Beschreibung:

An Emotive Maiwand Casualty Medal, awarded to Private William James 66th (Berkshire) Foot, killed in action at Maiwand on the 27th of July 1880, comprising: Afghanistan Medal, 1878-1880, no clasp (B/498. Pte W. James. 66th Foot.); officially engraved in sloping capitals. Toned, nearly extremely fine. Private William James originally enlisted into the 49th (Hertfordshire) Regiment 21 December 1876, which itself was part of the 41st Brigade, prior to its amalgamation with the 66th (Berkshire) Regiment as part of the Cardwell reforms of 1878. He served with the new 66th (Berkshire) Regiment in 1876 in Afghanistan, and was present with this regiment during the Second Afghan War of 1878-80, where he was killed in action at Maiwand 27 July 1880. During the Battle of Maiwand, two brigades under the command of Brigadier General George Burrows were confronted by a huge force of roughly 25,000 Afghan warriors under Ayub Khan, in and around the surrounding hillsides - a ratio of nearly 10 to 1. Following a number of earlier victories in this campaign, the British & Indian forces were marched by the inexperienced Burrows into a, hot, exposed mountain pass, lacking supplies of water and food, and were here to suffer a disastrous and iconic defeat. Some 969 British and Indian soldiers killed and 177 wounded at Maiwand, yet their defeat came at a huge cost to the Afghan forces, who suffered the loss of a reported 2050 - 2750 soldiers killed in action, and roughly 1500 wounded in the process (or roughly 4 Afghan casualties for each British/Indian casualty). During the battle, following a long artillery duel the 66th Foot became exposed when Indian troops of the Bombay Grenadiers and Jacob’s Rifles to their left began to be overrun by the countless Afghan tribesmen. Now attacked from three sides, the 66th Foot, the backbone of the British position on the right, also became overwhelmed by the Afghan attack, attempting to withdraw towards the settlement of Khig under cover of the guns of E-Battery, who in turn also fled at the very last moment. A number of survivors of the 66th withdrew from the carnage in a number of desperate ‘Last Stand’ encounters, fighting until out of ammunition, and then with sword and bayonet, to the last. One Afghan soldier reported the following: "These men charged from the shelter of a garden and died with their faces to the enemy, fighting to the death. So fierce was their charge, and so brave their actions, no Afghan dared to approach to cut them down. So, standing in the open, back to back, firing steadily, every shot counting, surrounded by thousands, these British soldiers died. It was not until the last man was shot down that the Afghans dared to advance on them. The behaviour of those last eleven was the wonder of all who saw it". Sold with copy of original roll mention, a short letter from the Royal Gloucester, Berkshire & Wiltshire Regiment Museum, and some useful research.