Chrisvo

Hi all. Long time no see. Found a few badges and a shoulder title relating to the Umvoti Mounted Rifles today. A few mysteries though, at least for me. Most of the cap badges I see don't contain the motto but the one I found contains the motto 'Toujours Pret' plus 'UMR' above that. The shoulder title is interesting as it does look hand made with the maker's mark 'A Huber Greytown' on the back. Any info would be appreciated. Thank you.

Thank you. A pity he didn't keep his badges.. or perhaps the family lost them at some point? Just nice to pick up a piece of history every now and again. I might even try shaving with his razor at some point. It's still sharp enough to remove some arm hair and has no chips so just needs a clean, hone and strop. Thank you for the extra information. Makes some sense considering one of the cards has the Royal Welsh Fusiliers emblem on it.

I can try but I can't promise anything, got a normal day to day camera that isn't great a focusing on intricate detail. Edit: Nevermind, I can post the pictures from the auction...

I purchased these medals and some other history related to him off our local auction site. He was in the Royal Engineers Corps. Would be interested if anyone knows more. However, included in this lot was his razor and a few postcards to his children. All kept very well. His full rank and numbers are : 264367 SPR J.H. Dickinson. R.E. Trying to upload some pictures...

Thank you. Moving the thread is fine by me. My mistake. I actually missed the British Empire forum for different colonies and went straight to Africa, since that is where the soldier fought and where he was given the tin. Can't wait to get the medals and see what extra information I can obtain about him. I almost completely missed the first pencil, the one with the crack in the casing. I had been looking for years to find one of these special pencils but didn't want to buy online. Was in a box mixed in with a bunch of other items and almost mistook it for a mere bullet! Spoke to the seller and he said he didn't even know what it was and just brought the box along to the flea market to clear out.. quite lucky as things go. Unfortunately, I didn't find any other finds in said box.. I even asked if by chance it came with one of the khaki writing folders... haha, got to try your luck sometimes!

I like to collect medals but sometimes you find something else. I found the one pencil at a local flea market. And then the following week I found the other pencil with its tin, 1915 card and cardboard cut-out at an antique fair. The tin also came with a set of trio medals which I will be getting in the next couple of weeks. The soldier was part of the South African Mounted Rifles (SAMR) campaign in South West Africa and I believe his 1914/15 star shows this whilst his Victory Medal and British War Medal have a different rank and unit description. All parts are in excellent condition, the lacquer on the pencil is now a lovely dark colour and the silver tip has toned well, except for the part below the casing. Some pictures. Some more pictures. The 'M' on the one pencil is difficult to pick up with my shoddy camera and camera work, I took a close-up to try and capture it better. Amazing to know these survived so well, even after 100 years! The bottom of the casings are different. One reads "KN 14 VII" and the other " 'C' 'B' 'II' "

Hello once again. Just received the copies of the Form B for the two medals. Thank you Chris Boonzaier and a thank you to Gerald and Steve at the Documentation Centre for providing the information. Got both the Forms for Korpl JH Muller and Burger FC Swart but also got one for a Burger J H Muller. Anyway, for your enjoyment.. Regards, Chris

Should be noted that in Auction no 64 of City Coins, De la Rey's set of medals sold for a whopping R756000! http://www.citycoins.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Auction-64-PRICES-REALISED-Final-Listing.pdf Check for lot number 103.

Hi there Mervyn Here's something that should put the matter to rest.. http://books.google.co.za/books?id=lQKM_11D6I0C&pg=PA656&lpg=PA656&dq=Gatsrand+Commando&source=bl&ots=4YgpwTg5AH&sig=8DZamHbsZrZWH_yxtt2599XW5XM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=4YwhU9zUBcje7AaMn4DwCg&ved=0CGAQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=Gatsrand%20Commando&f=false Oh, and thanks, now I know which way to display the Swart medal.

Good day to all. Just spoke to the Department of Defence Archives and was put through to the man who deals with ABO medals. He told me to send him an email with all the details of the two gents and hopefully he can send me their form Bs and any other info they might have. He suggested I look a bit further to see if either went on to fight in World War One. Anyway, thank you Chris Boonzaier for helping me out and I shall place what I receive on this post. Chris

Ah I see. Would that be the Department of Defense Archives then?

I'll give the Cape Town Archives a call tomorrow and perhaps they can get the Pretoria National Archives to send them some info. Could be an interesting little research project. Thanks again for your help. Narrowed the search down consideribly.

Baie dankie Chris! Is there perhaps a site I can read up on these two gents?

Evening Mike I've looked there before and didn't find either of their names. The best I could find was a Korpl J J Muller. I suppose they could have used 'H' as his second name is Johannes but I doubt it. The complete roll would be quite larger than that considering it only has 451 records compared to the close on 14000 ABO medals issued. Any other sources I might look at? Chris

Greetings to all. I would like to find some information on two ABO medals I recently purchased. One to a Korpl J H Muller and another to a Burger F C Swart. Both in relatively good condition, one with a WW1 suspender and the other with the WW2 suspender and block letters. Any information, such as Commandos that they fought in, battles they took part in and any other Boer War and post Boer War info would be greatly appreciated. Regards, Chris