Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, no clasp (171240 C. Dolan, Sto. H.M.S. Naiad) minor contact marks, good very fine £160-200

Charles Dolan was born in Middlesborough on 1 December 1871. He joined the Royal Navy as a Stoker 2nd Class on 23 January 1893. He was advanced to Stoker in November 1893 when on H.M.S. Euphrates; to Leading Stoker 2nd Class in April 1904 when on H.M.S. Naiad; to Leading Stoker 1st Class in June 1905 when at H.M.S. Victory and Stoker Petty Officer in July 1906 when on H.M.S. Brilliant. On H.M.S. Hindustan, January 1911-April 1912, he was briefly de-rated to Leading Seaman for using threatening language and in attempting to strike a leading stoker. With the onset of the Great War, Stoker Petty Officer Dolan was serving aboard the battleship H.M.S. Audacious. He was aboard her when she struck a mine and sank off Tory Island, Donegal, on 27 October 1914. Fortunately all the officers and crew were able to evacuate the doomed ship. After a brief stay at H.M.S. Victory II, no doubt recovering from the ordeal, Dolan was posted to the modern battleship H.M.S. Queen Elizabeth, remaining on board the ship until the end of the war, seeing service in the Dardanelles but missing Jutland. The ship became fleet flagship in 1917. Dolan was discharged in April 1919. With copied service papers and associated research.