b. 29/11/1836 Poona, India. d. 01/09/1915 Leamington Spa, Warwickshire.
Charles Augustus Goodfellow (1836-1917) was the son and grandson of two Bombay Engineers, and was born in Poona, India on 29th November 1836. He was soon enlisted at the Addiscombe Seminary, and joined the Bombay Sappers and Miners in 1857. He served with General Rose’s Central India Field Force during early 1858. Although the rising of the Waghers, a fanatical Hindu people living in the isolated area of Kathiawar in western Gujarat, is not regarded as part of the Mutiny, though the single VC it produced is included in the number awarded in India from 1857-59.
Charles A Goodfellow VC
A second expedition against the Wagher’s stronghold on the island of Beyt in the Ran of Kutch was led by Colonel Edward Donovan of 33rd (Duke of Wellington’s) Regiment was repulsed with considerable loss; 24 officers and men were killed and 47 wounded. It was during the assault that Lieutenant Goodfellow rescued a wounded soldier who had been gunned down under the walls of the fort. Dashing forward and ignoring the heavy fire, Goodfellow managed to carry the badly wounded man to safety – though he was found to have died.
That night, the Waghers evacuated the fort and it was blown up by the engineers the following day. Goodfellow’s action was recorded in The London Gazette on 16th April 1863 and he received his VC at a parade in Mhow that year. The rest of his service was relatively uneventful and he retired as a lieutenant-general in 1889. He moved to Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, where he died on 1st September 1915. He is buried in Leamington Spa Cemetery. His medals are held by the Royal Engineers Museum, Chatham, Kent.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: ROYAL ENGINEERS MUSEUM, CHATHAM, KENT.
BURIAL PLACE: ROYAL LEAMINGTON SPA CEMETERY, LEAMINGTON SPA, WARWICKSHIRE.
