An outstanding Olympian’s and Army Best Shot’s long service group of twelve awarded to Colonel R. Bodley, South African Forces

Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 6 clasps, Cape Colony, Paardeberg, Driefontein, Johannesburg, Diamond Hill, Belfast (33 Tpr. R. Bodley, C. in C. Bdygd.); British War and Bilingual Victory Medals (Capt. R. Bodley); South Africa Medal for War Service 1939-45; Coronation 1911; Coronation 1937; Coronation 1953; Colonial Auxiliary Forces Long Service, G.V.R. (Capt. (Hon. Mjr.) R. Bodley, 5th M.R. (I.L.H.)); Colonial Auxiliary Forces Decoration, G.V.R., the reverse officially inscribed, ‘Capt. (Hon. Maj.) R. Bodley, 5th M.R. (I.L.H.)’; Efficiency Decoration, G.VI.R., Union of South Africa, the reverse officially inscribed, ‘Col. R. Bodley, Ret. List’; Army Best Shot Medal, G.V.R., clasp, ‘1925’ (Capt. R. Bodley, 5th M. Rif. (I.L.H.)); Sweden, Stockholm Olympics Medal 1912, silver, generally good very fine and likely a unique combination of awards (12) £2500-3000

Robert Bodley was born in July 1878 and, as a young man, left his hometown East London for what was then the ‘hinterland’ and settled on the Rand. On the outbreak of the Boer War, he joined the Imperial Forces and was appointed to Lord Roberts’s bodyguard, one of 50 such men drawn from Colonial regiments. Following extensive service in the conflict he returned to East Rand, settling at Germiston.

In 1906, he was commissioned in the 5th Mounted Rifles (Imperial Light Horse), in which corps he quickly gained a reputation as a marksman, so much so that he was selected to join the South African shooting team for the Stockholm Olympics in 1912.

Having transferred to the Defence Rifle Association shortly before the outbreak of hostilities in 1914, Bodley was appointed a Captain in the 8th South African Horse and served in the German East Africa campaign from May 1916, a component of the 2nd South African Mounted Brigade under Brigadier-General Enslin; having also served on attachment to the 7th South African Horse in the interim, he was released from active service in May 1917.

Back with the 5th Mounted Rifles, Bodley continued to shine as a marksman and was selected for the South African shooting team at the Antwerp Olympics in 1920. He was awarded a Silver Medal for the team’s second place in the 600 metre military rifle competition, to which distinction he added the King’s Army Best Shot Medal in 1925. In between these happy events, he lent valuable service during the miners’ rebellion of 1922, being present at the ‘battle of Ellis Park’.

Having been awarded the Colonial Auxiliary Forces Long Service Medal and Officer’s Decoration in the interim, Bodley was awarded the Efficiency Decoration in November 1943, by which time he was back in uniform as a Colonel in charge of training future South African marksmen. The Colonel, a verified recipient of the Coronation Medal 1953, died at Port Shepstone, South Africa in November 1956.

Sold with a quantity of original documentation, including a letter of reference from the C.O. of the I.L.H., dated 25 April 1917; a letter of thanks from the manager of the Victoria Falls and Transvaal Power Company, acknowledging Bodley’s bravery in protecting his employees and property at the Robinson Compressor Station during the troubles of 1922; his Coronation Medal 1953 certificate of award in the name of ‘Col. Robert Bodley, V.D., E.D.’; and several S.A. Shooting Team photographs.

Recent research indicates entitlement to the War Medal and Africa Service Medal rather than SA Medal for War Services