Edward James Boys

Edward James Boys (19 September 1916 – 1 July 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 1854–1856 between the United Kingdom and Russia.

Military service 'Jim' Boys left school aged 14, and in 1937 he enlisted in the 2nd Battalion, Coldstream Guards and transferred to the regiment's 3rd Battalion when the battalion was posted overseas. From 1937 to 1939 he served in Egypt and Palestine, presumably during the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine. He served in Egypt during the early stages of World War II, and in Alexandria he met Greek-born Nitza Lemonia 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 (1920–2002).

Medal researcher On his return to the United Kingdom Boys became a Prison Officer at HM Prison Wandsworth where he was in charge of a workshop manned by the prisoners which produced equipment for the armed services. He became interested in collecting medals during the 1950s, and he became an early member of the Orders and Medals Research Society. Boys took early retirement from the Prison Service in 1968, and then worked for a number of years for the Ministry of Defence, inspecting the manufacture of military equipment. Eventually, his interest in medals lead him to begin collecting material concerning the men of the Light Brigade who had taken part in the famous Charge of the Light Brigade in 1854.

Edward James Boys died in London in 2002.