Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Pair: Colonel V. Birch, 9th Bombay Native Infantry, who was present at the capture of Tantia Tope

Indian Mutiny 1857-59, no clasp (Ensign V. Birch, 9th. Bombay N.I.); Afghanistan 1878-80, no clasp (Major V. Birch, 9th. Bo. N.I.) mounted as worn and housed along with a 9th Bombay Native Infantry brooch badge with Battle Honours for Seringapatam, Mooltan, Punjab, and Afghanistan 1879-80 in a velvet backed oval glazed display frame, light contact marks, nearly extremely fine (2) £800-£1,000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Medals from a Mutiny Collection.

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Provenance: Spink Numismatic Circular, 1975.

Valentine Birch was born in Warwickshire on 26 April 1837 and was nominated for service in the Honourable East India Company’s Army by Sir Henry Rawlinson, K.C.B. He was commissioned Ensign on 20 August 1857 and served with the Bombay Native Infantry during the Great Sepoy Mutiny, being present in the action at Ambapawnee; with Colonel Somerset’s Brigade in pursuit of the rebels under Tantia Tope in 1858-59; with Major Meade’s force in the Padrone jungles in 1859; and was present at the capture of Tantia Tope.

Promoted Lieutenant on 25 April 1858, Captain on 20 August 1869; and Major on 20 August 1877, Birch saw further service during the Second Afghan War in 1880, and served with the regiment in the campaign until invalided on 2 November 1880, being present at the skirmishing in the Khojak Pass. The Afghan Campaign of 1878-80 by S. H. Shadbolt gives the following details:
‘The 9th Bombay Native Infantry, under command of Major V. Birch, left Bombay on 4 February 1880 and arrived at Karachi on 7 February, where it remained as part of the reserve division of the Kandahar Field Force until 11 July. On 27 August Major Birch with a detachment of 157 men marched for Chaman and then pushed onto Gatai, a post which in common with all the other posts between Chaman and Kandahar had been abandoned after the disaster of Maiwand.’

Birch was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel on 20 August 183 and Colonel on 20 August 1887. He died in Bombay on 28 January 1891.

Note: There are four officers listed under the 9th Bombay Native Infantry for the Indian Mutiny Medal, and Ensign Birch’s name is not among them. The Army List shows that upon his arrival in India he was attached to the 1st Bombay Native Infantry, who as a unit did not qualify for the medal. However, the service statements above show that he was actively engaged and qualified, and joined his parent regiment as a Lieutenant on 25 April 1859. Intriguingly when the medal issued, it was named to him as an Ensign in the 9th Bombay Native Infantry.

Sold with a photographic image of the recipient; and copied research.