Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A Great War O.B.E. group of three awarded to Major L. A. Burrowes, 1st Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment, who served during the re-conquest of the Sudan, and later saw service with the Middlesex Regiment, the Indian Volunteers and finally, during the Great War, with the Royal Air Force

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, O.B.E. (Military) Officer’s 1st type breast badge, silver-gilt, hallmarks for London 1918; Queen’s Sudan 1896-98 (Lt. L. A. Burrows. 1/Lin: R.); Khedive’s Sudan Medal 1896-1908, 2 clasps, The Atbara, Khartoum (Lieut. L. A. Burrowes. 1st. Bn. Lincoln Regiment); together with a silver prize medal, the reverse inscribed ‘Drilling and Gymnastics 1887 won by L.A. Burrowes’, edge bruising and contact marks, very fine (4) £700-£900

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Gallantry Awards to the Lincolnshire Regiment.

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Provenance: Sotheby’s, July 1980

O.B.E. London Gazette 3 June 1919

Louis Arundell Burrowes was born in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia, in 1872, the son of William and Elizabeth Burrowes. A natural athlete, in 1887 he won a lifesaving competition and received ‘The Queens’ Medallion in Australasia’ awarded by The Royal Humane Society of Australia and also in the same year received a medal for ‘Drilling and Gymnastics’.

Burrowes served as an officer with the Launceston Rifle Regiment in Tasmania before resigning his commission and being granted a commission as Second Lieutenant in the 1st Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment, on 22 December 1894. He was advanced to Lieutenant in December 1897 and served throughout the Sudan campaign of 1898, where he was present at the battles of The Atbara and Khartoum. He transferred to the 1st Battalion, 57th (Middlesex) Regiment as Captain in October 1901. Records show that he served for a time in the subcontinent prior to the Great War, at one time holding the rank of Adjutant with the Indian Volunteers. He retired from the Middlesex Regiment in 1912 and was placed on the Reserve of Officers List.

During the Great War Burrowes served in the Railway Transport Office, his name (scored out) appearing on the 1914 Star medal roll under Railway Transport Office. Two Great War medal index cards exist for Burrowes, one as a Major in the Middlesex Regiment and another as a Captain in the Reserve of Officers, Staff Book, Railway Transport Officer. There is no confirmation of any medal being issued. He is also shown in the Royal Air Force lists of 1919 as Acting Lieutenant Colonel 1 May 1919, and Squadron Leader (Admin Branch) 1 April 1918. He died in Blandford, Dorset, in 1924.