July 15, 2010

The gallantry medal awarded to a soldier who saved the life of Winston Churchill is to go on sale at auction along with a previously unpublished letter from the wartime Prime Minister thanking him for his actions.


From “Churchill’s South Africa, July 26th-August 8th, 1999” by Douglas S. Russell, Finest Hour 105, Winter 1999-2000:

In Durban, we visited the Old City Hall on Farewell Square where Churchill, who had just escaped from the Boers, delivered a speech from the front steps to tremendous cheers on 23 December 1899. A plaque marks the spot on this massive colonnaded building, now the Durban post office. In Durban, we enjoyed a luncheon at the Royal Hotel attended by special guest Vera Gallony, granddaughter of Sergeant Major A. Brockie of the Imperial Light Horse, who was a prisoner of war with Churchill; Alexander Stewart, grandson of the fireman and on the armored train ambushed with Churchill on board; and Doris Maud, daughter of Trooper Clement Roberts of de Montmorency’s Scouts, who was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for rescuing Churchill under fire near Dewetsdorp in the Orange Free State during the Boer War.

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By Andrew Alderson, Chief Reporter

Telegraph.co.uk, 13 Jun 2010 – His spur-of-the moment bravery changed the course of world history.

When Trooper Clement Roberts rode into the thick of battle to rescue a young war reporter who had been thrown from his horse, little did he know that he was saving the life of Britain’s future wartime Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill.

Now the gallantry medal that Roberts was awarded for his courage during the Boer War is to be auctioned – along with a previously unpublished letter from Churchill thanking the soldier for his actions more than a century ago.

The Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) and other memorabilia are expected to raise well over £30,000 because of the their connection to Britain’s greatest wartime Prime Minister.

 

The brave deed took place during a battle near Dewetsdorp, South Africa, in April 1900, when Churchill, then aged 25, was covering the colonial conflict for his newspaper, the Morning Post.

It happened after Churchill had dismounted from his horse at a wire fence 120 yards from the crest of a small hill.

 

A dozen or more enemy Boers suddenly appeared and advanced on Churchill who was with a small number of soldiers from Montmorency’s Scouts, part of the South African Forces.

 

Read the entire article here at the Telegraph.co.uk

©Telegraph.co.uk

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