Queen's South Africa Medal : Corporal C Grimson, 3 NSW Mounted Rifles

Queen's South Africa Medal with clasps 'ORANGE FREE STATE' AND 'TRANSVAAL'. Impressed around edge with recipient's details.

Born at Yullundry via Cumnock near Molong NSW in 1876, Charles Grimson (service number 1063) served as a Corporal with the 3rd NSW Mounted Rifles (3NSWMR) during the Boer War. Guidelines for recruitment into 3NSWMR noted that potential recruits were required to be 'good shots and riders' as well as being unmarried, between the ages of 20 and 40, and be at least 5 foot 6 inches in height. 3NSWMR was the final contingent sent by New South Wales to the war in South Africa. The regiment served in the eastern Transvaal and eastern Orange Free State from 2 May 1901 to 28 April 1902 under the command of Colonel Rimington. One of the most notable actions of the regiment was their participation in the Harrismith drive, culminating in the capture of 251 Boer prisoners, 26000 head of cattle and 2000 horses. The regiment also saw action at the Boer breakthrough at Langverwacht farm in eastern Orange Free State. In February 1902 the Boers, led by General Christian De Wet stampeded cattle through the British lines in an attempt to escape capture. Though De Wet, ex President Martinus Steyn and a number of their men escaped, 31 Boer soldiers were killed as well as the capture of all of their cattle and wagons. Surviving the enemy was easier for the contingent than surviving the diseases that wreaked havoc on the soldiers. Almost three-quarters of those that died in Grimson's contingent succumbed to illness. 3NSWMR left Cape Town for Australia on 4 May 1902, reaching Sydney on 3 June. A popular and well respected man in his home district, Charles was presented with a gold fob medal on his return with the inscription 'PRESENTED TO CORPORAL C. GRIMSON BY HIS CUMNOCK FRIENDS FOR HIS PATRIOTIC SERVICES IN SOUTH AFRICA 1902'. Soon after arriving back in Australia, Charles married Ethel Portia Robinson and took up farming in the Hornsby district, now a suburb of Sydney. Grimson went on to serve with the 1st Light Horse Regiment in the First World War where he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his actions in re-capturing a section of trench at Quinn's Post, on Gallipoli, in May 1915. Charles Grimson died on 20 October 1938, aged 62.