Indian Volunteer Forces Officers’ Decoration, E.VII.R., in silver and silver-gilt, lacking original top bar, officially engraved to reverse (Captain F.G. Loch Surma Valley Lt Horse), bearing reverse hallmarks for Birmingham dated 1904, silver-gilt almost entirely polished away, but otherwise good very fine . Captain Francis Gisborne Loch (1858-1932) was born on 15 July 1858 in Calcutta, India, the son of George William Loch and Lydia Augusta Carysfort Loch (née Proby). He is known to have been active with the Surma Valley Light Horse from in 1896, and research suggests that he might have commanded ‘Loch’s Horse’ during the Boer War. In addition to his military duties he ran an important tea planting estate in Assam, before returning to England in later life. He latterly resided in Ealing, London, with his wife Edith Mabel Loch, and their son, Second Lieutenant Alexander Arthur Francis Loch, South Wales Borderers (who attended Cheltenham College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst), was killed in action during the Great War at Bazentin Ridge on 22 July 1916. Francis Gisborne Loch died on 15 February 1932 at Brentford, Middlesex.

Estimate: GBP 200 - 250