The Queen's South Africa Medal (QSA) was awarded to W Godfrey and Military Personnel who served in the Boer War in South Africa between 11th October 1899 and 31 May 1902.
The QSA was the medal issued to all who served in South Africa until the end of the war in May 1902.
Date of Admission for Original Ailment: 30/09/1918
Date Transferred to Other Hospitals: 30/09/1918
Notes written in the Observations Column: No.19 - No.38 Casualty Clearing Station.
Notes written by FWR when Transcribing: W noted in Disease column = Can be put forward as an eligible candidate to be awarded a wound stripe. 1500 units of Anti Tetanus Serum given.
The Grenadier Guards were first formed in 1656 by the exiled Charles II in Bruges, as the ‘Royal Regiment of Guards’, under the Colonel Lord Wentworth. The Regiment was initially recruited from the loyal men who had followed their King into exile and were rewarded in 1660 when the King was restored to the throne. In 1665 the Regiment was renamed the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards.
In 1667 a young John Churchill (later to become the 1st Duke of Marlborough) became an ensign of the Regiment. He rose through the ranks and became its colonel from 1704 to 1711 and 1714 to 1722.
The 1st went on to serve during the Wars of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714), and fought at the battles of Blenheim (1704), Ramillies (1706), Oudenarde (1708) and Malplaquet (1709). The Regiment fought during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, but it was during the Peninsular War in 1815 at the battle of Waterloo they gained their present title and undying fame by defeating the Grenadiers of Napoleon’s Imperial Guard and granted the title of Grenadier Regiment of Foot Guards.
The Regiment went on to serve in the Crimean War (1853–1856), fighting at the Alma river, Inkerman, and Sevastopol, the Anglo-Egyptian War in 1882, fighting at Battle of Tel el-Kebir and then the Mahdist War in Sudan, at the Battle of Omdurman, and the Second Boer War, at the Battle of Modder River and the Battle of Belmont.
In 1994 as part of the British Army’s ‘Options for Change’ reforms, the Grenadier Guards were reduced to a single battalion while the 2nd Battalion put into 'suspended animation', to keep the colours and traditions safe and renamed "The Nijmegen Company".
The Regiment raised 21 Battalions and was awarded 74 Battle Honours and 7 Victoria Crosses, losing 6,500 men during the course of the First World War.
4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion
04.08.1914 Stationed at Bedford then moved to Felixstowe.
July 1916 Mobilised for war and landed at Havre joining the 190th Brigade of the 63rd Division which engaged in various action on the Western Front including; The Battle of the Ancre, a phase of the Battles of the Somme 1916 (13-18 : November 1916)
1917
The Operations on the Ancre, The Second Battle of the Scarpe, The Battle of Arleux, The Second Battle of Passchendaele, The action of Welsh Ridge, The Cambrai operations.
1918
The Battle of St Quentin, The Battle of Bapaume, The Battle of Albert, The Battle of Drocourt-Queant, The Battle of the Canal du Nord, The Battle of Cambrai 1918, The passage of the Grand Honelle, The Final Advance in Picardy.
11.11.1918 Ended the war at Harmignies S.E. of Mons, France.
Sources
↑ "England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2XXB-GJ1 : 1 October 2014), Walter Godfrey, 1878; from "England & Wales Births, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Birth Registration, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England, citing General Register Office, Southport, England.
↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J7J7-WGH : 30 December 2014), Abel Godfrey in entry for Walter, 08 Sep 1878; citing , reference 2:L621ZC; FHL microfilm 1,537,681.
↑ "England and Wales Census, 1881," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKXS-JYZN : 6 October 2015), Walter Godfrey in household of Abel Godfrey, Flamstead, Hertfordshire, England; from "1881 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing p. 19, Piece/Folio 1445/60, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey; FHL microfilm 101,774,602.
↑ 4.04.1 "England and Wales Census, 1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:W8LP-WN2 : 15 October 2015), Walter Godfrey in household of Abel Godfrey, Flamstead, Hertfordshire, England; from "1891 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 12, Hertfordshire county, subdistrict, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
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