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Auction: 25112 - Orders, Decorations and Medals - e-Auction
Lot: 147

The Queen's South Africa Medal awarded to Civil Surgeon G. Beatty who saw service in the Second Boer War and who served with the Nigeria Regiment in the Great War and who died on 7 February 1916 in Belfast

Queen's South Africa 1899-1902, 3 clasps, Cape Colony, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902 (Civil Surgeon G. Beatty), very fine

Guy Beatty had gained a CM Edin (Bachelor of Surgery) at Edinburgh in 1894 and an MB (Bachelor of Medicine) also there on 8 Aug 1895. He then studied for and gained an LDS Degree (qualified Dental Surgeon). He sailed for South Africa aboard the Umbria on 26 March 1900 along with 2,000 troops and named officers Times 26 March 1900.

He served in South Africa as a Civil Surgeon attached to the Army and the medal rolls show his entitlement to the Q.S.A. and the 3 clasps. It appears that Guy Beatty developed a liking for South Africa and stayed on after the Boer War as the Medical Directory of 1907 shows him practicing at Port Elizabeth after returning from Ireland where he had qualified for and joined the Royal College of Surgeons (Ireland) and by 1911 he was Medical Officer with the West African Medical Staff in South Nigeria.

In 1912 he had returned to Ireland, living at Lisnahanna, Mid-Tyrone where as a Loyalist he signed "the Covenant" pledging his deep wish for Ireland to remain a full part of the UK and not go down the path of "Home Rule".

With the outbreak of the Great War he took passage back to West Africa and joined the West African Field Force as a Doctor - Captain (MO). He entered the war on 25 January 1915 in the Cameroons and his Medal Index Card shows him attached to the Nigeria Regt. The London Gazette 16 May 1916 records his commission 28 January 1915 as Temporary Captain whilst employed with the West African Field Force. The boxes on the M.I.C. for medal roll entries are blank, however he is confirmed on the 1914/15 Star roll, officers had to claim their medals and if not claimed they were not issued, the M.I.C. also notes 'Returned Civil Duties'. Beatty is shown in the Medical Directory of 1916 with his address as West African Medical Service. However it appears that he returned to Northern Ireland and died on 7 February 1916 at Nightingale Nursing Home, University Road, Belfast. His Great War Medals were never claimed.

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Sold for
£210

Starting price
£100