Queen's South Africa Medal - 10th Hussars - Harding - KIA 1916 in Canadian Expeditionary Force

QSA (Paardeberg, Driefontein, Johannesburg, Diamond Hill, Wittebergen, Cape Colony, South Africa 1901) named to: 4077 Pte. A. Harding 10th Hussars.

Albert James Harding was born in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Hampshire on 11 January 1879. He enlisted in the 10th Hussars on 9 December 1898 at Canterbury and assigned service number 4077. He sailed for South Africa 11 January 1900 on the Glengyle. In South Africa he served in many of the early engagements, including: Paardeberg, Driefontein Johannesburg, Diamond Hill, and Wittebergen, earning a QSA with seven clasps. Harding returned to England at the end of December in 1901. In June 1903, he sailed for India on the SS Assaye, escorting the Prince and Princess of Wales in Bombay. He returned on England in 1907 and was transferred to the Army Reserve. 

Harding left England for Canada in May 1907, arriving in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force at Halifax in November 1914, serving in the 25th Canadian Infantry Battalion. He sailed for thee UK on SS Saxonia on 29 May 1915 and proceeded to France with the 25th Battalion on 15 September 1915. In January 1916, he was attached to the 250th Tunnelling Company, along with several other men of the 25th Battalion - most of whom had mining experience. He was treated for choloroform poisoning on 22 March 1916 at #5 Canadian Field Ambulance. He was then attached to the 2nd Canadian Tunnelling Company on 11 April 1916. Harding was killed in action on the night of 25 May 1916 while on the shaft of a sap in the vicinity of Ouderon (Rouen). Having no known grave, he is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial in Belgium.

Sold with a very comprehensive photocopied research file, including a copied photo of Harding in CEF uniform.