The rare and significant Sudan campaign Order of the Medjidie 4th Class group awarded to Lieutenant Colonel H. Oldfield, Royal Marine Artillery who was also mentioned in despatches for services in the Sudan where he became the first Royal Marine Officer to command a warship. He would be awarded the Order of the Medjidie 4th Class in the London Gazette of 12th May 1899 and would be the recipient of 1 of just 27 Queen’s Sudan Medals issued to the Royal Marines as well as a unique Khedive’s Sudan Medal 1896-1908 clasp combination to a Royal Marines Officer, and would later see service during the Great War as a Barrack Master.
Group of 4: Queen’s Sudan Medal 1896-1898; (CAPT. H. OLDFIELD. R.M.A.) British War Medal 1914-1919, officially re-impressed naming; (LT. COL. H. OLDFIELD RMA) Turkey – Ottoman Empire: Order of the Medjidie, 4th Class breast badge in silver, gold and enamels; Khedive’s Sudan Medal 1896-1908, 3 Clasps: Hafir, Sudan 1897 and Khartoum, this unnamed as issued. Court-mounted for display.
Condition: court-mounted for display, Nearly Extremely Fine
Provenance: Ex Jason Pilalas Collection
Hunphrey Oldfield was born on 2nd July 1867 and was the son of Colonel R. Oldfield, Royal Artillery, and entered the Royal Marine Artillery as a Lieutenant in 1884 and having seen extensive service afloat and on shore in the Mediterranean was promoted to Captain in 1895.
In 1896 he was seconded for service with the Egyptian Army, where he would be put in charge of ten Royal Marine Artillery Non-Commissioned Officers who were sent to act as Gunnery Instructors aboard the Nile Gunboats. During this posting he would become the first Royal Marine officer to command a warship when he was appointed to command the gunboat Matemmeh and later Hafir serving with the Nile Flotilla under Commander the Honourable Stanley Colville, Royal Navy. He would be present at the bombardment of the dervish batteries at Hafir, when he was exposed to a heavy fire and subsequently took part in the bombardment of Dongola. Having previously done excellent service in connection with the passage of the cataracts, and the building of the new gunboat, he was favourably mentioned in Despatches.
In 1898 he would be appointed Staff Officer to the Governor of Dongola province; and also held the position of Military Commandant at Nagh Humadi, the terminus of the railway from Cairo. In the Sudan campaign of 1898 he served on the Nile as water transport officer, and successfully navigated the gunboat El-Hafir during the passage up the 4th Cataract. He later Commanded the Kailor, a post boat; and was employed on Water Transport during the advance on, and battle of Omdurman. In 1899 he was appointed Deputy Assistant Adjutant General at headquarters and was present during subsequent operations against the Kalifa. His services were recognised by the award of the British Sudan Medal, the Medjidie 4th Class awarded to him in the London Gazette of 12th May 1899 and the Khedive's Sudan Medal with clasps ‘Hafir', 'Sudan 1897' and 'Khartoum', this combination of medals and clasps being unique to a Royal Marine officer.
On his return from the Sudan in 1899 he became an Instructor of Musketry, and was later awarded a Special Certificate on passing the Arsenal Course at Woolwich. He next served afloat aboard Irresistible, Mediterranean Fleet 1904, Majestic Home Fleet 1907, and Albermarle, Atlantic Fleet 1908.
Promoted Major in 1908, Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel in 1912, and Lieutenant Colonel in 1917, he served throughout World War I as a Barrack Master. At his own request he was placed on the Retired List in 1920. Lieutenant-Colonel Oldfield died at Gosport on 12 April 1953, aged 85.
