mrjohngilbert

I could be wrong, it might be silver. I had read someplace that it was supposed to be bronze. It is fairly dark from tarnish, but it doesn't seem shiny enough to be silver - it really looks more like dirty modern US clad coinage to me. Many apologies for the misread of the metal, I will see if I can find a way to get an image of it (I am visiting relatives for the holidays). Thank you all for the replies. The Bengal Sappers and Miners later spawned units of both the Indian and Pakistani armies, but neither seem to have old records available for research. John Gilbert

My ancestor was at Ahmed Khel on April 19th, 1880. I have his bronze (not silver) Afghanistan Medal with the Ahmed Khel clasp (no other clasps). The edge writing on the medal is as follows: 13315 2nd CORPL. E. ASHWORTH. BEN; S.& M. Which I parse as follows, 13315 is his serial number, and is a non-officer's number. He is a 2nd Corporal. His name is Edward Ashworth, and his unit is the Bengal Sappers and Miners, which is part of the Bengal army and not the "British" army proper. That explains why the medal is not silver - UK units received the medal in silver while Indian units received the medal in Bronze. Per the official account of the battle (The second Afghan war, 1878-80: official account By India. Army. Intelligence Branch, Sir Charles Metcalfe MacGregor )(available on Google books) two companies of the Bengal Sappers and Miners were at this battle - the 4th and the 10th. Per the Hart's Army list for this period, the tenth is listed as being Pontooneers, while the 4th is not differentiated from the other companies of sappers and miners. I have not been able to find out which of the two companies Edward was in, or any other details at all of his service. The Bengal units generally have UK officers and only a few UK enlisted specialists - and I am very curious what role 2nd Corporal Edward Ashworth filled. If anyone can suggest further avenues of research to follow, I would be very thankful. Also, is it possible to buy a new ribbon for the medal? The original ribbon is almost completely rotted and faded. Thank you! John Gilbert