A rare group of 22 orders and medals is the pick of the lots at Smiths Newent Auctions tomorrow, March 4.

The orders and medals, which have a top end estimate of £15,000, were awarded to British Lieutenant General Sir Arthur Thomas Sloggett, the director general of Army Medical Services between 1916 and 1918.

In the Nile campaign of 1898 he served as senior medical officer of the 1st Brigade, British Division and took part in the Battle of Khartoum where he was wounded and had his horse shot under him.

He also took part in operations in the Transvaal, the Orange River Colony and Cape Colony.

Among the orders on offer in the lot are the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, KCB (Military) Knight Commander, neck badge and breast star, made from silver gilt enamel and a similar item for the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George KCMG.

Sloggett's orders and medals span four decades

Medals include a Queen's Sudan Medal 1896-1897, a Queen's South Africa Medal 1899-1902 and a King's South Africa Medal 1902 with three clasps.

The Gloucestershire-based auction house has a big day ahead of it, with no less than 974 lots going under then hammer and not all of them medals. Collectors and investors will also be able to bid on toys, books, furniture, ceramics and glass.