Iron shot which struck Major-General Frederick Roberts, 1878 (iron)

Iron shot which struck Major-General Sir Frederick Roberts, 1878. According to his memoirs, Roberts’ career might have been brought to an end during the 2nd Afghan War (1878-1880) at the Battle of the Peiwar Kotal in 1878: ‘My orderlies during this little episode displayed such touching devotion that it is with feelings of the most profound admiration and gratitude I call to mind their self-sacrificing courage. On this (as on many other occasions) they kept close round me, determined that no shot should reach me if they could prevent it; and on my being hit in the hand by a spent bullet, and turning to look round in the direction it came from, I beheld one of the Sikhs standing with his arms stretched out trying to screen me from the enemy’.