Private George Ravenhill 2nd Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers 15th December 1899 |
On the disastrous December 15, 1899, at Colenso, when the guns of the 14th and 66th Batteries R.F.A. had to be abandoned, owing to the awful fire concentrated upon them by the Boers, Ravenhill was one of the heroic band of men who made the brave attempt to save them, and one of the few who escaped the hail of lead and lived to tell the tale. He was also with the party who eventually succeeded in saving one. A more detailed account of the affair is given in the record of Captain Congreve George (not Charles, as gazetted) Ravenhill is a Warwickshire man, although currently reported as hailing from Ayr, having been born at Birmingham on February 21, 1872, his father being Mr. T. Ravenhill, Warren Road, Washwood. At Birr, Ireland, in May, 1889, he joined the 1st battalion of his regiment, with which he served afterwards in India for close on six years, and with the sister battalion for two years on the veldt. Possesses the Queen's and the King's medals, with clasps, for relief of Ladysmith, Transvaal and Cape Colony. At Colenso he gained the Cross under command of Colonel E. E. Carr, C.B., and in General Geoffrey Barton's brigade, the decoration being presented to him by H.R.H. the Duke of York on June 4, 1901, at Pietermaritzburg. He was once wounded at Colenso, shot through the forearm. Was also awarded the medal for distinguished conduct, which was, however, cancelled on being gazetted to the Victoria Cross, even though the medal was for a different action—the battle of Fredricksbad.
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