The Brian Ritchie Collection of H.E.I.C. and British India Medals

The Great War ‘Mesopotamia’ D.S.O. group of seven awarded to Brigadier-General W. H. Norman, late Commandant 11th Bengal Lancers (Probyn’s Horse)

(a) Distinguished Service Order, G.V.R.

(b) India General Service 1895-1902, 3 clasps, Relief of Chitral 1895, Punjab Frontier 1897-98, Malakand 1897 (Lieutt. W. H. Norman, 11th Bl. Lcrs.)

(c) China 1900, no clasp (Captn. W. H. Norman, 11th Bl. Lcrs.)

(d) British War Medal (Brevet Colonel W. H. Norman)

(e) Victory Medal, with M.I.D. oak leaf (Lt. Col. W. H. Norman)

(f) India General Service 1908-35, 1 clasp, Afghanistan N.W.F. 1919 (Brig. Genl. W. H. Norman, I.A.)

(g) Delhi Durbar 1911, silver, unnamed as issued, original Hunt & Roskell Ltd court mounting but with some recent refurbishment, good very fine or better (7) £2000-2500

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Brian Ritchie Collection of H.E.I.C. and British India Medals.

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Walter Henry Norman was born on 14 June 1871, the eldest son of Field Marshal Sir Henry Wylie Norman, G.C.B., G.C.M.G., C.I.E. (see Lot 85). He was gazetted to the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in October 1890, and transferred to the Indian Army the following year, being posted to the 11th Bengal Lancers (Probyn’s Horse). He first saw service in the Isazai expedition on the North West Frontier in 1892, and later with the Chitral Relief Force in 1895.

During 1897-98 he took part in the operations on the North West Frontier of India, including the defence of Malakand, relief of Chakdara-Malakand, and action at Landakai. Also in the operations in Bajour and in the Mohmmand country.

From April to July 1901, Norman was Aide-de-Camp in China to Lieutenant-General Sir Alfred Gaselee, G.O.C. China Expeditionary Force, and thereafter to the G.O.C. Force in India until the end of October 1901. Having passed the Staff College, he held several staff appointments in India before the outbreak of the Great War, when he accompanied the Indian Expeditionary Force to Mesopotamia in September 1916. Norman remained in Mesopotamia until the end of October 1918, and for his services was awarded the D.S.O. (London Gazette 25 August 1917), five times mentioned in despatches (London Gazette 15 August 1917, 12 March and 27 August 1918, 21 February and 5 June 1919), and given the brevet of Colonel. In June 1920 he was appointed Brigade Commander in the Indian Southern Command, and in December 1920 was made a Companion of the Bath.

Colonel and Mrs Norman were both drowned in a boating accident on Khadakwasla Lake, near Poona, on 16 April 1923. According to the Times, ‘It is believed that their boat capsized in a sudden squall; Mrs Norman was unable to swim.’