against some pits from which a heavy fire was being directed on his men, captured the pits, together with five machine guns and forty-six prisoners, and killed a large number of the enemy.The great gallantry displayed by this officer throughout the day inspired the greatest confidence in his men, and it was mainly due to his example and devotion to duty that his battalion was enabled to capture and hold their objective". In late 1917, Sherwood-Kelly survived a German gas attack that put him into the hospital. On 12 January 1918, Sherwood-Kelly arrived at Buckingham Palace to be personally awarded the Victoria Cross by King George V. It was decided that he was not fit enough to return to the front and instead he returned to South Africa as part of a recruiting campaign for volunteers as South Africa only sent volunteers to fight overseas. During his visit, he caused controversy when he appeared on the stage with J. B. M. Hertzog, a Boer general turned leading Afrikaner 'republican' (i.e anti-British) politician. While standing next to Hertzog, he gave a speech calling for the Dominions like South Africa to have greater independence within the British empire. In September 1918, he returned to the Western Front as commanding officer of the 12th Norfolk regiment, a position he held until the end of the war on 11 November 1918. North Russia According to Field Marshal Lord Ironside's account published in 1953, the second battalion of the Hampshire Regiment on 19 June 1919 under Kelly's command as part of the North Russia Campaign "failed to take any part in the fight" at Troitsa, "a village encampment on the River Dvina and about 180 miles south-east from Archangel as the crow flies". When Ironside interviewed Kelly the following day, Kelly could not explain the 2nd Hampshires' failure to take part in the action; had Kelly been a Regular officer, explained Ironside, he would "certainly have had him court martialled." In view of Kelly's outstanding war record, Ironside merely withdrew the 2nd Hampshires from the line and directed that Kelly be sent home for demobilisation. According to the Brigade Operation Report, however, Kelly's column at Troitsa was successful at first but then withdrew as he considered the position insecure and was having difficulty obtaining ammunition supplies; when ordered to resume the attack, Kelly declined to do so. According to Kelly's account given shortly after to