Other Countries - British Singles

Lot 3606    SESSION 8 (2.00PM THURSDAY 30TH JULY)    Other Countries - British Singles

Estimate $2,400
Bid at live.noble.com.au
SOLD $2,000

MILITARY GENERAL SERVICE MEDAL 1793-1814, - clasp - St Sebastian. John Balinger (see note below), 1st Foot, Royals. Officially impressed. New ribbon, A few small contact marks, otherwise very fine.

Note: Name recorded on medal roll as John Ballenger and in Ancestry records as John Ballinger and also John Balinger.

John Ballinger was born in Kildwick, County Clare, Ireland in 1787. He enlisted in the 3rd Battalion, Royal Scots Regiment and departed with his unit from Cork, Ireland on 10 July 1808 for Lisbon, Portugal. The unit had been sent there to fight the French and was part of a Brigade force to defend Portugal against Napoleon's French Army that had invaded Spain and Portugal. England has been allied with Portugal since 1350 and their peace treaty still survives today.

Wellington's Allied Army moved into Spain and fought at the Battle of Salamanca and after winning an outstanding victory at Vittoria on 21 June 1813 the Army laid siege to San Sebastian which stands on a peninsula in the Bay of Biscay and is dominated by a massive castle and fortification. Wellington wanted to clear this obstacle so that his main logistic supply route was clear and gain access to a vital seaport for supplies before advancing into France.

The capture of San Sebastian began on 22 July 1813 when Sir Thomas Graham laid siege with 9,000 troops of which 4,600 were Portuguese. Wave after wave fought to breach the fortifications without success. John Ballinger was severely wounded during the storming of the battlements by the 'Royals'. After the British Engineers detected a weak spot in the fortifications the city was taken. After gathering wine and brandy and moving the people from the city it was set on fire. All the streets in the city burnt for a week except for one, now known as 31st August Street, and each year the terrible siege and fire are remembered on 31st August.

After being wounded at the Siege of San Sebastian John Ballinger returned to England and after reporting to the Royal Chelsea Veterans Hospital for examination, was granted a pension on 6 March 1816. He married and had a son named John. Some years later, John and his wife and young daughter, Mary born in 1865, migrated to Australia in the 1870s. Ballinger Hill in Caloundra, Queensland was named after the family. It was later renamed Battery Hill following the Russian scare of 1882. John's daughter, Mary, married John Robinson in Queensland on 28 November 1888. She held her grandfather's Military General Service Medal and following her death it was sold by the family and eventually held in a private collection.

With research.