A medal awarded to a courageous Presbyterian missionary is to be auctioned in Hong Kong later this week.

The silver-gilt and enamel Order of the Striped Tiger decoration was awarded to Dr Frederick O'Neill for his work as chaplain to the Chinese Labour Corps in France during World War I.

Dr O'Neill, a native of Dungannon, County Tyrone, was 27 when he was sent by the Irish Presbyterian Church to Manchuria in north-east China in 1897.

He and his wife, also a Presbyterian missionary, were to survive several periods of conflict during their stay in the country.

One of his descendants provided some details of the missionary's career in pre-Communist China.

He revealed that Dr O'Neill, a fluent Chinese speaker, went unmolested in 1900 during the Boxer Revolution which opposed foreign imperialism and Christianity.

Dr O'Neill retired to east Belfast where he died, aged 82, in 1952.

His Order of the Striped Tiger decoration will be auctioned in Hong Kong on Thursday by numismatist specialists Baldwins.

It is estimated to fetch US $5,000-$6,000.

To read the complete article, see:Tyrone missionary's Chinese medal to be auctioned(www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-14615360)