30th International Auction

BESONDERHEITEN - 1902, THE DANE WHO SAVED THE NORTHERN THAILAND, US 5 cents on cover from San Francisco Jul. 21 1902 to Danish Captain H. M. Jensen in Provincial Gendarmerie (corps of military police), Chiengmai, Upper Siam during the Shan Rebellion. Returned to sender because Capt. Jensen was killed in action Oct. 14 1902 by Shan rebels near Phayao. - Capt. Hans Markward Jensen (1878-1902) in the Danish Armies Royal Life Guards and then accepted at the officer's academy, 2nd Lt. Oct. 8, 1898. When Jensen came to Siam in Dec. 1900, he had quit service in his homeland in honour as 1st Lt. His comands were in Korat, then Prachinburi, Yautthaya and finally Chiang Mai in early 1902. - The Shan rebellion started in July 1902. Lampang (south of Chiang Mai), strategically a sort of "key to the North", was attacked by Shan rebels after their sack of Phrae. Jensen was sent to the city in order to organize the town defense. Himself in the frontline of the fights lasting for days, he managed to beat them off: when the Shan leader got killed, the survivors ran away. Jensen lead his men in pursuit of the rebels but was KIA at Phayao against another Shan group from Laos. - King Chulalongkorn awarded him for his action at Lampang an immediate promotion to Major and a reward of 10,000 baht, but Jensen was killed before he could receive either. His widowed mother received a Thai government of pension of baht 3.000 until here death in 1938. His gravestone in the Chiang Mai foreigners cemetery is an obelisk, also a gift of King Chulalongkorn. The Ministry of the Interior in Bangkok recoginized his victory and bravery by decorating the entrance hall with an enlarged photograph of Jensen for many years. Detailed report a.o. of rebellion eye witness included. - A piece of history and a special rank among the incoming mails to the Kingdom of Siam. (M) Catalog Price 2500.00