Uncovering a sleeper: The man who started a scandal

I was recently asked by a client to research a Queen's South Africa medal named "H.W. Penn" Imperial Military Railways (IMR). A fairly typical medal to a civilian organisation for which there is no official records beyond the medal rolls (WO100-252).

The medal had been sold with the following attribution from an unidentified newspaper:

"Having gone on to work on the railways in South Africa, in 1969 Penn is recorded as 84 years old, and having attended the the 30th Anniversary event for the Blue Train Special, he having presumably been a driver on this famous train service which travels the 1600 kilometre journey between Pretoria and Cape Town."

"Driver Penn" of the famous Blue Train. My client was concerned that given the year and age of Mr Penn, he would have been 15 years old in 1900. Could a 15 year old have been an engine driver? Additionally, and more concerning "HW Penn" could not be located on the medal rolls hosted by Ancestry. Resolving such issues is a speciality of mine. The Ancestry index is full of spelling mistakes for surnames, incorrectly transcribing initials and mangling unit names, all of which can hide names from a researcher. The issue in this case, and it is not an isolated example, is that Ancestry are missing medal roll pages for both the QSA and KSA medals. It appears that the copy of WO100 that Ancestry are working from is faulty in this regard, or they somehow omitted pages when creating the index.

I have the missing pages for the IMR and locating "HW Penn" was a quick job, here is the entry:

This is the only Penn on the IMR roll. Note the trade "Examiner", not "Driver". Of real interest is the faint pencil note, "? 51+415 Pburg LH", indicating possible service in the Pietersburg Light Horse (PLH). Checking their roll reveals a "John William Heartey Penn" number 51 and 415 who also served in the Bushveldt Carbineers (BVC). This roll has two contradictory remarks:

On the right it reads "Not identical with W.H. Penn/ I. M. Raily" and on the left "M & CC issued AG2/M/7379". The left hand reference is to the IMR roll on which "Examiner HW Penn" appears and is shown above. To resolve which remark is correct we are fortunate in that a biographical roll and history for the BVC and PLH was published by Bill Woolmore (Slouch Hat Publications, 2002). In compiling his roll Bill consulted the attestation papers (The National Archives, London - WO126) which supply details of former service, age and next of kin.

The entry for John William Hartley [sic] Penn, age 33 (in 1901 on attestation into the BVC), former service, Examiner, Imperial Military Railways. His calculated birth year is 1868, so he can't be "Driver HW Penn" of the Blue Train, that piece of circumstantial evidence is discarded. The former service links the men in the medal rolls and the left hand remark on the BVC roll is correct and the right hand "not identical" comment is incorrect. The difference in initials is frustrating, especially the lack of a 'J' on the IMR roll. But we know individuals drop forenames and clerks make mistakes. The next of kin is given as, wife Mrs ASA Penn, Fordsburg, Johannesburg, they had one son.

Using the excellent FamilySearch.com we learn that his wife was Angenesse Sussana Amarentie de Villiers (nee Buekes, baptised 1857 Cape Colony). They got married in 1893 in Molteno, Cape Colony, John was a butcher. Obviously butchering wasn't to his liking and he headed north to seek his fortune on The Rand. We assume he joined the railways prior to the war to learn his trade as an 'Examiner' - inspector of rolling stock, and remained on The Rand after war was declared. What prompted him to join the BVC is anyone's guess.

The scandal. The BVC became an infamous unit on account of the "Breaker Morant Affair". Cpt HH "Breaker" Morant and other officers were accused of murdering civilians and Africans. In a trial that remains controversial to this day Morant and fellow officers were tried by a military court, found guilty and executed. The spark to this affair was a letter of complaint alleging crimes by Morant and others to the commander of the Lines of Communication, Colonel FH Hall, RA. The letter was signed by 15 men of the BVC, one of those being John Penn. He is also listed as a witness at the trial.

John appears to have been issued one medal, that off the IMR QSA roll which should have a Cape Colony clasp. This may have been taken off by an ignorant dealer or collector believing all IMR QSAs were issued without clasps, which is patently untrue. The BVC/PLH roll is marked "address not known, P.A. (assumed Personal Application) till for appn.", there is a reference and a date in 1908 which could indicate the issue of clasps Transvaal, South Africa 1901 and South Africa 1902.

