Edward James Boys

Edward James Boys (E. J. Boys) (19 September 1916–2002) was a leading authority on the men of the cavalry regiments of the British Army who took part in the famous Charge of the Light Brigade of 1854 during the Crimean War of 1854-56 between the UK and Russia.
Military service
Born into a farming family in Plumpton in Sussex in 1916 in the middle of World War I, Boys' father was a farrier in the Royal Field Artillery. 'Jim' Boys left school aged 14, and in 1937 he enlisted in the 2nd Battalion, Coldstream Guards and transferred to the 3rd Battalion when that Battalion was posted overseas. From 1937 to 1939 he served in Egypt and Palestine. He served in Egypt during the early stages of World War II, and in Alexandria he met Greek-born Nitza Asnay; he was captured at Tobruk in 1941 and spent the rest of the war in prisoner of war camps in Italy and Germany. In 1946 he married Nitza Asnay.
Medal researcher
On his return to the United...