Page 35 - They Also Served

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Godfrey Giles 1875.
The son of a Royal Navy captain,
Godfrey Douglas Giles was born in
Karachi on 9th November 1857.
Educated at Cheltenham College, he was
commissioned from Sandhurst in 1875,
initially on the unattached list, and later
served with the 1st Sind Horse in the
Second Afghan War, where he took part
in the battle of Khushk-i-Nakhud in
February 1879. Giles next served with
the Gordon Relief Expedition in the
Sudan and commanded Turkish cavalry
at the battle of El Teb in February 1884. Already an accomplished artist, he sketched the battle and later produced a large fold-out representation which was published in The Graphic magazine the following month.
During the Sudan campaign, Giles also took part in the Battle of Tamai, which he later painted, and accepted a commission from Lieutenant Percival Scrope Marling of the 60th Rifles depicting the action for which that officer won the Victoria Cross. Retiring from the army as a major at the end of 1884, Giles travelled to Paris, where
Battle of Tamai
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