Named Officers Wolseley Helmet

Description

A fantastic example of a named Wolseley to Major General Freeth. Good condition without tin. Some water staining.

George Henry Basil Freeth, was the son of the late Colonel William Freeth, M.V.O., Chief Constable of the Isle of Man. He entered Colbourne House in 1888, when his father took over the appointment of Chief Constable and became a member of the XV. He passed into Sandhurst in 1891 and passed out with honours in 1892, gazetted to the Lancashire Fusiliers. He joined his regiment in India on the North West Frontier, and after some fighting there the regiment was sent to Egypt in 1896 (the Nile expedition) and took part in the battle of Khartoum. In 1899 he was sent with his regiment for the occupation of Crete, and early in 1900 he went to South Africa, taking part in the battle of Spion Kop, the Relief of Ladysmith, and the resulting advance into Orange River Colony and the Transvaal. He was mentioned in dispatches, and received the Queen's medal with two clasps and the King's medal with three. He was gazetted D.S.O. in 1901, and was decorated by King George V, then Duke of Cornwall and York. He then became Adjutant of the Militia unit of his regiment, and in 1909 joined the Staff Col- lege. From 1911 to the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 he was D.A.A.G., General Headquarters, and became A.A.G. in the Spring of 1915. For the remainder of the war he held brigade com- 5 4 TH E HARROVIA N [195°
mands, was four times mentioned in dispatches, made C.M.G. in 1916 and C.B. in 1919, and brevet-colonel in 1917; he was promoted to the rank of Major-General in 1921, and served at H.Q. Southern Command 1921-27. He then went to India, as Deputy-Adjutant General and Director of Personal Service at Army Headquarters, and remained in India until his retirement in 1931. He was Colonel of the Lancashire Fusiliers 1926-46. In 1903 Major General Freeth married Ruth Blaine Scott of Westlands, Queenstown. They had two daughters. He died at his home in Salisbury, December I4th, 1949.

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