Medals to men who served in Natal between 1840 and 1865 are not easily come by. The garrison regiment for much of that period,was the 1st Battalion, 45th Regiment, and many of its men took no active part in the Frontier Wars, so were not eligible for the award of the SA 1834 - 1853 Medal. Their cavalry support came from small detachments of Cape Mounted Riflemen, who added only a small number of Frontier Wars' medals to the total.
The recent offering by DNW of the John Nicholson Frontier Wars' Collection broke the drought of Natal medals and I was able to add five to my existing meagre collection.. There are three SA 1834 - 1853 Medals to 45th Regiment soldiers whose service details were new to my collection, and a LS&GC Medal that falls into the same category. Later I will make another post on this man and his medals.
The fifth medal was named to a Cape Mounted Rifleman who had only briefly transferred to the CMR from the 45th. That man's so far unique 45th badge was the subject of an article published in 'Soldiers of the Queen, Issue 168, Autumn 2017.'. Uniting the badge and medal was very satisfying.
Brett