East & West Africa Medal 1887-99

Obverse: Head of Queen Victoria in a diadem and veil (left). Legend: 'VICTORIA REGINA'. Reverse: a group of soldiers and Africans fighting in the bush for their fallen comrades. Suspended from a bar, and yellow ribbon with a broad black edge and two narrow black central stripes. Bar: 'BENIN 1897'. Inscription on edge: 'LIEUT. G.C. HENNING R.N.R., S.S. MALACCA'.

George Clifford Henning (1854-1920) was born at Tunbridge Wells, the son of a surgeon. He was apprenticed in 1868 in the merchant service, in P&O barque ‘Haddington’. He was awarded a master’s certificate in London in 1880 and subsequently became a sub-lieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve in 1888. At this time he held the rank of 1st Officer in P & O. He was promoted lieutenant RNR in 1891. Henning left the RNR in 1902 with the rank of commander. He married Ethel Newcombe Howard in Allahabad, Bengal in 1888 and the couple had two children.

During the Benin Expedition, the SS ‘Malacca’ (P & O) served as a troop ship and hospital ship. This punitive expedition followed disputes with the ruler of Benin over control of the palm oil trade and the ambush of a British delegation. Best known for the controversial looting of the Benin bronzes, it resulted in Benin’s eventual absorption into colonial Nigeria and the abolition of slavery and human sacrifice. Many of the British carried back to Portsmouth in ‘Malacca’ were suffering from malaria contracted in West Africa but most recovered.