Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The extremely rare Egypt and Sudan 1882-89 Medal awarded to Private J. Washbrooke, 20th Hussars, killed in action at Toski, 3 August 1889 - the only British fatality at this action

Egypt and Sudan 1882-89, undated reverse, 2 clasps, Gemaizah 1888, Toski 1889 (2757. Pte. J. Washbrooke. 20th Husrs.) edge bruise, good very fine £2,000-£3,000

This lot is to be sold as part of a special collection, Medals from an Africa Collection.

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Dix Noonan Webb, December 2005 (when sold with a Khedive’s Star)

Approximately 4 officers and 77 men of the 20th Hussars were awarded this clasp combination.

John Washbrooke was killed in action at Toski, 3 August 1889, the only British fatality at this action. In 1889 the Khalifa Abdallah ibn Muhammed sent his Emir Wad-el-Njumi into Egypt from the Sudan with an army of approximately 6,000 men. The Mahdists avoided Wadi Halfa where most of the Egyptian Army were garrisoned, and camped at Toski which was some fifty miles within the Egyptian border.

The Mahdists were attacked at Toski by the Egyptian Army under Sir Francis Grenfell and were completely annihilated after a five hour fight. The Emir himself was killed as he tried to rally his men. Apart from the British officers commanding Egyptian units, the only British troops to participate were a squadron of the 20th Hussars - numbering just over 80 men.

Medical Transactions of the Nile F.F. gives the following re British casualties for Toski:

‘On the 3rd of August, Surgeon [J. J. C.] Donnet paraded at an early hour with the troops, and had cacolets and litters fitted on to the camels for service in the field. At 5.30am the engagement commenced. No man of the Hussars was wounded until 2pm, when the following casualties occurred:

Killed - Private - Spear wound of abdomen [a copy of Washbrooke’s death certificate gives this as cause of death, and was originally signed by Donnet]. Wounded severely - Corporal - Bullet wound, middle third of right tibia; Private - Bullet wound in right groin, two sword cuts on head, and a spear wound in left buttock. Wounded slightly - Private - Bullet wound of outer surface of right arm (ricochet). Trumpeter - Slight spear wound of left hand. Private - Contusion from fall from his horse during a charge.

All the wounded had field dressings applied at once, and 5pm they were safely transported to the hospital tent and redressed antiseptically. Brandy and milk were given on the field, and on arrival in hospital they received cocoa, extractum carnis, brandy and milk. The men expressed themselves as comfortable, and at bed time opium was given hypodermically.’

Sold with copied research.