What happened to John after the war is not known, until his death in August 1931, long before the 1969 Blue Train reunion. He is buried in Grasmere Cemetery, Krugersdorp. His wife, Angenesse died in 1937 and is buried in Brixton Cemetery, Johannesburg.

 

 

The Queen's Mediterranean Medal

The Queen's Mediterranean Medal was approved by King Edward VII (Army Order 32 1902) to recognise the service of militia battalions sent to serve in garrisons in the Mediterranean. No clasps were awarded with the medal.

If a soldier served at all in South Africa and also in the Mediterranean then they were awarded the The Queen's South Africa with clasps as appropriate. 

The medal roll for the The Queen's Mediterranean Medal is WO100-368.

The militia battalions of the regular army regiments could not be sent overseas unless they first volunteered. Such was the enthusiasm to serve Queen and Empire in 1899 many militia battalions volunteered to serve overseas. Some were sent to fight in South Africa, others were sent to replace regular battalions sent to the war in their garrison stations. The majority were sent to Malta and Gozo, one battalion was sent to Egypt. These battalions did not, as if often stated, guard Boer prisoners of war. There were no Boer POWs on Malta, Gozo or in Egypt. Some militia battalions did guard Boer POWs on St Helena - these men were awarded the Queen's South Africa medal without clasp.

Unit	Location	Number on Roll	Medals Issued
Royal Garrison Artillery	not shown	1	1
King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, 3rd battalion	Malta & Gozo June 1901-February 1902	753	766
Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, 3rd battalion	Malta 1900-1901	202	not shown
Northumberland Fusiliers, 5th battalion	Malta 1900-1901	579	560
Royal Munster Fusiliers, 5th battalion	Malta & Gozo 1901	548	542
Royal West Kent Regiment, 3rd battalion	Malta 1900-1901	1152	975
Seaforth Highlanders, 3rd battalion	Citadel Barracks, Cairo February 1900 - May 1901	821	794
West Yorkshire Regiment, 3rd battalion	Malta 1901-1902	880	868

The second page of the roll states "Total OR [other rank] issues 4,711". The issue numbers above, assuming 202 issued for the Loyal North Lancashire Rgt , show a total of 4,708 medals (officers and attached personnel included) were issued. The number of medals issued is taken from the numbers issued as recorded on the rolls, it doesn't take into account medals forfeited after issue or medals returned. The actual number of medals that could be in existence will be slightly less.

The 3rd Loyal North Lancashire Rgt arrived on Malta in January 1900 and left for the war in South Africa on March 2nd, 1901. This accounts for the small number of Mediterranean medals issued to the battalion.

The 3rd Seaforth Highlanders were stationed in Cairo alongside their regimental comrades of the regular army, the 1st battalion. It is ironic that, while performing the same duties, only one battalion received a medal and the other didn't.

A number of officers were attached to some of the battalions above, and two Armourer Sergeants of the Army Ordnance Corps were attached:

Officers attached to King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
Bedfordshire Regiment	1
Border Regiment	1
Connaught Rangers	1
Derbyshire Regiment	1
Hampshire Regiment	1
King's (Liverpool) Regiment	2
Lancashire Fusiliers	1
Leicestershire Regiment	1
Middlesex Regiment	1
Rifle Brigade	1
Royal Fusiliers	1
Royal Munster Fusiliers	1
West Surrey Regiment	1
Worcestershire Regiment	1
Officers attached to the Royal West Kent Rgt
King's (Liverpool) Regiment	1
Manchester Regiment	1
Army Ordnance Corps (two NCOs) attached to	2
Royal Munster Fusiliers
The Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment)
West Yorkshire Regiment

The table shows the number of deaths that occurred in these battalions during this period. The majority died in Malta or Cairo, a few died in England and one at sea. These casualties are not included in the official casualty rolls and those publications that simply copied the rolls.

