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Auction: 17003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 532

'Captain A. D. Welstead served in the 25th Royal Fusiliers for about two and a half years in British East Africa. He took part in all the fighting with the Battalion and handled his company with great skill and dash on all occasions. Although suffering from fever and reduced to a skeleton, he never gave up until wounded in an engagement at Beho Beho where his company was hard-pressed in a flank attack. His conduct all round was exemplary and he set a fine example to his men in the Field and in the camp. He would make a splendid officer in such a corps as the King's African Rifles, being acquainted with the language and the habits of the people of whom those battalions are composed.'

A testimonial from Colonel D. P. Driscoll, D.S.O., the C.O. of the 25th (Legion of Frontiersmen) Battalion - a.k.a. 'Driscoll's Tigers' - Royal Fusiliers, refers.


A fine African campaign service group of seven awarded to Captain A. D. Welstead, Chinese Labour Corps, late South African Forces and 25th (Legion of Frontiersmen) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers

The recipient of a glowing testimonial from his wartime C.O., Colonel D. P. Driscoll, D.S.O., he was wounded in the action at Beho-Beho in German East Africa in January 1917, the same action in which his fellow officer - the famous explorer and hunter - F. C. Selous was mortally wounded

Cape of Good Hope General Service 1880-97, 1 clasp, Bechuanaland (Asst. Com. Offr. A. Welstead, Com. Dept.); an identical duplicate issue (Asst. Com. Offr. A. Welstead, Com. Dept.); Queen's South Africa 1899-1902, 6 clasps, Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Tugela Heights, Relief of Ladysmith, Laing's Nek, Belfast (Lieut. A. D. Welstead, S.A.C.); King's South Africa 1901-02, 2 clasps, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902 (Lt. A. D. Welstead, S.A.C.); 1914-15 Star (Capt. A. D. Welstead, R. Fus.); British War and Victory Medals (Capt. A. D. Welstead), good very fine (7)

Arthur Douglas Welstead was born at Kimbolton, Huntingdonshire on 17 February 1873, scion of a prominent local family with an estate at nearby Stonely; one of his ancestors, Captain Welstead, R.N., had fought in H.M.S. Victory at Trafalgar and his brother, Harry, was to attain the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the Lancashire Fusiliers prior to his death in action at Gallipoli.

Educated at King's School, Canterbury, young Arthur opted for a pioneer's life in South Africa, where he is confirmed as having served as Assistant Commissary Officer in the Bechuanaland operations (Medal & clasp). During the Boer War, he appears to have received his commission in the South African Constabulary direct from service in the South African Light Horse. He subsequently served in the Northern Transvaal; sold with roll verification for the above described Medals & clasps.

In the period leading up to the Great War, Welstead settled in Kenya, where he was employed variously as a Superintendent of Native Labour and as an Assistant in the Game Department. He also joined the Legion of Frontiersmen as an Intelligence Officer and served in assorted government posts in Uganda, including a stint as an Assistant District Commissioner.

Driscoll's Tigers

Having returned home in the summer of 1914, Welstead was commissioned Lieutenant in the 25th (Legion of Frontiersmen) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers.

The Battalion was commanded by Colonel D. P. Driscoll, D.S.O. - hence its informal title 'Driscoll's Tigers' - and by normal standards it was an exceptional unit. Driscoll deliberately enlisted specialists, among them the famous explorer and hunter, 64-year-old F. C. Selous, in addition to other well-known African hunters such as Martin Ryan, George Outram and Jock Richardson. With his earlier services in Bechuanaland and the Boer War, and experiences gained in Kenya and Uganda, Welstead was likewise a perfect candidate for a commission. In fact he was quickly advanced to Captain in March 1915, shortly before the Battalion's departure for East Africa.

He subsequently served as a Company Commander in all of the major actions fought by 'Driscoll's Tigers' in East Africa, from their opening engagement at Bokoba on the shores of Lake Victoria on 20 June 1915 to the action at Beho-Beho in January 1917, in which he was wounded; his fellow officer - the famous explorer and hunter - F. C. Selous was mortally wounded on the same occasion.

As noted in his C.O's glowing testimonial, Welstead had already been reduced to skeletal form by frequent bouts of fever and he was eventually invalided home from Cape Town in the Llanstephan Castle in April 1917.

On regaining his health, Welstead was posted to the 11th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers but, as per his old C.O.'s testimonial, he sought re-employment back in East Africa with the King's African Rifles. His application received the support of his Brigade and Divisional commanders but, on account of his knowledge of native languages, the Major-General commanding XIX Corps intervened and ordered his transfer to the Native Labour Corps. He was duly appointed C.O. of the 42nd Chinese Labour Company in France, an unhappy appointment in which he came to loggerheads with his C.O.; see accompanying copied correspondence.

He was re-embarked for England in May 1918 and appears to have ended the war with an appointment in the 2nd Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers.

Postscript

Having relinquished his commission in January 1921, Welstead worked as an Inspector of Plantations on the staff of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, prior to settling at Mill Bay, Vancouver Island, B.C. He died at Jubilee Hospital Victoria in October 1936; sold with a file of copied research.


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Sold for
£2,300