Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Pair: Major G. D. R. Williams, Royal Berkshire Regiment, who was wounded at Zilikats Nek (Rietfontein) in August 1900

Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 3 clasps, Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal (Major G. D. R. Williams, 2/Rl. Berks. Rgt.); King’s South Africa 1901-02, 2 clasps, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902 (Maj. G. D. R. Williams. Rl. Berks. Rgt.) some light edge bruising, otherwise good very fine (2) £300-£400

George Dering Remington Williams was born on 16 August 1860, and was first commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant in the 66th Foot on 11 August 1880; Lieutenant, Royal Berkshire Regiment, 30 March 1881; Captain, 1 April 1887; Major, 1 May 1899. Served with the 2nd Battalion, Berkshire Regiment in South Africa 1899-1902, including operations in Cape Colony, October 1899 to April 1900, with Gatacre’s Force in the East London-Sterkstrom area; took part in operations around Colesberg, 31 December to 2 January 1900, where the Berkshires drove a Boer picket off a hill; Commandant and Railway Staff Officer at Stormberg; with Berkshire regiment in operations in Orange Free State, with Allen’s 22nd Brigade of the 3rd Division, April to July 1900; in operations in the Transvaal, east of Pretoria, in July 1900; and west of Pretoria, July and August 1900, in action at Zilikats Nek on 2 August 1900, where he was wounded; operations east of Pretoria, August to November 1900; Commandant of Wonderfontein, Transvaal, late 1900; Commandant of Pan, Transvaal, where attacked by Boers at midnight on 7 January 1901; Commandant of Krokodil Poort, Transvaal, early 1901; operations in the Transvaal until 31 May 1902.

At Zilikats Nek on 2 August 1900: ‘The communications between the two columns being defective, Ian Hamilton thought Mahon might be in difficulty; on the following day, therefore, he determined to attack at once, so as to relieve any pressure which might be on him. The nek was carried by infantry attacks of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders on the left, and the Berkshires on the centre and right, supported by the 75th Battery, the 5-inch guns and the Elswick Battery in the centre; the British casualties, chiefly among the Berkshires, were 40. Coetzee’s Boers, in spite of their strong position, offered little resistance, and before mid-day were in full flight.’ (The Times History of the War in South Africa refers).

Major Williams went on half-pay on 3 January 1903, retired on 25 April 1903, and died in London on 27 March 1910.