Unit	Deaths
Royal Garrison Artillery	0
King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, 3rd battalion	4
Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, 3rd battalion	0
Northumberland Fusiliers, 5th battalion	5
Royal Munster Fusiliers, 5th battalion	0
Royal West Kent Regiment, 3rd battalion	9
Seaforth Highlanders, 3rd battalion	9
West Yorkshire Regiment, 3rd battalion	1

The vast majority of Mediterranean Medals appear as singles, they do exist in groups but they are rare. Many men of the rolls enlisted in a wide variety of regular army units. No doubt many Mediterranean veterans served in World War 1. Re-uniting a Mediterranean Medal with other medals, usually WW1 medals is not easy. The example below to Robert Francis illustrates the problem.

The Mediterranean Medal is named to Pte 484 Royal West Kent Rgt, the British War Medal, which is sole entitlement for WW1 is named to Pte 25964 Essex Rgt. The only service papers traced are for his service in the West Kents. The medals were sold by DNW in 1996 "mounted for wear", when they reappeared in 2016, still a pair, they were not mounted and the Mediterranean Medal had new ribbon.

Fortunately for researchers he was issued a Silver War Badge (B328322) which is missing. The SWB roll gives his age as 43 on discharge in 1919. The birth year of 1876 matches exactly that derived from the WO96 service papers for his West Kent service.

The complete medal roll and casualty roll for the Queen's Mediterranean Medal is available on The Register: www.boerwarregister.com.
 

The King's South Africa medal, it's clasps and issue regulations

 

Queen Victoria died in January 1901 while the war raged on. Her son and successor, King Edward the VII, decided he wanted to award a campaign medal to mark the war that was ongoing when he came to the throne. 

To avoid the expense and complexity of issuing clasps for distinct actions, of which there were many small ones during 1901 and 1902, it was decided to just use date clasps of which there are two; South Africa 1901 and South Africa 1902. 

To qualify for a KSA a recipient had to be serving in South Africa in 1902 and have spent 18 months on war service in South Africa. Service could be broken, for instance wounded or debilitated soldiers sent to the UK for convalescence and then returning. 

The KSA was always issued with a clasp, except to nurses and civilians. It is most commonly found with the two date clasps, to have one clasp is rare and always needs to be verified on the medal rolls. The KSA was almost always issued complete. In some circumstances where a man had been issued the dates clasps off a QSA Supplementary Roll then a KSA with no clasps was issued.

The Queen's South Africa medal, it's clasps and issue regulations

The issue of the QSA can be complex. Each unit created a nominal roll and entered the clasp entitlement. This was sent to the War Office for checking who then created lists for the Mint who made the medals. The first nominal rolls were completed from April 1901, this, the "Main Roll", covered 24 clasps for the QSA. The two date clasps were not issued on this roll. In October 1902 another roll was issued to allow for the claim of the date clasps on the QSA (see below for issuing regualtions). Known as the "Extra Clasp" roll the three state bars, Cape Colony, Orange Free State and Transvaal could also be claimed on this roll. 

For a unit there are usually more than one Main Roll and very many Extra Clasp rolls. The movement of soldiers in and out of units during the war made the completion of the rolls a difficult job. When verifying a QSA medal entitlement is it is necessary to check both Main Rolls and Extra Clasp rolls. If a man served in more than one unit, which is common for colonial units, then it is necessary to check all the unit rolls. 

 

A man could qualify for different clasps with different units; for example a soldier in the Southern Rhodesian Volunteers would typically qualify for the Rhodesia and Relief of Mafeking clasps. This unit was disbanded in mid 1900. Many men then served in other units and would earn clasps such as Transvaal and Orange Free State. The Main Roll for the Southern Rhodesian Volunteers wouldn't show the Transvaal and Orange Free State clasps because the roll was prepared before the man earned them. 

 

In The Register you will see many Medal Roll references for a soldier. Some records, though, where more than one unit in listed but have only one Medal Roll reference are incomplete. This is because the initial record was taken from one unit's Medal Roll which was annotated with the other units this soldier served with. To trace through each man's service on the Medal Rolls is a huge job. It is easier and quicker to do one unit at a time.

