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Lot Essay
Colonel William Arthur D'Oyly O'Malley, [C.B.], was born in January 1853, William O'Mealy, a surname that he changed in later life. Commissioned into the 108th Foot in February 1873, he transferred to the Bengal Staff Corps a few years later and gained appointment as a Captain in the Indian Staff Corps during the course of 1885. Already a veteran of the Mahsood Wuzuree operations of 1881, the Jakht-i-Suleiman Expedition of 1883 and the Zhob Valley Expedition of 1890, services that resulted in two 'Mentions', O'Malley went on to win further laurels as a Major and Squadron Commander in the 1st Punjab Cavalry in the Waziristan operations of 1894-95. General Turner's official despatches for the action at Wana in November 1894 take up the story:
'The Cavalry, after trotting about three miles, came in sight of the retreating enemy, the main body of whom they estimated to number 1000 or 1500 men. Here the ground was very broken and covered with large stones, and it was impossible to go faster than a trot. On gaining slightly better ground, the Squadron [of 61 sabres, under O'Malley] cut into the line of the enemy's retreat, and charged where the crowd was thickest, inflicting great loss. After pursuing some distance, the Squadron was reformed under a fire from both sides and again charged where the enemy was thickest. By this time the Wazaris were so scattered and the ground so bad that 'pursue' was ordered, and the enemy was cut down or speared singly, the lance proving its excellence as a weapon of pursuit. The Cavalry horses were beginning to tire, so, rallying for a last effort, the Squadron charged up a steep slope among olive trees at the last of the enemy within reach. The ground was now quite impracticable for mounted action, sections were dismounted and the retreat harassed by volleys as long as within range'.
O'Malley was given the Brevet of Lieutenant-Colonel and once again Mentioned in Despatches, 'For the vigour of the pursuit and the gallantry with which he made repeated charges amongst the mass of the flying enemy', his aggressive leadership of the 1st Punjab Cavalry having resulted in an estimated tally of 50 enemy dead. Back in action at the time of the Punjab Frontier operations of 1897-98, the gallant O'Malley rose to the command of his Regiment and was created a C.B. in 1909. He died in April 1925.
'The Cavalry, after trotting about three miles, came in sight of the retreating enemy, the main body of whom they estimated to number 1000 or 1500 men. Here the ground was very broken and covered with large stones, and it was impossible to go faster than a trot. On gaining slightly better ground, the Squadron [of 61 sabres, under O'Malley] cut into the line of the enemy's retreat, and charged where the crowd was thickest, inflicting great loss. After pursuing some distance, the Squadron was reformed under a fire from both sides and again charged where the enemy was thickest. By this time the Wazaris were so scattered and the ground so bad that 'pursue' was ordered, and the enemy was cut down or speared singly, the lance proving its excellence as a weapon of pursuit. The Cavalry horses were beginning to tire, so, rallying for a last effort, the Squadron charged up a steep slope among olive trees at the last of the enemy within reach. The ground was now quite impracticable for mounted action, sections were dismounted and the retreat harassed by volleys as long as within range'.
O'Malley was given the Brevet of Lieutenant-Colonel and once again Mentioned in Despatches, 'For the vigour of the pursuit and the gallantry with which he made repeated charges amongst the mass of the flying enemy', his aggressive leadership of the 1st Punjab Cavalry having resulted in an estimated tally of 50 enemy dead. Back in action at the time of the Punjab Frontier operations of 1897-98, the gallant O'Malley rose to the command of his Regiment and was created a C.B. in 1909. He died in April 1925.