Description

Offered is a Boer War ‘wounded in action’ & WW1/Canadian Siberian Expedition medal group to Company Quarter-Master Sergeant Richard Perry Wells Hunter, who served with both the British & Canadian Army during his military career, fighting not only the Boers and Germans, but also the Bolsheviks!

Queens South Africa Medal 1891 -1902, with 4 clasps, CAPE COLONY, PAARDEBERG, DRIEFONTEIN, JOHANNESBURG, impressed named 6569 DRMR: R. HUNTER. GORDON HIGHRS; British War and Victory Medals, impressed named 455014 PTE. R.P.W. HUNTER. 2-CAN. INF. Mounted as worn. Comes with copies service records, medal rolls, census, newspaper article and a stack of research papers.

Company Quarter-Master Sergeant Richard Perry Wells Hunter was born in Glasgow on 30/4/1878 and enlisted in the 1st Battalion of The Gordon Highlanders in November 1898. The Battalion landed in South Africa 28/11/1899 and Hunter saw some serious fighting until wounded at Doornkop on the 29/05/1900. The medal roll records him as ‘invalided’, the Boer War casualty roll shows ‘slightly wounded’ and the newspaper lists him as wounded and his Canadian service records show ‘gunshot wound’.

He emigrated to Canada and joined the Canadian Regular Army 8/2/1906, and transferred to the 2nd Canadian Expeditionary Force 16 July 1915, landed in England 23/11/15 and to France 15/3/1916 with the 2^nd Battalion with whom he served until hospitalized 29/8/1916. At the time the 2^nd Battalion was involved in the fighting at Pozieres (Somme) when he became ill with ‘rheumatic gout’ due to exposure. Hunter returned to Canada 7/6/1917. Undeterred, he attested for the Canadian Siberian Expeditionary Force 1/10/1918. He disembarked at Vladivostock in November 1918 and served until May 1919 when his old problem of swollen feet and ankles caused him to be returned to Canada. Hunter was discharged in the rank of Company Quarter-Master Sergeant at Winnipeg (demobilization) on 20 April 1920. He emigrated to the USA shortly thereafter and died 5/1/1941 at Rosemead, California.