A ‘Delhi Durbar’ C.B. group of seven awarded to Brigadier-General E. H. Rodwell, 2nd Punjabis, Indian Army, late 70th Foot, second-in-command of the ‘Tonnochy Raid’ during the Waziristan operations of 1901-02

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, C.B. (Military) Companion’s breast badge converted for neck wear, silver-gilt and enamels; Afghanistan 1878-80, no clasp (2nd Lieut. E. H. Rodwell. 70th Foot.); India General Service 1854-94, 1 clasp, Waziristan 1894-5 (Captn. E. H. Rodwell 2nd Punjab Infy.) first initial officially corrected; India General Service 1895-1902, 1 clasp, Waziristan 1901-2 (Major Ty. Lt. Col. E. H. Rodwell 2nd P.I.); British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leak (Col. E. H. Rodwell.); Delhi Durbar 1911) the last six mounted as worn, light contact marks, otherwise good very fine or better (7) £1,600-£1,800

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Medals from the Collection of Peter Duckers.

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Ernest Hunter Rodwell was born on 10 February 1858, the son of the Rev. Robert Mandeville Rodwell, Rector of High Laver, Essex. He was educated at Felsted School and Sandhurst before entering the army in 1878 as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 70th East Surrey Regiment, seeing service in the Second Afghan war (Medal). he transferred to the Indian Army in 1880 and was a regimental officer with the 2nd Punjab Infantry from 1880 until 1906 (with periods of attachment to the Guides and the 1st Punjab Infantry) ending his career as Commandant, 1901-06.

He served with the 2nd Punjabis in the Mahsud Waziri campaign of 1881 (despatches), and in the Waziristan operations of 1894-95, having rejoined his regiment from Acting second-in-command of the Corps of Guides (Medal with clasp). In the Waziristan operations of 1901-02, he was in command of the 2nd Punjabis (despatches, medal with clasp). It was during these latter operations that Rodwell took part in what was probably the stand-out event of the campaign, as second-in-command of what became known as the ‘Tonnochy Raid’.

On 22 November 1901, the 2nd Punjabis under Major E. H. Rodwell, arrived at Datta Khel as a routine relief for the 3rd Sikhs, who had been on duty in the fort under Lieutenant-Colonel V. C. Tonnochy. Tonnochy was an old hand at frontier warfare, having served in a succession of frontier operations from the Mahsud campaign of 1881 right through to the recent Malakand, Tochi and Tirah operations of 1897-98. The arrival of the 2nd Punjabis provided a sudden increase in the force available to him at Datta Khel and he decided to use the entire force to launch a lightening strike against the Mahsuds. The 3rd Sikhs were due to return to Bannu on the 24th but, instead, Tonnochy organised them into a fighting column with the 2nd Punjabis and 2 guns of the Derajat Mountain Battery, some 1,000 men in all. Tonnochy led out this small but powerful force on the evening of 23 November, directed against the major Mahsud tribal centre of Makin - the target of previous British Punitive columns.

The column arrived back at Datta Khel late at night on 27 November, having dealt a serious blow to the very heart fine Mahsud territory after destroying most of Makin by fire and blowing up its defensive towers. With only token resistance being offered, casualties were very light, amounting to 3 men killed and one British officer, one Indian officer and 13 men wounded. It was a classic example of what a well-planned expedition could do to strike at the heart of its enemy’s territory; the whole operation had been completed very quickly, only four days from beginning to end.

Rodwell was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in January 1904, and, on giving up his command in July 1906, was brought to the Headquarters of the Army for four years, first as A.Q.M.G., and then as G.S.O.1 in the Staff Duties Branch. He reached the rank of Colonel in January 1907 and in November 1910 was selected to command the 2nd Secunderabad Brigade. He was made C.B. on 20 June 1911, the insignia being personally conferred on him by King George V at the Delhi Durbar on 14 December. He was one of 16 officers presented with the C.B. on that occasion.

On the outbreak of war in August 1914, Rodwell was given command of a Brigade in England for home defence; this he held until he secured a minor staff appointment with the British Armies in France, serving in France and Germany until shortly before he retired with the honorary rank of Brigadier-General in May 1919. His services were mentioned in despatches.

General Rodwell, who passed in Persian as a young officer, became something of a Persian scholar. In 1931 he published a literal translation of Omar Khayyam with the original text and two editions of FitzGerald’s translation. He gave a list of all the known copies of the Rubaiyat with the number of quatrains in each, an important aid to the elimination of spurious attributions. He also published Ibn Yamin in 1933, as well as editing other works. Brigadier-General Rodwell died at Holbrook on 27 November 1937, aged 79.

There is a Pathé newsreel film of Rodwell unveiling a War Memorial near Liverpool after the Great War available freely online.

Sold with a 1st edition of Rodwell’s Omar Khayyam.