Twenty-six clasps were created for the QSA:

Clasp	Abbreviation	Qualification
Belfast	Bf	All troops who, on 26th or 27th August, 1900, were east of a north and south line drawn through Wonderfontein (the garrison and troops quartered at Wonderfontein on those dates did not receive the clasp), and west of a north and south line through Dalmanutha Station, and north of an east and west line through Carolina.
Belmont	B	All troops under Lieut. General Lord Methuen's command who were north of Witteputs (exclusive) on 23rd November, 1899.
Cape Colony	CC	11th October, 1899 to 31st May, 1902, inclusive, who had not received a clasp for a specific action in the Cape Colony, or the " Natal " clasp.
Defence of Kimberley	DoK	All troops in the garrison of Kimberley between 14th October, 1899 and 15th February, 1900, both dates inclusive.
Defence of Ladysmith	DoL	All troops in Ladysmith between 3rd November, 1899 and 28th February, 1900, both dates inclusive.
Defence of Mafeking	DoM	All troops in the garrison of Mafeking between 13th October, 1899, and 17th May, 1900, both dates inclusive.
Diamond Hill	DH	All troops who, on 11th or 12th June, 1900, were east of a north and south line drawn through Silverton Siding and north of an east and west line through Vlakfontein.
Dreifontein	D	All troops with Army Headquarters, and Lieut. General French's column, i.e. the left and centre columns, which advanced from Poplar Grove on 10th March, 1900.
Elandslaagte	E	All troops at Elandslaagte on 21st October, 1899, who were on the right bank of the Sunday river and north of an east and west line through Buys Farm.
Johannesburg	J	All troops who, on 29th May, 1900, were north of an east and west line through Klip River Station (exclusive), and east of a north and south line through Krugersdrop Station (inclusive).
Laing's Nek	LN	All troops of the Natal Field Force employed in the operations and north of an east and west line through Newcastle between 2nd and 9th June, 1900, both dates inclusive.
Modder River	MR	All troops under Lieut. General Lord Methuen's command who were north of Honey Nest Kloof (exclusive), and south of the Magersfontein ridge (exclusive) on 28th November, 1899.
Natal	N	11th October, 1899 to 11th June, 1900, both dates inclusive who had not received a clasp for a specific action in Natal.
Orange Free State	OFS	All troops in Orange River Colony at any time between 28th February, 1900 and 31st May, 1902, inclusive who had not received a clasp for a specific action in the Orange River Colony.
Paardeberg	P	All troops within 7,000 yards of General Cronje's final laager, between midnight of the 17th and midnight of the 26th February, 1900, and to all troops within 7,000 yards of Koodoe's Rand Drift between the same dates.
Relief of Kimberley	RoK	All troops in the relief column under Lieut. General French who marched from Klip Drift on 15th February, 1900, and all the 6th Division under Lieut. General Kelly-Kenny who were within 7,000 yards of Klip Drift on 15th February, 1900.
Relief of Ladysmith	RoL	All troops in Natal north of and including Estcourt between 15th December, 1899, and 28th February, 1900, both dates inclusive.
Relief of Mafeking	RoM	All troops under the command of Colonel Mahon who marched from Barkly West on 4th May, 1900, and to all troops who were under Colonel Plumer's command between 11th October, 1899, and 17th May, 1900, both dates inclusive, and who were south of an east and west line drawn through Palachwe.
Rhodesia	R	All troops who were under the command of Lieut. General Sir F. Carrington and Colonel Plumer in Rhodesia between 11th October, 1899 and 17th May, 1900, both dates inclusive, or who landed at Beira between 11th October, 1899 and the 25th May, 1900, both dates inclusive.
South Africa 1901	SA01	All troops who served in South Africa between 1st January, 1901, and 31st December, 1901, both dates inclusive, who were not eligible for the King's South Africa Medal.
South Africa 1902	SA02	All troops who served in South Africa between 1st January, 1902, and 31st May, 1902, both dates inclusive, who were not eligible for the King's South Africa Medal.
Talana	Ta	All troops under Lieut. General Sir W. Penn Symon's command on 20th October, 1899, who were north of an east and west line drawn through Waschbank Station.
Transvaal	T	All troops in the Transvaal at any time between 24th May, 1900 and 31st May, 1902, inclusive who had not received a clasp for a specific action in the Transvaal.
Tugela Heights	TH	All troops of the Natal Field Force, exclusive of the Ladysmith garrison, employed in the operations north of an east and west line through Chieveley Station between the 14th and 27th February, 1900, both dates inclusive.
Wepener	We	All troops engaged in the defence of Wepener between 9th April, 1900 and 25th April, 1900, both dates inclusive.
Wittebergen	W	All troops who were inside a line drawn from Harrismith to Bethlehem, thence to Senekal and Clocolan, along the Basuto border, and back to Harrismith, between lst and 29th July, 1900, both dates inclusive.

