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Lieutenant Walter Coles
Royal Engineers

by
Lieutenant Colonel Edward De Santis ©2008

Commissioning and Military Training

• Commissioned, Royal Engineers on 24 April 1873

Postings and Campaign Service

• 1875: On leave.
• 1878: With the 3rd Company, Bombay Sappers and Miners, Malta Expeditionary Force.

29 April 1878: Departed Bombay aboard the sailing ship Oreflamme.

28 May 1878: Landed on Malta

11 July 1878: Departed Malta.

16 July 1878: Arrived at Larnaka, Cyprus.

2 November 1878: Departed Cyprus for Port Said, Egypt

22 November 1878: Landed in Bombay.

• 1878-1881: Afghanistan

December 1878 - September 1880: 4th Company, Bombay Sappers and Miners and Assistant Field Engineer. Served in the march to Kandahar with the force under Major General Phayre.

November 1880 - January 1881: In command of 3rd Company, Bombay Sappers and Miners.

January 1881: With Brigadier-General Wilkinson’s force to Maiwand.

• 1882: Bombay
• 1883: Bikanir.
• 1884-1885: At Kirkee, commanding 3rd Company, Bombay Sappers and Miners.
• 1885: Sudan
• 1889-1892: Instructor in Fortifications, Royal Military College, Sandhurst.
• 1895-1897: Portsmouth.

Promotions and Education

• Promoted Captain, 8 January 1885
• Promoted Major, 19 April 1893

Military Medals and Decorations

• Afghanistan 1878 Medal.
• Egypt 1882 Medal with one clasp.
• Khedive’s Star.

Retirement

Retired 23 October 1897

References

1. CONNOLLY, T.W.J. Roll of Officers of the Corps of Royal Engineers from 1660 to 1898. The Royal Engineers Institute, Chatham, 1898, p. 52.

2. HARFIELD, A. The Indian Army of the Empress, 1861-1903. Spellmount Ltd., Tunbridge Wells, 1990, p. 77.

3. HART, H.G. The New Annual Army List . . . for 1876. John Murray, London, 1876, p. 117.

4. HART, H.G. The New Annual Army List . . . for 1885. The Naval & Military Press (facsimile reprint), London, 1995, p. 211.

5. HART, H.G. The New Annual Army List . . . for 1892. John Murray, London, 1892, p. 209.

6. HART, H.G. The New Annual Army List . . . for 1895. The Naval & Military Press (facsimile reprint), London, 1998, pp. 209 and 226.

7. SANDES, E.W.C. The Indian Sappers and Miners. The Institution of Royal Engineers, Chatham, 1948, pp. 269 and 295.

8. SHADBOLT, S.H. The Afghan Campaign of 1878-1880. J.B. Hayward & Son, London (facsimile reprint), p. 189.

9. WAR OFFICE. The Monthly Army List, March 1882. London, p. 198.

10. WAR OFFICE. The Monthly Army List, September 1885. London, p. 241.

11. WAR OFFICE. The Monthly Army List, April 1882. London, pp. 36 and 241.