JUTLAND & BOER WAR HMS NIOBE & WW1 ROYAL NAVY MEDALS 174393 CHIEF STOKER CHARD

A group of 5 medals to Chief Stoker First Class W. H. Chard, Royal Navy, who served in H.M.S. Gloucester at the Battle of Jutland, having formerly served aboard H.M.S. Niobe during the Boer War

Queens South Africa Medal (1899 – 1902), impressed named W.J. CHARD. LG. STO. H.M.S. NIOBE.; 1914 – 15 Star, impressed named 174393 W.H. CHARD. CH. STO.. R.N.; British War and Victory Medals (1914 – 18), impressed named 174393 W.H. CHARD. CH. STO. R.N.; royal Navy Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (E.VII.), impressed named 17439 W.H. CHARD. STO. P.O. H.M.S. LEANDER. Court mounted for display and comes with copies of service papers and medal rolls.

Note naming on QSA: W.J. Chard, when it should be W.H. Medal confirmed on roll and matches service papers.

Chief Stoker William Henry Chard was born on the 14/4/1873 at Shepton Mallet, Somerset. A shop assistant by trade, he enlisted into the Royal Navy as a Stoker 2^nd Class 28/7/1893. He served on a variety of H.M. ship and shore bases including: Vivid II, Cambridge (gunnery ship at Plymouth), Trafalgar, Defiance (Royal Navy's torpedo school).

His Boer War service included service aboard H.M.S. Niobe (Diadem class of protected cruiser) 28/1/1899 – 12/2/1901. She was part of the Channel Squadron at the outbreak of the Boer War, and was sent to Gibraltar to escort troop transports ferrying reinforcements to the Cape. On 4 December 1899, Niobe and HMS Doris rescued troops from SS Ismore, which had run aground. Niobe saw further service escorting troops to Cape Town. The Queen's South Africa Medal was subsequently awarded to the crew (total of 660).

He continued to serve on the Pegasus, Blake, Duke of Edinburgh, Essex, Leander (depot ship for torpedo boat destroyers), Gossamer (Sharpshooter-class torpedo gunboat), Penguin (Australian Commonwealth Naval Forces for use as a depot and training ship in Sydney Harbour) 3/9/10 – 15/12/1910, Challenger (protected cruiser Australia Station) 16/12/10 – 31/10/1912.

During WW1 he served aboard H.M.S. Gloucester (Town-class light cruiser) 30/1/1913 – 7/1/1916 and 15/3/1916 – 21/5/(19?). She was involved in the Pursuit of Goeben and Breslau August 1914. During the running engagement Gloucester fired 18 six- and 14 four-inch shells during the brief action, but only hit Breslau once to little effect. She was not hit in return. 28/3/1915 she captured the German raider Kronprinz Wilhelm’s supply ship the SS Macedonia, in the Central Atlantic. Battle of Jutland 31 May–1 June 1916. She briefly engaged the disabled light cruiser SMS Wiesbaden firing 37 shells and was not damaged during the battle.

He had been steadily promoted during his career becoming a Chief Stoker 1/2/1912 (acting) and substantive1/2/1913. He was shore pensioned 21/5/19.