These can be broken down into:

1. The "state clasps": Cape Colony, Natal, Orange Free State, Rhodesia and Transvaal.
2. The date clasps: South Africa 1901 and South Africa 1902
3. The Defence and Relief clasps: Defence of Kimberley, Defence of
   Ladysmith, Defence of Mafeking and Relief of Kimberley, Relief of Ladysmith and Relief of Mafeking.
4. The remainder are known as "battle clasps".

There are rules for the award of the clasps:

1. No state clasp can be awarded if the recipient has been awarded another clasp for an action that took place in that state.
2. Defence and Relief clasps for the same siege cannot be awarded together.
• Belmont, Defence or Relief of Kimberley, Defence or Relief of Mafeking or Modder River occurred in the Cape Colony
• Elandslaagte, Defence or Relief of Ladysmith, Talana, Laing's Nek and Tugela Heights occurred in Natal
  
• Dreifontein, Paardeberg, Wepener and Wittebergen occurred in the Orange Free State
• Belfast, Diamond Hill and Johannesburg occurred in the Transvaal
• There are no battle bars for Rhodesia
3. The Cape Colony and Natal clasps cannot be awarded together.
4. The date clasps are awarded if the recipient served less than 18 months in South Africa and was present in 1901 and/or 1902.

The QSA was awarded without clasps. Nurses and civilians were not allowed to be awarded clasps even if they qualified for them. Soldiers guarding Boer prisoners on St Helena were not awarded clasps either.There was no qualifying time limit for the award of the QSA or any of the clasps (subject to the rules for that clasps). The only rule was that the recipient had to be on the strength of a unit to qualify for a clasp. A soldier arriving in Cape Town and joining his unit in Pretoria would only qualify for the Transvaal clasp despite travelling through the Cape Colony and the Orange Free State. There are many anomalies to be found on QSAs and the clasps fixed by the issuing authorities; the issuing clerks did not always understand the rules and of course made errors. 

 Medals and clasps were very often issued in-complete. A soldier would get his medal with state or battle bars attached and then some time after, maybe years, the award of the date clasp(s) would be confirmed and a loose clasp(s) sent to him. It was the responsibility of the soldier to get the clasp affixed, many didn't bother, some did with crude wire others attempted to replicate the riveting method used by the Mint. This explains why you often find medals missing clasps or with clasps fitted unofficially which casts doubt as to the validity of the clasps. In these cases the medal rolls should always be consulted to verify the clasps.

Battles of the Boer War - who was W Baring Pemberton?

Having recently read this book and been impressed by it's novel approach I wanted to know more about "W Baring Pemberton. The 1972 edition by Pan Books did not have the usual blurb about the author.

Thankfully he was an active member of the community in West Sussex where he lived so I quickly learnt about an erudite man of varied interests. But, the first two-thirds of life were a blank. How could a name like "W Baring Pemberton" not exist in newspapers or even the census?

I stumbled on his birth name, "Noel William Baring Pemberton" - Noel! or Noël - those four letters unlocked his life story.

Noel William Baring Pemberton (left, from Ancestry) was born 13 December 1897 near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. One of six children born to Colonel WW Pemberton and Adele MacDonald. Noel was educated at Wellington College and Oxford University where he read History and Law. Noel married Mary Burder, they would have two sons and a daughter. He passed his Bar Examination for Lincoln’s Inn in October 1935 [The Times 18 October 1935]. He appears to have dropped his first name “Noel” and published as “W Baring Pemberton”.

He does not appear to have pursued a career in law, preferring a career in the arts. In 1932 he was listed as a Director of Flicker Productions with studios at Shepperton, they aimed to produce six “book movies” on “sport and other subjects”. [Kinematograph Weekly 04 February 1932] In 1933 he was credited with adapting a story for the film “Watch Beverley” (rated U). 1936 saw his first history book published, Carteret, The Brilliant failure of the eighteenth century that was well received. A reviewer in Truth [3 June 1936] wrote “This is a book which will probably appeal more to historians than to the general public, for although readable throughout, and is often enlivened by strokes of Mr Pemberton’s dry and incisive wit, it assumes…a knowledge greater than most lay readers are likely to possess.” Encouraged, he produced a biography of Lord North in 1938 “directed at the serious historian and specialist”.

