Orders, Decorations and Medals

Afghanistan 1878-80, no clasp (Maj. A. C. W. Crookshank, 32nd Ben. N.I.) with matching silver slip and buckle bars, nearly extremely fine
£300-350

Arthur Chichester William Crookshank joined the Army on 11 January 1859 as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 35th (Royal Sussex) Regiment and purchased a lieutenant’s commission in October 1862. He received the brevet of Captain on 11 January 1871 and was advanced to that rank later in that month - serving at the time with the 32nd Bengal Native infantry. Prior to the Afghan War he was advanced to Major. In May 1879 he commanded the regiment after the death of the officer commanding. For his services in the campaign he was mentioned in despatches and awarded the brevet of Lieutenant-Colonel. Crookshank then spent a number of years as Assistant and Deputy Secretary in the Military Department of the Government of India for which he received the thanks of the Viceroy and the Commander-in-Chief and was awarded the C.B. Finally as a Colonel he was appointed to the command of the 4th or River Column of a punitive expedition against the tribes of the Black Mountain in the Hazara District of N.W. India. In this capacity he was mortally wounded during a reconnaissance near Kotkai and died at Haripur on 29 October 1888. With some copied research.

Colonel Arthur Crookshank had five sons and one daughter; all the sons became officers in the Army. See lots 1633 and 797 for the medals and miniatures of his second son: Major-General Sir Sydney d’A. Crookshank.