Afghanistan 1878-80

Staff

Brigadier-General Henry Francis Brooke - 2nd Infantry Brigade
Killed, Deh Khoja 16 August 1880. Eldest son of George and Lady Arabella Brooke, of Ashbrooke, Co. Fermanagh. Born 3 August 1836. He served in the Crimea with the 48th Foot and in China in 1860 (he was severely wounded in the assault on the Taku Forts.) In April 1880 he was commanding the garrison at Kandahar. He was killed while attempting to help a wounded officer of the Royal Engineers.

Major Sir Pierre Louis Napoleon Cavagnari, KCB, CSI - Political Officer, Bengal Staff Corps. Killed at Kabul 3rd September 1879. Eldest son of Major the Count Adolphe Cavagnari and Caroline. He was born in France on 4th July 1841, but brought up and educated in England. He joined the East India Company Service and was an Ensign with the 1st Bengal Fusiliers during the Mutiny in 1858. In 1861, aged 20, he was appointed Assistant-Commissioner in the Punjab. He was appointed to the CSI in 1877. He served in several expeditions and was appointed the British Envoy to Kabul in 1879. He was killed in the British Residency when it was attacked by the Afghans without warning.

Captain Percy Charles Heath - 1st Infantry Brigade
Killed at Maiwand - 27th July 1880. Third son of Major-General Heath, Bombay Army. He was born 11th April 1847. After Sandhurst he was gazetted to the 45th Foot and served in Abyssinia 1868-9. In 1869 he joined the Bombay Staff Corps and in 1874 he was adjutant to the 17th Native Infantry. At Maiwand he was was shot in the head and killed.

Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Mark Shewell - Deputy Commissary-General
Wounded at Deh Khojah, 16th August 1880. died at Kandahar, 2nd September 1880. Youngest son of Edward Shewell, of Cheltenham. He was gazetted to the 2nd Bombay European Light Infantry in 1856. In 1863 he joined the Bombay Staff Corps. In 1868 he served in Abyssinia with the Commissariat Department. On the 16th August 1880 he volunteered to rescue a wounded man outside the Kabul Gate at Deh Khojah and was wounded. He died from the wound on the 2nd Sept.
Memorial at St. Mary's church, Cheltenham - "In memory of Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Mark Shewell of the Bombay Staff Corps who died at Candahar on the 2nd September 1880 aged 40 of wounds received in the sortie of the 16th of the previous month while attempting to save the life of a wounded comrade. A tribute of affection from his sorrowing mother."

Captain Edward Straton - 2/22nd Foot
Killed at Kandahar 1st September 1880. Fifth son of John Straton. He was gazetted in 1861 to the 2/22nd Foot. In 1879 he was appointed Superintendant of Army Signalling. At Kandahar he was sent with a company of the 24th Punjab N.I. to Baba Wali Kotal, but was shot dead soon after.

Royal Artillery

Captain Edward Duncombe Shafto
Killed in an explosion at Bala Hissar 14th October 1879. Eldest son of Rev. A. Shafto and Dorothea Wilkinson. He was born 14th June 1843 in Co. Durham. He was gazetted to the Royal Artillery in 1861 and in 1870 went to India as Adjutant to the 16th Brigade Royal Artillery. At Kabul he was killed when the magazine in the Bala Hissar exploded.

Captain Donald Mackenzie Dunlop Waterfield
killed at Sarkai Kotal - 14th October 1879. Killed while attached to the 3rd Sikh Infantry.

Lieutenant Ichabod Denman Wright
Killed at Jagdalak 29th December 1879. Eldest son of Lieut-Colonel C. Wright (late Robin Hood Rifle Volunteers). He was born 4th April 1853 and gazetted to the Royal Artillery in 1873. He was attached to 11/9 Battery and was marching to Jagdalak when his battery was attacked. He was shot and killed while positioning the guns. He was buried at Jagdalak.

Royal Horse Artillery

Major George Frederick Blackwood
Killed at Maiwand 27th July 1880. Second son of Major William Blackwood, Bengal Army. Born in Moradabad, India, in 1838. Studied at the Military Academy in Edinburgh and then Addiscombe before joining the Bengal Artillery. He served in the Mutiny and in 1863 was posted to the Royal Horse Artillery. In 1871 he commanded the Artillery in the Lushai expedition. At Maiwand he was shot in the thigh and unable to mount his horse when the order was given to take the guns away. He stayed with the remnant of the 66th Foot and was killed in their final stand.

