Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The outstanding ‘V.C. recommended’ Boer War D.S.O. group of four awarded to Captain J. W. Lichtenberg, 18th Hussars, for gallantry in action at Oliphant’s River on 30 July 1901, on which occasion he was shot through the stomach whilst holding out with his small party for over two hours against repeated Boer attacks; seconded to the Egyptian Army in 1911, he was killed in action in the Sudan during the expedition against the slave-raiding Anuak tribe in March 1912

Distinguished Service Order, V.R., silver-gilt and enamel, with integral top ribbon bar; Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 2 clasps, Transvaal, Orange Free State (Lieut. J. W. Lichtenberg, D.S.O., 18/Hrs:) second clasp loose on ribbon; King’s South Africa 1901-02, 2 clasps, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902 (Lt. J. W. Lichtenberg. D.S.O. 18/Hrs.); Khedive’s Sudan 1910-21, 1st issue, 1 clasp, Sudan 1912, unnamed as issued, together with a silver display label, hallmarked Chester 1911, inscribed ‘The Medals of Captain John Wills Lichtenberg D.S.O. 18th Hussars Killed in action in the Sudan March 15th 1912’, minor enamel loss to wreaths of the D.S.O., otherwise very fine and better (4) £4,000-£5,000

D.S.O. London Gazette 11 October 1901: ‘For gallantry in action on Oliphant’s River (Maseppa Drift) 30 July, 1901.’ The insignia were presented by the King on 24 October 1902.

John Wills Lichtenberg was born in Cheshire on 19 June 1872, and joined the Army on 21 April 1900, as a Second Lieutenant in the 18th Hussars, being promoted to Lieutenant on 21 April 1901. He served in the South African War 1899-1902 (severely wounded). Took part in the operations in the Transvaal, December 1900 to September 1901, and November 1901 to 31 May 1902; also during operations on the Zululand Frontier of Natal in September and October 1901 (despatches London Gazette 11 October 1901. Queen’s medal with 2 clasps, and King’s medal with 2 clasps. D.S.O.).

Oliphant’s River

On 30 July 1901, Lieutenant Lichtenberg was in command of a small party of the 18th Hussars and a few Irregulars and scouts, 23 men in all, who set off in pursuit of a large Boer commando and their convoy of wagons. After having been beaten off by the Boers with the loss of some of his men, he took the remainder around the commando and lay in ambush and attacked as they came into range. After several hours of very heavy fighting, a squadron of his regiment came up to his position and drove off the Boer commando.

Despite the fact that most of his men were killed or wounded, out of water and almost out of ammunition, he refused several times to surrender when called upon to do so by the Boer commander. He (Lichtenberg) was himself dangerously wounded early in the fight.

On 2nd August 1901, his commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel P. Marling, V.C., recorded in his diary: ‘Halted at Diepkloof. I have recommended Lichtenberg for the V.C. and 7 N.C.O.’s and men for the Distinguished Conduct Medal. The General has forwarded and recommended them. Lichtenberg got the D.S.O. in a week, and two D.C.M,’s were awarded to the men.’

The commendation from Lord Kitchener’s Despatch of 8 October 1901, reads:

‘Awarded the D.S.O. for conspicuous gallantry on Oliphant’s River, July 30th in pursuit of Viljoen’s convoy, when in face of very superior numbers of the enemy; though dangerously wounded, by his great courage and splendid example enabled his small party to hold out for over two hours against repeated attacks, and thereby secured capture of a great portion of the Boer convoy.’

After recovering from his wound Lichtenberg served with his regiment throughout the remainder of the South African war. He was promoted to Captain on 29 November 1904, and, in March 1911, was seconded to the Egyptian Army.

The Anuak Patrol 1912

On 11 March 1912, Lichtenberg was appointed to command the Mounted Infantry of a patrol of a thousand men of the 13th Sudanese Infantry, with one mountain gun and a dozen British officers. The object of the patrol was to wipe out slave raiding by a tribe called the Anuaks, and to liberate a large number of men and women being carried off by them as slaves.

After a long march up the River Sobat and on into the desert for several hundred miles, the patrol found themselves completely out of water, with very little food. When all seemed lost, an Anuak woman walked into their camp and, as she must have come from a source of water within easy reach, she was persuaded to lead then to it. The events that followed are described by the medical officer of the patrol, Doctor William Byam, in his autobiography The Road to Harley Street:

‘Lichtenberg, Gibbs and a few men of the M.I. went with the woman who led them across some miles of flat country, thickly covered with tall, dry grass, to a trough-like depression or ditch, about eight yards wide, with almost vertical sides, uncrowned by anything which projected above the level of the surrounding ground - hence its invisibility. The water it contained was low and stagnant, but I still treasure a photo I took of the young woman being brought back to us in a basket on a mule surrounded by a jubilant throng.
Early next day we moved forward in two groups. The first consisted of our entire fighting force, with the M.I. in the lead. The second comprised our thousand carriers and supplies. My medical unit was included in the first group though I and my men carried no arms. Needless to say, we wore no Red Cross or other emblem to show we were non-combatants as such symbols would have had no significance among savages.
Lichtenberg, in light-hearted mood, led his Mounted Infantry rapidly along the margin of our new found ditch with the avowed intention of cutting down any Anuak who dared to show his face. Instead, the Anuaks remained hidden in the grass until the M.I. came within easy range and a sudden burst of fire emptied nearly half the saddles in a few moments. Lichtenberg was one of the first to fall, mortally wounded. Not one of his officers remained unscathed and as a fighting force the M.I,. ceased to exist. We had been led into a well prepared ambush, where we faced a determined enemy armed with large-bore rifles (.450). These weapons, we found, were of Russian origin. They had been retrieved by the Japanese when they defeated the Russians and traded through Abyssinia in exchange for ivory poached from the herds of elephants in our territory. The wounds they inflicted were appalling and mostly fatal. All their bullets were soft-nosed.’

Although this incident effectively brought the Anauak Patrol to an end, the ensuing fighting retreat still took several weeks. Captain Lichtenberg and Captain Kinehan, also killed, were both buried where they fell.

Sold with copied extracts from The 18th Hussars in South Africa, Memoirs of the Eighteenth Hussars, and Rifleman and Hussar by Lieutenant-Colonel P. Marling, V.C., all three of which give lengthy and detailed accounts of the action at Oliphant’s River, and an original copy of The Road to Harley Street which devotes a whole chapter to the Anuak Patrol.