THE EGYPT MEDAL 1882-89 AWARDED TO PRIVATE WILLIAM SMITH, 5TH DRAGOON GUARDS, WHO AFTER SEEING SERVICE IN EGYPT IN 1882 DURING THE TEL-EL-KEBIR CAMPAIGN WITH ANOTHER REGIMENT USING AN ASSUMED NAME, APPARENTLY DESERTED AND RE-ENLISTED INTO THE 5TH DRAGOON

THE EGYPT MEDAL 1882-89 AWARDED TO PRIVATE WILLIAM SMITH, 5TH DRAGOON GUARDS, WHO AFTER SEEING SERVICE IN EGYPT IN 1882 DURING THE TEL-EL-KEBIR CAMPAIGN WITH ANOTHER REGIMENT USING AN ASSUMED NAME, APPARENTLY DESERTED AND RE-ENLISTED INTO THE 5TH DRAGOON GUARDS ON 23/11/1882. SMITH RE-ENLISTED DURING THE BOER WAR, WHEN HE SAW SERVICE WITH THE 7TH DRAGOON GUARDS.

Egypt Medal 1882-89, “1882” dated reverse, 3 clasps, The Nile 1884-85, Abu Klea, Tel-el-Kebir (officially renamed, engraved in sloping capital letters and numbers in the same style seen on officially named medals: 2332 PTE. W. SMITH. 5th. D. GS). Clasps listed in order fitted, lugs removed from top clasp, hence reason for fitting out of order, light overall contact marking from the Star, otherwise Very Fine to Good Very Fine.

Possibly the medal issued to Smith for the 1882 Tel-el-Kebir campaign, but renamed with Smith’s real name rather than his 1882 alias, and to him as a 5th Dragoon Guardsman (see below).

There are two W. Smith’s on the 5th Dragoon Guards medal roll for the Egypt 1882-89 campaign, 2218 Trumpeter W. Smith and 2332 Private W. Smith (the recipient of this medal).

Medal accompanied by 9 pages of copied service papers (5 pages 1882 enlistment and 4 pages Boer War re-enlistment in 1900), and copied medal roll extract, confirming Nile and Abu Klea clasps.

William Smith was born in the parish of St Phillips, Bristol, Gloucestershire. He enlisted into the 5th Dragoon Guards at Birkenhead on 23/11/1882 and joined the regiment at York on 25/11/1882. At the time of enlistment he was 24 years old and gave his trade as that of labourer and stated that he had never previously seen service with the British armed forces. Smith never rose above the rank of Private, transferred to the Army Reserve on 23/11/1889 and was discharged on 22/11/1894. Service papers give his next of kin as his father, Joseph (Bristol).

Following the outbreak of the Boer War, Smith re-enlisted for one year into the 7th Dragoon Guards at Bristol, on 20/4/1900. On enlistment he gave his age as 41 years and one month, again gave his trade as labourer, and confirmed that he had previously seen service with the 5th Dragoon Guards (time expired). During his second period of service Smith was promoted Sergeant and was discharged on 19/4/1901 on the termination of his period of engagement. Boer War service papers give his next of kin as his brother, Edward Smith of 14 Clarke Place, West Street, Bristol. Smith saw service exclusively at home during the Boer War and as a result was not awarded any medal for that campaign.

William Smith’s 5th Dragoon Guards service papers note that on 28/6/1887 he “claimed the benefit of the Queen’s Pardon, having confessed to having made a wilfully false answer on attestation. Confession dated 28 June 1887. Not liable to trial, three years having elapsed since commission of the offence.”.

William Smith’s medal is similar to many medals awarded to men who saw service during the 1882 campaign in Egypt and then went on to see service during other campaigns for which clasps were awarded for affixing to their Egypt Medal, in that the lugs have been removed from the Tel-el-Kebir clasp on issue, with the result that when additional clasps were awarded they had to be mounted out of order.

The Tel-el-Kebir clasp on this medal indicates that Smith saw service during the 1882 campaign in Egypt, prior to taking part in the Nile campaign of 1884-85. It is therefore likely that the “false answer” that Smith gave when he enlisted at Birkenhead in November 1882 relates to his actually having seen service with another regiment prior to enlisting into the 5th Dragoon Guards. Smith presumably saw service with another regiment during the campaign of 1882 in Egypt using an alias. When Smith was subsequently awarded the medal and clasps that he was entitled to, Egypt Medal with 1882 reverse and 3 clasps, he had the original incorrect naming details erased from the edge of his medal and had it officially re-engraved with his then correct service number, name and the regiment he was then serving with, the 5th Dragoon Guards.

The battle of Tel-el-Kebir took place on 13th September 1882 and Smith enlisted into the 5th Dragoon Guards at the port of Birkenhead (just across the Mersey from the major port of Liverpool) on 23rd November 1882. This would have allowed Smith some two months and 10 days to return from Egypt to England and re-enlist at Birkenhead.

Unfortunately, the original naming details on Smith’s Egypt Medal have been completely erased, so there does not appear to be any way of using his Egypt Medal to identify the alias he used or the regiment he served in during the Egypt campaign of 1882.

An interesting research project to establish which regiment Smith served with at Tel-el-Kebir in 1882.