Major Godfrey Douglas Giles was an artist noted for military scenes and battles, many experienced at first hand while on service with the British Army in India, Afghanistan, Egypt and South Africa. He retired from the army in 1884 and went to Paris to study under Carolus-Duran. His paintings were exhibited at the Royal Academy in London and in the Paris Salon.
He lived in Newmarket but in 1899 returned to South Africa and contributed greatly to the pictorial record of the Boer War with works on display in museums in both South Africa and in the United Kingdom.