The scarce 7th Contingent Queen's South Africa Medal and NZEF 1914/15 Star trio awarded to Charles Henry Madden, who served a full tour in South Africa, and remarkably served the full 8 months of the Gallipoli campaign on the peninsula.

 

Charles Madden was born 16th November 1877 in Auckland, son of Charles Edward and Fanny Evangeline Madden (née Mills). At the time of enlistment with the 7th NZMR Contingent in April 1901 he was unemployed but with three years service with the Ponsonby Naval Artillery Volunteers under his belt. He served a full tour with the Auckland company of the 7th Contingent, the contingent which suffered the highest casualty rate of any New Zealand formation in the Boer War.

 

He married Theresa May Angelo in 1903 and had a family of four children. He was working as a butcher in Auckland in 1914, and enlisted for service with the NZEF in October 1914. He embarked with the 2nd Reinforcements, Otago Infantry Battalion but appears to have transferred to the Brigade Ammunition Column, NZ Field Artillery in March 1915. Madden embarked for the Dardanelles on 12th April 1915, and appears to have served for the entire campaign on the peninsula, as he his next reported as being in Egypt in early 1916. He subsequently transferred to 2nd Battery, NZ FA and deployed to the Western Front, serving until August 1916. He was evacuated to the UK suffering from an unknown illness (details are obscured on his service file). He returned to New Zealand and was discharged in 1917.

 

Madden saw home service during the Second World War, although the details on single page of his service file that comes with the group is not clear on what that this service was. The WW2 pair are confirmed as being issued. Charles Madden died on 24th September 1947 in Auckland.

 

The QSA is correctly impressed 4034 CORPL: C. H. MADDEN. 7th N. Z'LAND M.R. and the WW1 medals are all correctly impressed 2/1280A DVR. C.H. MADDEN. N.Z.E.F.

Service file held at Archives New Zealand