This Military General Service medal with 10 clasps to Pte Thomas Dolphin, Artillery Drivers, is estimated at £3500-4500 in the Woolley & Wallis sale (see story on facing page).
The MGS with 14 clasps and ‘Forlorn Hope’ medals awarded to Pte James Morris sold for £24,000 at DNW.
The ‘Forlorn Hope’ was well named: a band of soldiers, often volunteers, chosen to take the lead part in a military operation, such as an assault on a defended position, where the risk of casualties is high. Its usage was especially common in accounts of the Peninsular War (1808-14).