Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The mounted group of ten miniature dress medals attributed to Brigadier-General D. R. Sladen, King’s Own Scottish Borderers

The Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, C.M.G., Companion’s badge, gold and enamel; Distinguished Service Order, V.R., gold and enamel, with integral top riband bar; Egypt and Sudan 1882-89, undated reverse, 1 clasp, Gemaizah 1888; India General Service 1895-1902, 2 clasps, Punjab Frontier 1897-98, Tirah 1897-98; Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 3 clasps, Cape Colony, Paardeberg, Johannesburg; King’s South Africa 1901-02, 2 clasps, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902; 1914-15 Star; British War and Victory Medals; Khedive’s Star, dated 1884, mounted as worn, very fine (10) £300-£400

Dix Noonan Webb, September 2002.

C.M.G. London Gazette 23 June 1915:
‘For services rendered in connection with Military Operations in the Field.’

D.S.O. London Gazette 20 May 1898:
‘In recognition of services during recent operations on the North-West Frontier of India.

David Ramsay Sladen was born on 7 February 1869 and was educated at St. John’s College, Oxford. He was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the 3rd (Militia) Battalion, South Wales Borderers, on 24 March 1886, subsequently transferring to a Regular Commission in the 2nd Battalion, King’s Own Scottish Borderers, and served with that unit in Egypt and the Sudan, being present at the action at Gamaizah (Medal and clasp, and Khedive's Star). Sladen then went with the battalion to India, where he was promoted Lieutenant in 1890, and Captain in 1897. He was part of the Tirah Field Force in 1897-98, and was listed among the casualties for his roll in holding Dargai Bluff, with splinter wounds to the forehead and cheek. For services on the North West Frontier he was twice Mentioned in Despatches (London Gazettes 1 March 1898 and 5 April 1898), and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, being invested with the Decoration by Queen Victoria in a ceremony at Windsor. He was only the second officer of the regiment to receive the D.S.O., and received one of only 35 D.S.O.s awarded for actions on the North West Frontier, 1897-98.

Sladen proceeded to South Africa in February 1900, and saw extensive service during the Boer War, being Mentioned in Lord Roberts’ Despatch of 2 April 1901 (London Gazette 10 September 1901). On his return to the United Kingdom he was posted to the Selkirk Volunteer Rifles (1904-1908) and was promoted Major in October 1907. After additional service in Egypt, Sladen went to India. He was serving as temporary commander of the 1st Battalion when the Great War broke out, and was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel. Proceeding to the Western Front on 31 March 1915, he was twice wounded, at Hill 60, near Ypres, on 17 April 1915, and again at High Wood, on the Somme, on 22 July 1916, when his battalion suffered heavy casualties. Sladen remained in command at Vimy Ridge, where the Borderers were in the assault on Bonval Wood, losing 162 officers and men. In July 1917, he was appointed Commanding Officer, 46th Infantry Brigade of the 15th (Scottish) Division during the Battle of Ypres. He remained in command of this brigade until February 1918, when he took command of the Welsh Reserve Infantry Brigade. He was promoted to Colonel in December 1918. For his service during the Great War he was created a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George in 1915 and was twice Mentioned in Despatches (London Gazettes 22 June 1915 and 11 December 1917). Subsequently posted to India as a brigade commander, he died in India on 21 June 1923, aged 54.

Note: The recipient’s full-sized awards were sold by Messrs Floyd Johnson & Paine in August 2004.

Sold with copied research.