Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Three: Lieutenant-Colonel F. S. Terry, 25th Foot, who as a War Correspondent for the United Service Gazette was severely wounded and had his horse shot from under him at the battle of Tel-El-Kebir. He further took part in the battle of Tamaai with the Commissariat and Transport Corps, before serving as Correspondent for The Times during the Bechuanaland Expedition 1884-5, finishing his career as acting Consul at Paramaribo in 1897

Afghanistan 1878-80, 1 clasp, Ali Musjid (Maj: F. S. Terry, 1/25th Regt.); Egypt and Sudan 1882-89, undated reverse, 1 clasp, Tamaai (Major. F. S. Terry, C & T. Staff.); Khedive’s Star, dated 1884, unnamed as issued, mounted as worn, nearly extremely fine and a unique combination of awards (3) £2,000-£2,400

Frederick Stephen Terry was born in Malta in 1839, the son of Colonel Robert Terry, 25th Foot, and joined his father’s regiment as an Ensign on 15 May 1855; after a short stint as Ensign with the 12th Foot, he was promoted Lieutenant in the 25th Foot on 3 April 1857. Advanced Captain on 9 January 1860 and Major on 5 July 1872, he served with the 1st Battalion 25th Foot in the Second Afghan War. Initially, Terry was on detached service as a Wing Commander of the 27th (Punjab) Regiment, taking part in the assault and capture of Ali Musjid and in the process gaining the regimentally unique entitlement to the medal with clasp ‘Ali Musjid’. He soon after rejoined his regiment, serving for the rest of the first campaign. During the second campaign, he was again detached from his regiment, this time serving as a Transport Officer, before rejoining his Regiment in January 1880, commanding it until the conclusion of hostilities. For his services he was Mentioned in Despatches.

The Afghan Campaign of 1878-80 (Shadbolt) states that: ‘Major F. S. Terry (h. p.) served with the 27th P.N.I., as Wing Commander, at the assault and capture of Ali Musjid, and afterwards with his own regiment till the conclusion of the first campaign, taking part in the second Bazar Valley expedition, under General Maude, to whose staff he was attached as Orderly Officer. In the second campaign served, first as General Transport Officer to the Kuram Field Force, and was in charge of the transport of the Zaimusht expedition; subsequently (from 26 Jan., 1880, till the final retirement in August, 1880) in command of the battalion, and of the post of Pezwan, taking part in the Lughman Valley expedition, the expedition against the Wazir Kugianis, and the expedition into the Hissarak Valley in July, 1880. (Mentioned in despatches).’

Regarding Terry, The King's Own Scottish Borderers, A Concise History (T, Royle) further states: ‘But for personality problems in the command structure, 1/25th would have taken part in the operations to relieve Kandahar. Following the loss of the commanding Officer, who had been invalided home during the recent cholera outbreak, the battalion was commanded by Major F. S. Terry but he found himself in constant disagreement with the other senior officer, Major N. C. Ramsey.’

Lieutenant (later Lieutenant General Sir) Charles Woollcombe, would write, ‘Major Terry was in command. He was a good friend to me and a good soldier, but he had a way of fighting with the General and Staff, and the everlasting row between him and Major Ramsay never ceased. [The two officers] had quarrelled since they were Subalterns and they could not work together... from his subsequent career he seems to have been an idiosyncratic Officer... A great son of the Regiment, his father had been commissioned in the 25th in 1799 and had fought at Egmont-op-Zee. Major Terry died in 1933 aged 94.’

Terry went on Half Pay in 1881 but took part in the Egyptian 1882 campaign as Correspondent for the United Service Gazette. He was severely wounded in the back at the battle of Tel-El-Kebir, having previously had his horse shot from under him during a British reconnaissance from Kassassin on 8 September 1882 (multiple newspapers confirm). In an 1884 article, the famous correspondent, Archibald Forbes notes ‘Major Terry who, while acting as a war correspondent was wounded at Tel-el-Kebir, while heading one of the attacks on Arabi’s entrenchment's.’

Terry’s wound is additionally confirmed in casualty rolls (one of 27 Officer wounded) and a telegram from the Principal Medical Officer, dated Ismailia, September 16 1882, listing wounded and invalided Officers returning home. Despite being wounded, medals were not yet issued to Correspondents at this time, and therefore Terry has no medal entitlement for the 1882 Egyptian campaign.

Major Terry was also the subject of an engraving from The Graphic, 14 October 1882, entitled ‘The War in Egypt, Wounded Soldiers Arriving at Portsmouth. The Last of the Wounded Officers (Major Terry) Leaving the Orontes.’ This engraving depicts Major Terry disembarking Orontes to a waiting ambulance, accompanied by two medical offices. Terry gives his views on the Army’s medical care for sick and wounded during the campaign in articles published in The Lancet and The Medical Times.

Terry’s retirement did not last long for he subsequently took up a position as Major of the Commissariat and Transport Corps and took part in the Sudan campaign of 1884. During his service in the Sudan, he was present at the hard fought Battle of Tamaai (Medal and Star) on 13 March 1884, a battle in which one of the British squares was broken, with the British suffering heavy casualties.

Soon after the conclusion of the campaign on 9 June 1884, Terry retired with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. However, this was not the end of Colonel Terry’s campaigning, for Terry soon after took up a position as a Correspondent for The Times during the Bechuanaland Expedition of 1884-85. During this expedition, a force of 4,000 British and local troops headed north from Cape Town under the command of Major General Charles Warren. The purpose of the expedition to assert British sovereignty in the face of encroachments from Germany and the Transvaal, and to suppress the Boer states of Stellaland and Goschen which were backed by the Transvaal. As a Correspondent for The Times, Terry would have been responsible for certain despatches published in that newspaper regarding the campaign. No medals were issued to participants of this campaign but Terry’s participation is a rare link as a Correspondent.

Colonel Terry accompanied Sir Charles Warren and other Officers (and Sir Bartle Frere) who had taken part in the expedition to a luncheon at Port Elizabeth Town Hall, in honour of Sir Charles on his return from the successful expedition. Post-1885, Terry held various appointments in Bengal and Ceylon. He was appointed interpreter to the Surinam Consulate and Vice-Consul at Paramaribo on 31 August 1896. Acting Consul there in 1897, he resigned on 19 October that year. Colonel Terry died on Saturday 8 April at Cricklewood, London, at the age of 94.

Sold with a fine miniature ‘charm’ pair of binoculars, which despite their size, when looked through, show two miniature photos, one of Major Terry in uniform, the other of a girl, possibly his daughter; and copied research.

For the recipient’s related miniature awards, see Lot 573.