The outbreak of the Second World War interrupted his writing career, in 1940 he took a post at Eton college teaching history. The end of the war bought another chapter, he moved his family to West Sussex living at Morriswood, Holbrook, Horsham and Manor House, Billingshurst. Not forgetting his law training he became a magistrate in Horsham, joined the local Conservative Association. In 1949 he published a biography of William Cobbett. In 1952 his first play “Cactuses and Kings” had its premiere at the Court Royal, Horsham. The play had been written before World War II. Described as a satirical comedy about King Boris who, in league with republicans, agrees to stage a fake revolution forcing him to abdicate and live a comfortable life in retirement with his “beloved cactuses” (sic). [The Stage 7 February 1952] I think he would have enjoyed the irony of his story with the reality the UK has suffered in recent years with the real life Boris. He became Chair of the Theatre Royal Guild & Theatre Club. Just two years later he published a biography of Lord Palmerston in 1954, again well received, “a straightforward, informative, and readable life”.

Noel’s art career expanded to broadcasting and he was regular lecturer to local societies on historical topics. His talents extended to music as an Associate of the Royal College of Music, a “talented pianoforte player” [West Sussex Gazette 1 November 1956] , and painting joining the Association of Sussex Artists. He was also a member of the Circle of Glass Collectors.

1962 saw his first foray into military history with “Battles of the Crimean War”, noted for his “considerable research on both published and unpublished sources”. Perhaps, encouraged by this work he became a member of the executive committee of the National Army Museum. Working quickly his second military history work was published in 1964, “Battles of the Boer War”.

“Battles of the Boer War” is a slim volume of just 208 pages, not much tree pulp and ink for nearly three years of intense warfare. However, Baring Pemberton’s abilities at distilling information and organising facts is immediately apparent. He has picked just five battles to analyse, not simply recount the dates, movements, names and numbers involved. This is not a re-tread of what you think you know about Belmont, Modder River, Magersfontein, Colenso and Spion Kop.

He sets out his stall with admirable honesty and intelligence. Admitting he “must tend to be one-sided…. Unfortunately the best Boer accounts have never been translated and I know no Afrikaans.” He ignores “nearly all accounts written by ‘Our Special Correspondent in South Africa’. Except when from the pen of Winston Churchill, these are of little worth and deeply coloured by prejudice. Accepted avidly by a jingoist British public, they passed into common currency where they are still found.” A statement that rings true today for the “history” written by the inheritors of the victory in 1910. A large number of personal papers were read from key actors and witnesses such as Lord Methuen, General Pole-Carew, Hughes-Hallett, Birdwood, Hubert Gough and a host of officers from the artillery and infantry. In seeking balance he also corresponded with people in South Africa. The result is a startling analysis of each battle in three acts; prelude, (in)action, consequences. Criticism is freely offered and the recollections of some, such as Buller, are forcibly rebuked.

Baring Pemberton also earns praise for his treatment of the casus belli, “…it was not as simple as that”. In just a few pages he clearly lays out the complexities of the history, politics, economics and personalities that led to the invasion of the British colonies.

I think this book deserves a wide audience; it won’t break the piggy-bank. The book was re-published in 1969, 1972 and 1975.

W Baring Pemberton died 3 November 1966, not knowing the success of his last book. He led a varied and interesting life and left a lasting legacy. Thank you.

                                                        West Sussex County Times 1954

Sandy Grieve - the piper of Delville Wood

The story of Sandy Grieve piping the remnants of the South African infantry out of Delville Wood in July 1916 is well known and easily found on the web. Little is given of his military career before World War 1 except for a few brief lines that he had served in the Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902 and "During the Battle of Magersfontein on the 11th December, 1899, he would not forget the Boers in a hurry, as he was wounded through both his cheeks.". This has been picked up an copied by many:

https://jocks.co.za/2022/06/12/pipe-major-alexander-sandy-grieve-d-c-m-and-lament-of-deville-wood/
https://samilhistory.com/2018/11/09/the-black-watch-and-the-delville-wood-lament/
https://theblackwatch.co.uk/blog/soldier-stories/a-pipe-major-delville-wood-and-the-black-watch/

See also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF-8vdl5QFw

This blog will give more detail on Sandy's earlier military career and correct one error that has been simply repeated.

