Godfrey Douglas Giles Wall Decorations

Godfrey Douglas Giles was a painter of horses, military scenes and battles, many experienced firsthand while on service with the British Army in India, Afghanistan, Egypt and South Africa. He produced numerous caricatures for Vanity Fair. Giles was the son of Captain Edward Giles of the Royal Navy who was stationed at Karachi. Godfrey Douglas Giles was a boarding boy at Cheltenham. He was sent to the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, to launch his military career, and his first posting was in India in 1875. He saw action in the Second Afghan War with the 1st Sind Horse and the 19th Native Infantry, chiefly on the Khleat and Kandahar fronts. He certainly was present at the battle of Khushki-Nakhud in February 1879 and later painted the Charge of the Scinde Horse at Khushki-Nakhud. He also painted a scene of E/B Battery Royal Horse Artillery at Maiwand, which was exhibited in 1893. It was drawn from details supplied by RSM Paton and Sergeant Mullane, VC who had been with the battery. He wrote a piece for The Graphic titled "With French to Kimberley and Roberts to Bloemfontein" which appeared in The Graphic History of the South African War. Giles contributed greatly to the pictorial record of the Boer War with works on display in museums in both South Africa and England. He was awarded the Queen's South Africa Medal on 12 February 1903.