Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

British War Medal 1914-20 (O. S. Chew. V.A.D.) officially re-impressed naming; together with the recipient’s South African Military Nursing Service lapel badge; a pair of Nursing Service shoulder boards; and three lapel badges, for Navy War Fund, South African Legion Women’s Auxiliary, and British Red Cross Society and Order of St. John, very fine £70-£90

Olive Sidney Grobler, née Chew, was born in India on 6 September 1886 and, following the death of both her parents, was sent to live with her uncle, Dr. William Roger Chew, in Grahamstown, South Africa. Following nursing training in Port Elizabeth, she was sent to England and served with the Voluntary Aid Detachment during the Great War on the Western Front.

According to family tradition, Miss Chew was shipwrecked when the troopship R.M.S. Kenilworth Castle collided with H.M.S. Rival off the Eddystone Lighthouse on 4 June 1918; 15 crew members were drowned and the ship was badly damaged, but Miss Chew survived, dressed in only her night-dress and an overcoat. This account has not been confirmed, however.

Returning to South Africa, Miss Chew completed her training at Johannesburg General Hospital, and subsequently married J. N. Grobler on 2 February 1926. They had one daughter together, Eugene Mary Grobler. Olive Grobler died on 25 December 1962.

Sold with a photographic image of the recipient.

For the medals awarded to the recipient’s husband, see Lot 219; and for the medals awarded to the recipient’s uncle and other family members, see Lots 147 and 187.