Lieutenant Newton Plomer Fowell - killed at Maiwand 27th July 1880

Lieutenant Edward Hardy
Killed at Arghandi 11th December 1879. Youngest son of Rev. Charles Hardy. He was born 25th July 1853 and gazetted in 1873. In 1878 he married Emma Downes. He was appointed to F/A Battery, RHA in 1879. On 11th December he was ordered with 4 guns and an escort of the 9th Lancers and 14th Bengal Lancers, to move along the Ghazni Road. The guns got into difficult ground and enemy natives swarmed down upon them. Hardy refused to abandon the guns or a wounded cavalry officer (Lieut. Forbes, Bengal Lancers) and was cut down. He was buried in Bemaru Cemetery.

Lieutenant Hector MacLaine
Captured at Maiwand, 27th July 1880. Murdered 1st September 1880. Eldest son of William Maclaine, of Kyneton, Gloucestershire, and Anna Thurburn. He was born 24th November 1851 at Murtle, Aberdeenshire and gazetted in 1872. He joined E/B RHA and at Maiwand his guns went into action at the start of the battle. After 3 hours of fighting his guns ran out of ammunition and he was attending to wounded men who had gathered at the guns. He was captured and taken to Kandahar. The British demanded his release but on the final defeat of the enemy his body was found.
Memorial at St. Marys Church, Thornbury - "In loving memory of Hector Maclaine Lieutenant Royal Horse Artillery. Eldest son of William Osborne and Anna Maclaine of Kyneton in this parish. He was taken prisoner in the retreat from Maiwand and after 4 weeks captivity in the camp of Mayoub Khan was murdered in the hour of British victory near Candahar on Sept. 1st 1880. This window is erected by many surrounding friends."

Lieutenant Edmund George Osborne
Killed at Maiwand 27th July 1880. Fourth son of Laurence Osborne, of Henbury, Gloucestershire, and Emily Warde. He was born 10th December 1853 and was gazetted in 1873. He was with E/B RHA and at Maiwand was shot dead when he went to help the few surviving men limber up the guns when the order came to withdraw.

No.1 Mountain Battery, Punjab Frontier Force

Captain John Andrew Kelso
killed at Peiwar Kotal 2nd December 1878. Only son of John Kelso, Indian Civil Service (Assam). He was born 22nd February 1839 in India and educated in London. Gazetted in 1860, he served in Jowaki 1877. In 1867 he married Marion Ranking. He was shot through the head during the battle at Peiwar Kotal.

No.2 Mountain Battery, Punjab Frontier Force

Lieutenant Charles Alfred Montanaro
Wounded at Kabul, 19th December 1879. died of wounds. Eldest son of Alfred Montanaro (Commissary, Ordnance Dept. Lincoln) and Caroline Birch. He was born 20th June 1855 and gazetted in 1874. In 1878 he joined No.2 Derajat Mountain Battery. On 19th December he was shot in the side at Kabul, the bullet lodging in his spine. He died the next day. He had invented a time-fuze and a Pioneer's saddle, called the 'Montanaro Pattern'.

Sappers and Miners

Captain George Macdonald Cruickshank - 2nd Company
Killed at Deh Khojah 16th August 1880. Third son of Major James Cruickshank, Bombay Engineers. He commanded the sappers at Kandahar on the 16th August 1880 and was wounded in the village of Deh Khwaja. His friend General Brooke tried to save him and they died together. Colonel Hills, CB, wrote: 'Poor Cruickshank well deserved the Victoria Cross over and over again, and would, had he survived, certainly have been recommended for it.'

Captain James Dundas, V.C. - 7th Company
Killed by a mine at Kabul 23rd December 1879. Eldest son of George Dundas (Judge, Court of Session, Scotland) and Elizabeth Mackenzie. He was born 12th September 1842 and educated at Edinburgh Academy and Addiscombe. In 1860 he was appointed Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers (Bengal). In 1865 he served in the Bhutan expedition and was awarded the Victoria Cross. He was with the Field Force to Kabul in 1879 and was killed (with Lieut. Nugent) near Sherpur when setting mines to blow up an enemy fort, when the mine exploded prematurely.

Lieutenant Thomas Rice Henn - 2nd Company Bombay Sappers and Miners
Killed at Maiwand 27th July 1880. Third son of Thomas and Jane Henn, of Co. Clare. He was born 2nd November 1849 in Dublin and commissioned to the Royal Engineers in 1869. He was posted to the Bombay Sappers and Miners. At Maiwand he was killed in the final stand, shot in the head.

Lieutenant Charles Nugent - 7th Company
Killed by a mine at Kabul 23rd December 1879. Eldest son of General C. Nugent and Charlotte Pitt. He was born 19th February 1850 in Auckland, New Zealand. After studying in Scotland and Ireland he went to Sandhurst and in 1871 was commissioned to the Royal Engineers. In 1874 he was posted to the Bengal Sappers and Miners. In 1879 and was killed (with Captain Dundas, VC) near Sherpur when setting mines to blow up an enemy fort, when the mine exploded prematurely.

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