Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Royal Humane Society, small bronze medal (successful) (Thos. W. Collins, Gunner, R.A. 11. April 1872.) lacking integral bronze riband buckle, good very fine £100-£140

R.H.S. Case number 18,904.

Thomas W. Collins was awarded the bronze medal of the Royal Humane Society for a rescue at Sheerness in Kent. The story was later published in the Morning Advertiser on 19 June 1872:

‘A comrade named William Waine was bathing on the day in question from the Martello Tower called “Grain Tower,” which is about 400 yards from the shore of Grain Island, on the opposite side of the Medway to Sheerness. The current round the tower is very strong, and Waine was being carried away and was fast drowning, when Gunner George Farley, who was standing on the steps of the tower, jumped into the water with a rope in his hand... [but] the current was so strong that he could not make head against it, and he in his turn was sinking, when another Gunner named Collins jumped in to his assistance and got hold of him...

William Waine survived the current and was saved. Gunner Farley, despite the best efforts of Collins - who was forced to choose between Waine and Farley - sank from exhaustion and was drowned.’