Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Pair: Private J. J. Mason, King’s Royal Rifle Corps

India General Service 1854-95, 1 clasp, N.E. Frontier 1891 (4232 Pte., 4th Bn. K.R. Rif. Co.); India General Service 1895-1902, 1 clasp, Relief of Chitral 1895 (4232 Pte., 1st Bn. K.R. Rifle Corps) single initial ‘J.’, minor official correction to number on last, good very fine or better and rare (2) £400-450

The recipient served in the 4th Battalion, K.R.R.C., which unit joined the Tammu Column in April 1891, as part of the Manipur Expedition. When, however, the majority of these men returned to the U.K. in October 1892, those with time still to serve were transferred to the 1st Battalion, Mason among them, and he went on to participate in the Chitral Relief Expedition of 1895 - thereby becoming one of just 25 K.R.R.C. men to qualify for this combination of Medals and clasps. In December 1896, the Battalion was embarked for South Africa, where Mason was still serving at the outbreak of the Boer War, but he died of disease at Moori River on 9 February 1900.