Orders, Decorations and Medals

A rare Naval Brigade pair awarded to Commander Edward Harvey, R.N., commanding one of the four Gardner guns at the battle of Tofrek
Egypt and Sudan 1882-89, 2 clasps, Suakin 1885, Tofrek (Lieut. E. Harvey, R.N. H.M.S. Dolphin) impressed naming; Khedive’s Star 1884-6, light contact marks, otherwise good very fine (2) £550-650

Edward Harvey was born in Sheerness, Kent, on 4 July 1858, and entered the Royal Navy as a Naval Cadet aboard the Training Ship Britannia in January 1871 when aged 12 years and 7 Months. After training he attended R.N. College from which he passed out with a 2nd Class Certificate in Seamanship and 3rd Class Certificates in Gunnery and Navigation.

Whilst serving aboard Dolphin, which he joined in May 1884, he was landed for service in the Eastern Soudan with the Small Naval brigade under Commander W. C. H. Domville, R.N., H.M.S. Condor. He was present at various actions at Suakin during 1885 and at the battle of Tofrek in March 1885, where he was in charge of a Gardner gun.

At the request of Major General Sir J. MacNeill, a small Naval Brigade of 5 officers and 49 men with 4 Gardner guns was attached to his force. Each gun crew comprised one Lieutenant and 6 men. Two Gardner guns were each allocated for placement at the outward facing corners of the defensive squares formed by the Berkshire Regiment and the Royal Marine Battalion. When the enemy’s surprise attack materialised, the naval Gardner guns were quickly in action but again proved unreliable and ineffective. Jamming after firing only a few rounds, the gun crews were quickly overrun and became involved in hectic hand to hand fighting with the fanatical Arabs.

The twenty minutes that the battle lasted were crowded with cool bravery, wild bewilderment and fanatical desperation. As the smoke and dust cleared away, a shambles of bodies of both men and animals was revealed. The British lost seven officers and sixty-three men killed, and six officers and eighty-nine men wounded. The small Naval Brigade suffered heavily, losing 40% of its strength with Lieutenant Seymour and six men killed, and fourteen men wounded.