in 1885. He served during the campaign that year in North-West Canada, and was present at the action at Frenchman’s Butte, later commanding the Mounted Force in pursuit of Big Bear’s Band and the Wood Crees (Mentioned in Despatches and Medal with clasp). The following decade he commanded the Yukon Detachment of the North-West Mounted Police during the Klondike Gold Rush, 1896-99.

Advanced Lieutenant-Colonel, Steele served as Commandant of Lord Strathcona’s Horse in South Africa during the early stages of the Boer War (twice Mentioned in Despatches, Brevet of Colonel, C.B., M.V.O., and Queen’s Medal with 3 clasps), before commanding the Northern Transvaal Division of the South African Constabulary (Mentioned in Despatches, and King’s Medal with 2 clasps).

Appointed Inspector General of Forces, Western Canada, in 1914, following the outbreak of the Great War Steele subsequently organised, commanded, and trained the 2nd Canadian Division, Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force. Proceeding to England, he commanded the Imperial and Canadian Troops at Shorncliffe from 1915 until the cessation of hostilities, and for his services during the Great War was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George in 1918 (London Gazette 1 January 1918). He died of the Spanish flu on 30 January 1919, and was later buried in Winnipeg. The author of Forty Years in Canada, and the subject of various other accounts, Canada’s fifth tallest mountain, the 16,644 foot Mount Steele, on the Yukon-Alaska border, is named after him.