A Millionaire's Footman In The Trenches.

British War Medal 1914 - 1920.
Victory Medal.
S-34191 Pte. C. T. Giles, Rifle Brigade.

Charles Thomas Giles was born in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, his birth being registered in nearby Amersham in early 1888. At some point the family moved to London and, by the time of the 1901 Census, were living at 6 Portman Mews South, part of the Portman Estate, in the Parish of Marylebone. Charles' father, Thomas, was employed as a domestic coachman while his elder brother William was a clerk in a merchant's office and his elder sister Cecilia was a short-hand clerk.
At the beginning of 1914 or thereabouts, Charles had sailed for America and found employment in New York. Three years later, on 11th July 1917, he enlisted in the British army for the duration of the war. His Attestation Papers describe him as 27 years old, just over 5' 7" in height, with good physical development and a tattoo of a butterfly on his right leg. He was employed as a footman at 660 5th Avenue, the New York residence of the millionaire, Mr William K. Vanderbilt. Pictures of this impressive building, which had been designed by the architect Richard Morris Hunt, can be seen here and here.

Charles sailed from Halifax, Nova Scotia, and arrived at Liverpool in early August 1917. On the 11th, he was at the Rifle Brigade Depot and was subsequently posted to the 6th Reserve Battalion at Eastchurch. He crossed over to France on 12th January 1918 and joined the 2nd Rifle Brigade, which was enjoying some time in reserve. At the beginning of February, the Battalion marched to Poperinghe and on the 15th was in the front line at Passchendaele, the centre battalion of the 8th Division's front. Except for an abortive enemy raid and occasional shelling with H.E. and gas shells, it was an uneventful tour; according to the Regimental History, casualties for February amounted to one officer and five other ranks killed and sixteen other ranks wounded. One of the latter was Charles Giles, wounded in the right arm on 16th February and evacuated to a field ambulance, then a casualty clearing station and, finally, to hospital. Fortunately, his wound was not serious and in early March he was back in England to convalesce. In mid-June, he was granted 10 days leave, which he spent at the family home at 12 Warriner Gardens, Battersea. He had sufficiently recovered to be sent back to France on 9th November. This time he was posted to the 1st Rifle Brigade and probably joined them just in time to celebrate the Armistice.

Charles was demobbed on 19th February 1919 but had a frustrating few months waiting for the army to arrange for his repatriation back to the USA. Finally, on 14th June, he sailed on the "Orduna" as a steerage passenger, arriving in New York on June 29th. The ship's manifest describes him as a "butler". It would be interesting to know if he went back to his old job, especially since William Vanderbilt died the following year and the 5th Avenue mansion was demolished in 1926. Charles Giles' medals were sent to him in June 1921, by which time he was living at 313 West 29th Street, New York City.