medal code j2778

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A FINE CASED PAIR TO AN IMPERIAL YEOMANRY OFFICER WHO WAS TWICE WOUNDED DURING THE BOER WAR. HE DIED OF WOUNDS AFTER A CAVALRY ACTION AT MONCHY-LE-PREUX ON 22 APRIL 1917 WHILST SERVING WITH THE 10TH HUSSARS

QUEEN’S SOUTH AFRICA 1899-1902, 3 CLASPS, CAPE COLONY, ORANGE FREE STATE, TRANSVAAL ‘LIEUT. O. MOWATT. 50/CO. IMP: YEO:’, KING’S SOUTH AFRICA 1901-02, 2 CLASPS, SOUTH AFRICA 1901, SOUTH AFRICA 1902 ‘LIEUT. O. MOWATT. I.Y.’

Osmond Mowatt was born in Notting Hill Square, Kensington on the 24 of May 1880, and served with the Imperial Yeomanry in South Africa during the Boer War, firstly as a Lieutenant with the 50th (Hampshire) Company, 17th Battalion and was wounded at Plessisdam on 26 June 1901. He joined the 53rd (Royal East Kent) Company, 11th Battalion on 11th October 1901 but was wounded for a second time at Tweefontein 25 Dec 1901. At the battle of Groenkop (also known as Tweefontein) on 25 December, 1,000 Boers surprised and practically annihilated the 400-strong 11th Battalion as the men slept, inflicting casualties of 289 killed, wounded and captured, for the loss of 14 killed and 30 wounded.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Groenkop

Subsequently an undergraduate at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, he later became an underwriting member of Lloyd’s. He served as a Second Lieutenant with the 10th Hussars during the Great War on the Western Front from 4 November 1914, and having been promoted Lieutenant, he died of wounds on 22 April 1917 following a cavalry action at Manchy le Preux-Arras on 11 April. During this action the 10th Hussars lost 27 men killed and 157 wounded (war diary entries for this period included with research). Aged 36 years, he is buried in Duisans British Cemetery, Etrun, France.

https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/40275

The following detailed biography is from the Lloyd’s listing of soldiers from the Lloyd’s community who lost their lives during the Great War:

“10th (Prince of Wales’ Own Royal) Hussars. Died of on the 22nd of April 1917, aged 36. Osmond Mowatt was born at 5 Notting Hill Square, Kensington on the 24th of May 1880, the younger son of James Mowatt, a barrister at law, and Fanny Louisa (née Akroyd) Mowatt of Kingswood Firs, Bramshott, Haslemere in Hampshire. He was educated by private tutor and matriculated for Gonville and Caius College Cambridge in 1899, being admitted on the 2nd of October. Following the outbreak of the war in South Africa, Osmond left Cambridge and enlisted as a Private in 4th Volunteer Battalion (Imperial Yeomanry) in 1900. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Suffolk Regiment on the 9th of March 1901 and was promoted to Lieutenant on the 11th of October 1901. He served in the South African War as a Lieutenant with the 50th Company, 17th Battalion Imperial Yeomanry and was wounded at Plessisdam on the 26th of June 1901. He transferred to the 53rd Company, 11th Battalion with the rank of Lieutenant on the 11th of October 1901 and was wounded again on the 25th of December 1901 at Tweefontein. Osmond was awarded the Queen’s Medal with three clasps and the King’s Medal with two clasps and retired to the Reserve of Officers with the rank of Honorary Lieutenant on the 29th of September 1902……………..

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Condition: Engraved naming, mounted as worn and housed in Spink, London red leather case bearing the initials, ‘O.M’, minor edge bruise to QSA, otherwise nearly extremely fine, Ex DNW 2012 when Mowatt was not noted as wounded during the Boer War. Sold with copied research.

Code J2778        Price £995