Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A Great War D.S.O. group of four awarded to Brigadier-General W. G. Beeman, Canadian Garrison Artillery, a Siege Battery C.O. who served for five months on the Somme

Distinguished Service Order, G.V.R., silver-gilt and enamel; British War and Victory Medals, M.I.D. oak leaf (Lt. Col. W. G. Beeman); Jubilee 1935, very fine and better (4) £1200-1400

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Medals to the Canadian Expeditonary Force 1914-1918.

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D.S.O. London Gazette 1 January 1917.

William Gilbert “Rab” Beeman, who was born in Centreville, Ontario, in June 1884, entered the Royal Military College of Canada in September 1902 - where he was an outstanding boxer - and was commissioned in the Royal Canadian Artillery in June 1905.

A Captain by the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, he was embarked for France as C.O. of the 1st Siege Battery in June 1916, in which capacity he served until August 1917, leading the unit for five months on the Somme, and gaining the D.S.O. and a mention in despatches (London Gazette 2 January 1917 refers).

Having then served as a Brigade Major back in the U.K., he returned to France in the rank of Brevet of Lieutenant-Colonel in March 1918, this time with command of 3rd Brigade Canadian Siege Artillery, in which capacity he remained actively employed until the War’s end and won a further “mention” (London Gazette 31 December 1918 refers).

Remaining in the Royal Canadian Artillery after the War, he gained advancement to Colonel in June 1930 and to Brigadier-General in July 1933, and was placed on the Retired List in July 1935, in which year he received the Jubilee Medal (the official roll refers). Beeman, ‘an avid sportsman and hunter, mink rancher and artist’, died in Kingston, Ontario in July 1953; sold with an extensive file of research.