Medals awarded to Captain Charles Beck Hornby

Medals awarded to Captain Charles Beck Hornby DSO 4th Dragoon Guards:
1) Distinguished Service Order awarded for his action at Casteau
2) 1914 star, awarded to officers and men of the British and Indian Expeditionary Forces
3) British War Medal, a campaign medal for service in the First World War.
4) Victory medal, recipients needed to have served in any theatre of the First World War and were actively engaged in actions against the enemy.
5) Croix de Guerre, the Cross of War, a military decoration of France, award to soldiers who distinguish themselves by acts of heroism involving combat with the enemy.
On the morning of 22nd August 1914, three weeks after Britain's declaration of war, the Dragoon Guards were the first unit to see action against the enemy. Two troops of "C" Squadron, led by Captain Hornby, attacked a German cavalry patrol near the Belgian village of Casteau. It soon became clear that the patrol was part of a larger force. Undaunted, Hornby and his men continued their attck, forcing the enemy back, killing several and taking five prisoners. Just prior to Hornby's charge, Corporal E. Thomas of the Regiment fired what is believed to be the first shot by the British Army of the First World War.