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Auction: 25001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 30

East and West Africa 1887-1900, 1 clasp, Liwondi 1893 (W. Gilley, A.B., H.M.S. Herald.), nearly extremely fine

Approximately 31 single 'Liwondi 1893' clasps were awarded to European naval officers and men from H.M. Ships Herald (15) and Mosquito (16) and the clasp remains a great rarity, with few having survived and surfaced on the market.

William John Gilley was born at East Stonehouse, Devon, on 7 May 1868, and joined the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class on 18 November 1883. He was advanced to Able Seaman on 9 June 1889, and joined H.M.S. Herald on 1 November 1892. He served in her during the expedition along the Upper Shire River in response to the slave raids made by Yao Chief Liwondi, February to March 1893. She was commanded by Lieutenant Hope, and as Senior Naval Officer on the Zambesi River, he was given the task of transporting up river, and over land, 3 small gun boats which had been sent out from England in sections. It was the intention that they would be reassembled on Lake Nyassa and used to increase the British presence in the face of Portuguese aggression.


Whilst engaged in carrying out this task, they heard that the rebel Chief Liwondi had besieged the British Commissioner, Harry Johnson, in a small stockade and at once set out to rescue him. He was joined en route by the gunboat Mosquito and the rescue was a success. Gilley did not survive much longer and was ‘discharged dead’ from malignant malarial fever on 8 August 1893.


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Estimate
£3,000 to £4,000

Starting price
£2800