Lieutenant-Colonel Ralph Patteson Cobbold, later Ralph Patteson Sawle, DSO (10 February 1869 – 5 December 1965) was a British soldier and writer, who served in the 60th Rifles in India.
[3][4][5][6][7] In his 1900 book about his travels through the Pamirs, Cobbold wrote " “My original object in visiting the Pamir region of Central Asia was that of a sportsman, and I had no idea of either troubling myself with inquiries into the social and political conditions of the people",[8] but in actuality Cobbold was an agent in the British government and was ordered to travel through the Pamirs.
He was appointed to the reserve in March 1899, but re-enlisted to serve in the Second Boer War which started later the same year.
He later took part in British military operations in Somaliland, and in 1902 received the Second class of the Order of the Star of Ethiopia in recognition of services while attached to the Abyssinian Force which cooperated with the British Force.
Clive Hodges: Cobbold & Kin: Life Stories from an East Anglian Family (Woodbridge, Boydell Press, 2014) ISBN 9781843839545