6.5cm (2.7in) x 19cm (7.5in) x 10cm (4in).
Silver. Rectangular form with hinged lid engraved with regimental insignia and inscribed 'Presented to Captain M.B.E. Riall / West Yorkshire Regiment / on his marriage by the Officers at the Depot.Cedar lined interior. Maker’s mark of Walker & Hall, Sheffield. Hallmarked London 1910.
Major Malcolm Brown Bookey Riall, OBE, (1879-1968) was born in Kilkenny and was commissioned into The West Yorkshire Regiment in 1899. He deployed with the 2nd Battalion to South Africa in November 1899 following the outbreak of the Boer War. He served as the battalion Signals Officer during the Relief of Ladysmith and was accordingly present at the battles of Colenso, Spion Kop, and Vaal Krantz and Pieter's Hill. Promoted Lieutenant in 1900 he served in operations in Natal, Transvaal and Orange Free State, 1900-1901; was Staff Signals Officer with Bethune's Horse; and was mentioned in Lord Roberts' despatch, dated 4 September 1902. While in South Africa, he took over 1,000 photographs and penned numerous letters and a diary that were edited for publication in ‘Boer War, the Letters, Diaries and Photographs of Malcom Riall from the war in South Africa 1899-1901’ (Brassey, 1999). In 1903 Riall was ordered to join the 1st Battalion in India where he served on the North West Frontier in the Mohmand campaign of 1908. On his return home he served as Adjutant of the 7th Battalion Leeds Rifles) and resigned his commission in April 1914. On the outbreak of the First World War he rejoined from the Reserve of Officers and served on the Western Front as a Company Commander with the 1st Bn West Yorks. His name appeared in the casualty lists in August 1915 after being severely wounded while leading a working party at the Hooge, west Flanders. He was awarded an OBE (Mil Div) in the 1919 Birthday Honours ‘for valuable services rendered in connection with the war’.