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**SOLD** VINTAGE RARE BRITISH ARMY CRIMEA WAR MEDALS FOR CHARGE LIGHT BRIGADE 11 HUSSARS

SOLD Offered is an exceptional piece of military history, a British Crimea 4 bar medal awarded to 1137 Private George Fry, 11th Hussars, who is a Light Brigade charger at the famous cavalry charge at Balaklava. The 11th Hussars took some of the heaviest losses, killed and wounded amongst all of the units present at the famous charge. 1854-56 Crimean War medal, with 4 campaign clasps ‘SEBASTOPOL’, ‘INKERMANN’, ‘BALAKLAVA’ & ‘ALMA’. The medal is named in is officially impressed to GEO. FRY. 11TH  HUSSARS. Private Fry is a confirmed for the 11th Hussars at the time of the charge (http://www.chargeofthelightbrigade.com/allmen/allmenF/indexallmenF.html)...

$5,000.00

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Offered is an exceptional piece of military history, a British Crimea 4 bar medal awarded to 1137 Private George Fry, 11th Hussars, who is a Light Brigade charger at the famous cavalry charge at Balaklava. The 11th Hussars took some of the heaviest losses, killed and wounded amongst all of the units present at the famous charge.

1854-56 Crimean War medal, with 4 campaign clasps 'SEBASTOPOL', 'INKERMANN', 'BALAKLAVA' & 'ALMA'. The medal is named in is officially impressed to GEO. FRY. 11TH  HUSSARS. Private Fry is a confirmed for the 11th Hussars at the time of the charge (http://www.chargeofthelightbrigade.com/allmen/allmenF/indexallmenF.html) and the precious auctioneers catalogues show his participation (Glandinning's Sale Catalogue, 20 May 1920).  Fry would have personally received his medal by Queen Victoria on Horse Guards parade on the 18th of May 1855. This medal is officially impressed. Accompanying this medal is his Turkish Crimea Medal (Sardinian Issue).A large amount of research papers are included with the medals, including a summary of Fry's service, copies of his service papers and an original newspaper 'Balaclava Heroes Supplement - The Survivors of the Light Brigade', dated July 1987 (Jubilee Edition).

George Fry was born at Waverley, near Farnham in 1821 and enlisted into the 4th Light Dragoons at London on the 14th of July 1841. He transferred to the 11th Hussars 17.5.1842 and served with the regiment in the Crimea at Alma, Balaklava, Inkermann and Sebastopol. He was invalided to England from Scutari on the 1st of June 1855 and subsequently received the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. He retired 1865, having served for 24 years and 33 days. In the Charge of the Light Brigade the 11th Hussars had 25 men killed, and three officers and 37 men wounded at Balaklava on the 25th October 1854.

This is a very rare opportunity to acquire an original Light Brigade 'charger' medal, now 160 years old. At a recent Wallis & Wallis Conoisseur's Auction which I was present at in 2013, a confirmed Killed in Action charger medal to Robert Jackson, also of the 17th lancers, sold for 10,800 GBP, (with commission). Today this would equal $24,000 Australian Dollars. These were sold at Bonham's in 2014: http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21704/lot/260/

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The Charge of the Light Brigade was a charge of British light cavalry led by Lord Cardigan against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854 in the Crimean War. Lord Raglan, overall commander of the British forces, had intended to send the Light Brigade to pursue and harry a retreating Russian artillery battery, a task well suited to light cavalry. Due to miscommunication in the chain of command, the Light Brigade was instead sent on a frontal assault against a different artillery battery, one well-prepared with excellent fields of defensive fire.

Although the Light Brigade reached the battery under withering direct fire and scattered some of the gunners, the badly-mauled brigade was forced to retreat immediately. Thus, the assault ended with very high British casualties and no decisive gains.

The events are best remembered as the subject of the poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Published just six weeks after the event, its lines emphasize the valour of the cavalry in bravely carrying out their orders, regardless of the obvious outcome. Blame for the miscommunication has remained controversial, as the original order from Raglan itself was vague.

Medal History
*The Crimea Medal was a campaign medal approved in 1854, for issue to officers and men of British units (land and naval) which fought in the Crimean War of 1854-56 against Russia. The medal is notable for its extremely ornate clasps, being in the form of an oak leaf with an acorn at each extremity, a style never again used on a British medal. The suspension is an ornate floriated swivelling suspender, again unique to the Crimea Medal. Five bars were authourised, the maximum awarded to one man was four. Azoff was only issued to Naval and Marine personnel. The medal was issued without a clasp to those who were present in the Crimea, but not present at any of the qualifying actions.

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