Alexander "Sandy" Grieve was born about 1869 in Largo, Leven, Fife, Scotland. As an 18 year old blacksmith he enlisted into the Royal Highlanders (Black Watch) on 21st November, 1887 at Cupar. He had also worked as a gamekeeper on the Mounie estate. Completing his training he was posted to the 2nd bn on 18th February, 1888 stationed in the UK. In October 1891 he was appointed a piper and later that year after four years service he opted to complete the mandatory 12 year enlistment with "the colours", and not go onto the Reserve as he would have been entitled to do.

He earned a good conduct badge and extra pay in 1889 and 1893, but lost it in June 1894 for a minor, unrecorded,  indiscretion. Between July and August 1894 he was absent for 15 days and when he returned to duty he lost his second good conduct badge and extra pay. He finished 1894 reverting to the rank of Private and he opted to transfer to the Reserve after all. He married and had children.

On the outbreak of war in South Africa he was re-called for active service on 7th October, 1899 and posted back to the 2nd battalion with the rank of Private. The Black Watch, as part of the Highland Brigade were promptly shipped off to South Africa.

The Highland Brigade's first battle was indeed at Magersfontein and we can assume Sandy was there, but, he was not wounded at Magersfontein. Following their mauling at Magersfontein the Highland Brigade did not see action until February 1900 where they helped corral some 4,000 Boer under General Piet Cronje against the Modder River at Paardeberg. They attacked on the 18th February, 1900 crossing the river and enabling troops to get closer to the besieged Boers. It was here at Paardeberg that Grieve was wounded by a bullet that entered the left side of his jaw and exited on the right. Recuperating at hospital he contracted enteric

Sandy was posted back to the Depot in Scotland in June 1900, his war in South Africa was over. He was discharged November 1900 after completing the minimum 12 years service. He was awarded the Queen's South Africa medal with the clasps Cape Colony and Paardeberg. On his return he was feted by his neighbours at Mounie, Oldmeldrum.

Sandy emigrated to South Africa and settled at Heilbron working as a blacksmith. When the 1914 Rebellion broke out Sandy refused to shoe the horses of the rebels and was imprisoned and ordered to be shot. His employer who sympathised with the rebels nonetheless argued for Sandy's release which was achieved in three weeks. Sandy and his two sons volunteered and served in German South-West Africa. At the conclusion of that campaign he volunteered for overseas service. 

According to The Pipes of War Sandy was awarded a DCM in 1918.

Sources:
Casualty Roll - The Register
Buchan Observer and East Aberdeenshire Advertiser 17 July 1900
Dundee Evening Telegraph 11 November 1915
Dundee Courier 11 November 1915
WO97 Service papers

Casualties - don't simply trust newspapers

A recent post on eBay selling a QSA to Pte 6374 J Cooper, 1st bn Oxfordshire Light Infantry has again highlighted the need to double check a source.

The seller had found a newspaper report listing Pte Cooper has having died at Bloemfontein on 8th December, 1900. The seller notes, "I have been unable to find out any further information on him."

As the compiler of the most correct casualty roll for the war I had to check this out. There is no record on The Register for Pte 6374 J Cooper, 1st bn Oxfordshire Light Infantry. Just to be sure, I re-checked the official casualty roll, the medal roll, Soldier's Effects, Bloemfontein Memorial Wall, no mention of Pte Cooper.

I looked in detail at the news paper report from the Reading Mercury, 15th December, 1900:

There are four names shown, one is false. Pte 5960 W Bennett did not die from disease either, he lived to collect a King's South Africa medal (unfortunately he was killed in 1915). I did a further check on the names inscribed on the memorial wall at Heilbron, Stopp and Merry are mentioned but Bennett is not.

It is possible Pte Cooper's death was misreported, but there is no evidence he lived into 1901 or 1902 - he did not receive clasps for these years, or a King's South Africa medal.

I have not come across very many examples like this, which is good, but all the same the news must have been distressing to family and friends of the soldiers concerned.