An unusual 'Great Game' C.B. and Second Afghan War pair to awarded to Colonel Edward 'Ned'...

An unusual ‘Great Game’ C.B. and Second Afghan War pair to awarded to Colonel Edward ‘Ned’ Bruce, 19th Bengal Lancers, who was deputed to undertake reconnaissance work in Persia in 1890-91

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, C.B. (Military) Companion’s, breast badge, silver-gilt and enamels, complete with integral ribbon buckle; Afghanistan 1878-80, 1 clasp, Ahmed Khel (Capt. E. Bruce. 19th B.L.) fitted with silver ribbon buckle, the last with edge bruise, very fine, otherwise good very fine (2) £1,800-£2,200

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C.B. (Military) London Gazette 30 June 1905.

Edward Bruce was born on 2 February 1850, at St. Omer, France, son of Colonel John Bruce, 16th and 18th Regiments and his wife Johannah Jacoba, the daughter of Gregory Herklots, Judge of Trichinopoly. Shortly after Edward's birth his family sailed on the convict ship Hashemy to Western Australia where his father John had been appointed as Military Commandant of the Enrolled Pensioner Force (E.P.F.), a newly raised force to keep law and order in the colony, arriving at Fremantle on 25 October 1850.
The Bruce family became much loved citizens in the colony giving their names to Bruce Street and Mount Bruce. In 1854 John Bruce purchased 320 acres of land beside the Swan River for the sole inheritance of Edward which he called ‘Ned's Land’, known today as Nedlands, an affluent suburb of Perth. Edward later sub-divided his property giving rise to Webster, Edward, Thomas, Tyrrell and Stanley Streets.
John Bruce was a martinet with a stentorian voice. He drilled Edward and his younger brother Urban at daybreak each morning which, according to the local press, made the “welkin ring”.
Edward or “browser” as he became called was educated first at Old Bishop's School, St. George's Terrace, Perth, under the mastership of George Hallett Sweeting, before finishing his studies in Ireland and passing for Sandhurst.

He was commissioned Ensign by purchase into the 39th Regiment, 10 July 1868; Probationer Indian Staff Corps, 21 August 1871; Lieutenant, 28 October 1871; transferred to Indian Staff Corps, 21 January 1874, appointed to 19th Lancers; Captain, 10 July 1880; Brevet Major, 10 July 1888; Lieutenant-Colonel, 22 July 1894; Colonel, 10 July 1898; Retired, 2 February 1907.
He formed one of the late King's escort during his memorable visit to India in 1875. He was present throughout the Afghan campaign of 1878-80 with the 19th Lancers and Mentioned in Despatches (G.G.O. 326 of 1880) for Ahmed Khel, attached 2nd Punjab Cavalry.

On the 19 April 1880, Sir Donald Stewart led a mixed force to Guznee, where the mullahs harangued the Ghazees who poured down from the hills in fanatical hoards. With upwards of three thousand men they covered the ground rapidly rushing into the 19th Lancers who were unable to form. With unseated cavalry horses, smoke and dust, the Ghazees rushed to within a few yards of the knoll where Sir Donald Stewart and his staff were positioned. The day was saved by the officers of the Goorkhas and Sikhs who formed rallying squares and volleys of rifle fire arrested the Ghazees charge. Several cavalry charges by the 2nd Punjab Cavalry completed the rout of the enemy whose estimated loss amounted to over 1000 killed. The 19th lancers losses were were 53 killed and wounded and the 2nd Punjab Cavalry losses amounted to 25 killed and wounded. Total casualties amounted to 115 killed and wounded.

In 1890 Edward was deputed by the Intelligence Branch at Calcutta to enter Persia, ostensibly to purchase mules, an operation dating back to Major Probyn at the start of the Second Afghan War. By 1890 India was increasingly concerned at the rise of Russian activity so these ‘mule purchasing’ trips took on the added importance of achieving undercover reconnaissance work. Major Bruce spoke fluent Persian and Punjabi with J. G. Lorimer's Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Part II 1915, showing that Bruce entered Persia in 1890, spent November in Arabistan and then went to Isfahan where he remained until September 1891. He examined 10,953 mules of which he purchased 64 for the artillery and 1,727 for transport work.

Bruce had arrived in Persia at the Port of Mahommerah with Captain William Daniel McSwiney, 7th Dragoon Guards, who was fluent in Russian [Sold DNW 25 November 2015]. Their reconnaissance trip through Arabistan was written up by McSwiney at the request of Major Bruce [IOR MSS EUR F112/397 dated 1891 refers]. The reconnaissance report forms all of Appendix “A”. It took them up the Karun River to Shuster and Dizful, thence across the Bakhtiari mountains to Isfahan. Travel in the winter of 1890-91 was harsh in the extreme.
His report describes road and track conditions, river crossings, villages, food and fodder availability. Waters were tested for brackishness and potability. Some of the tracks were impassable to ride and porters had to be hired to traverse some of the terrain. Other areas could camp half a battalion and a mountain battery. Deep snow hampered much of the trip with muleteers reluctant to go further in places. Climbing up the 1000 foot passes, in the middle of winter was euphemistically called “difficult”. One of the main conclusions was that wheeled transport was out of the question and mules would provide the best means of transport. On arrival at Isfahan he left McSwiney and commenced his mission to purchase the mules.

He married Christian Webster, daughter of his commanding officer General Webster, at Lucknow on 12 February 1874, and had issue four sons and three daughters. The family was not without tragedy. His brother Urban, who had been born in Australia, fell to his death from an open hotel window in The Straits Settlement of The Dindings, Malaya, suffering from somnambulism brought on by fever. One daughter was accidentally burnt to death as a young woman and two of his sons were to die in the Great War.
Colonel Edward Bruce died on 6 June 1911, at Westgate on Sea, Kent.

Sold with an extensive file of copied research, including a photographic image of the recipient.

For the medal awarded to the recipient’s son, Major S. M. Bruce, 37th Lancers, who was killed in action Persia in May 1915, see Lot 430.