'Deh Khoja, from above the Durrani gate', 1880 (c)

Photograph by Benjamin Simpson (1831-1923), 2nd Afghan War (1878-1880), 1880 (c).

Deh Khoja was a village to the east of Kandahar. Ayub Khan's men captured the settlement at the start of the Siege of Kandahar. They stationed several guns there and opened fire on the city. The British attempted to silence the batteries during a sortie on 16 August 1880, but they were unsuccessful. Brigadier-General Henry Brooke, who commanded the operation, was among those killed that day. Lieutenant (later Colonel) William St Lucien Chase, 28th Bombay Native Infantry, and Private Thomas Ashford, 7th Royal Fusiliers were awarded Victoria Crosses for saving Private Massey of the Fusiliers. Chase carried the wounded soldier to safety under heavy fire.

From an album of 34 photographs.