Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Egypt and Sudan 1882-89, dated reverse, 2 clasps, Alexandria 11th July, Tel-El-Kebir (W. H. Rumph. A.B. H.M.S. “Penelope”) pitting from star, otherwise very fine and rare £400-£500

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Fine Collection of Medals Relating to Egypt and the Sudan 1801-1920 - the Property of a Gentleman.

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William Henry Rumph was born at Bethnal Green, Middlesex, on 14 September 1862, and joined the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class aboard H.M.S. Fisgard in September 1877. He served as an Able Seaman aboard H.M.S. Penelope from 22 June 1882 to 8 January 1884. During his service in the latter vessel he took part in the bombardment of Alexandria and was landed for service on shore with the ship’s Naval Brigade where he fought at the battle of Tel-El-Kebir as a crew member of the Naval Armoured Train (See roll below). Rumph purchased his discharge from the Navy as a Petty Officer 2nd Class from H.M.S. Myrmidon on 11 April 1888.

In addition to the Naval “Armoured Train” manned by seamen and marines from Hecla and Invincible, there were two other offensively armed devices operating in this Egyptian war zone. Often referred to as “Armed Trains”, they were in reality no more than specially armed trucks, one manned by seamen and the other by marines, which saw service at Kassassin and Tel-El-Kebir. The ‘tar’s’ four-wheeled gun-truck had steel plated sides that were “fairly bullet-proof”, with sandbags hung around the car outside. An awning was fitted to this open topped truck on which was fitted a 40-pounder gun. A separate box-car similarly fitted with steel side plates and sandbags had two compartments for the 230 shells (mostly shrapnel) and charges, entrance to each magazine being only from the top.
Since no steam trains could be obtained, this armed contrivance, manned by seamen from Penelope, was pulled from Ismalia to Nefiche by 16 horses, four abreast, on 26 August 1882. Immediately ahead of this “Armoured Train” was another truck on which a captured 8cm Krupp gun had been mounted and worked by Royal Marine Artillery men under Captain Tucker R.M.A. On 1 September it was taken to Kassassin and participated in an action on the 9th September in defence of Kassassin Camp against an Egyptian reconnaissance party. The officer in charge of this “Armoured Train”, Lieutenant C. K. Purvis, R.N., and his 2nd in command, Sub Lieut James Erskine, with a party of twenty blue-jackets had been working the train on the line a little beyond the camp, when the enemy turned their guns on it. Purvis and Erskine had dismounted from the train to take some observations and were standing close together when a shell burst near them, striking Purvis in the foot and tearing a portion of it off, necessitating immediate amputation at the ankle joint. Command of this “Armoured Train” passed to Lieutenant F. E. W. Lambart, R.N., but it was never engaged after 9 September, and on 23 September the crew from Penelope were re-embarked.
All the following men from H.M.S. Penelope earned the clasp for ‘Tel-El-Kebir’ and formed the crew of the horse-drawn “Armoured Train”: AHEARN, R., Ord
BEARD, W. H., A.B.
BETTS, Frederick, A.B.
BILLINGTON, Alfred, A.B.
BRUNTON, J. T., Ldg Seaman
CAMPBELL, Arthur, Armourer
CONNOR, Alexander, A.B.
ERSKINE, James, Sub Lieut
GRIFFIN, George, A.B.
GUNNER, William, Captain Fo’csle
HADLEY, Louis, A.B.
HANKIN, Thomas, Quarter Master
KNIGHT, William, Coxwain Pinnace
LAMBART, F. E. W., Lieut
MOCKFORD, T. E., Ldg Seaman
POOLE, W. B., Signalman 3rd Class
REYNOLDS, George R., Captain Main Top
RUMPH, W. H., A.B.
SELLEY, Thomas, Ldg Seaman
SELMAN, Edward, A.B.
SELWOOD, Charles, Ldg Seaman
SMITH, C. H., Gunner’s Mate
SOPER, James, Ldg Seaman
SMART, T .J., A.B.
TESSEMAN, J. S., Captain of Mast
TERREF, James, Ord
WALSH, George, A.B.