Brett Hendey

Mike My badge-collecting friend says that the Transvaal Town Police badge is a rare and valuable find. Congratulations on your good fortune. There cannot be too many Canadians with the service indicated by the three badges, assuming they were all worn by the same man, and I wonder if it would be possible to identify the possibilities? I am still in awe of Canadian record-keeping, so I hope you are successful if you do a search. Regards Brett

Hi Mike A very interesting find! I think the Transvaal Town Police badge is a rarity. I will ask a badge collector friend for his opinion. Regards Brett

Hi Jeff A great medal group! I used to collect RN medals, but gave up because of the difficulty in researching post-WWI groups. I regret it when I see a group like Thorn's. Regards Brett

Mervyn That must be a rarity! A QSA to a Cyclist is new to me. Thanks for showing it. Regards Brett

Owain The local representative of the Rundgren clan is very keen to acquire the medal, which belonged to his father's eldest brother. I will pm you the name and e-mail address of Natal's Rundgren so you can contact him directly. He will be very pleased to reunite the medal with his family and I am sure that he will express his gratitude accordingly. My thanks again for your kindness. Regards Brett

Owain I will forward your very considerate offer to the man concerned and get back to you with his response. Good luck on your future auction hunts. Regards Brett

Owain A member of the Rundgren family, whose family was from Kenya, is a well known battlefield guide in Natal. I am sure that he will be interested to hear about the medal and he will probably be able to give information about E Rundgren. If you PM me, I will give you his e-mail address. Regards Brett

Owain It is a South African medal group and service papers will be on file in Pretoria. A new member of the GMIC is Aud and she is a well known researcher in South Africa who will be able to copy the papers for you. Regards Brett

Mike Perhaps there are no Spanish-American War enthusiasts on the GMIC. Elsewhere I have a post asking for information/advice on researchig a Canadian who served in this war, and there has been no response to that post either. Regards Brett

While researching a man who served in South Africa during the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), and with South African forces during World War I, I have discovered that he was a Canadian who had previously served in the 1898 Spanish-American War. The record of his life in South Africa, where he had settled in 1899 and where he died in 1954, is interesting enough to warrant a post on this forum, but it would be even better if I could add something about his Canadian origins and his service with the US forces in the Spanish-American War. I hope that anyone reading this post who can offer advice or provide information will respond. The man was: William Joseph Cox, born in New Brunswick, Canada, in about 1877. He claimed 5 months service during the Spanish-American War. I suspect that he was a horseman with the US Army, because when he arrived in South Africa he enlisted in an irregular regiment of mounted infantry, the South African Light Horse, which was to achieve fame during the war. Cox was soon promoted to Corporal and then Sergeant, which suggests that he was a skilled mounted soldier. There is evidence that he was also courageous, since he was twice "Mentioned in Despatches". On the first occasion, he was one of a party of SALHorsemen who swam across the Tugela River to retrieve a ferry on the opposite bank, while under fire from the Boers. He was awarded the Queen's South Africa medal with six clasps (Cape Colony, Tugela Heights, Orange Free State, Relief of Ladysmith, Laing's Nek & Belfast). During World War I, he served successively in four units and ended up as a Lieutenant in the Intelligence Department in 1919, after the war had ended, in Nyasaland (now Malawi). There are some intriguing entries in his WWI file that must still be resolved. One of the mysteries is that while he was awarded the 1914/15 Star, he did not receive the War and Victory Medals to which he should also have been entitled. Brett

Mervyn Congratulations on another excellent find. You have indeed been very fortunate with your recent acquisitions. Regards Brett

I have acquired a group of medals awarded to British soldier who served with the King's Royal Rifle Corps in India in the 1890's and in the Boer War in 1899-1902. He later settled in South Africa and served in the Rand Rifles in the 1914 Rebellion and in the German South West African campaign of World War I. His medals, which are shown below, are: India Medal (Relief of Chitral clasp). Private, 1st KRRC. Queen's South Africa Medal (Talana, Transvaal; late issue Cape Colony, Orange Free State missing) King's South Africa Medal (South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902) The above two medals were awarded for service as a Private in the 1st KRRC Mounted Infantry and, later, in the 25th (KRRC) Mounted Infantry Battalion. He was taken prisoner at Talana, the first setpiece battle of the Boer War, and released after Pretoria was captured by the British. 1914/15 Star, War Medal, Victory Medal. Sergeant, Rand Rifles. The curious thing about these medals is that they have been mounted for wear in reverse order, except that the QSA and KSA are transposed. My immediate assumption was that the medals were worn by a next-of-kin on the right chest, hence the reverse order. However, several well-informed people have informed me that they have never seen another example of a deliberate reversing of order to accommodate the custom of nok's wearing medals on the right chest. Medals mounted in conventional order are simply worn on the right, rather than the left chest. I would be very grateful for any opinions on this curious mounting. Brett

belgoman Thank you for a very helpful post. Regards Brett

milhistry Thanks for that tip. I will pass it on to the researcher who will be doing the search. Regards Brett

Arthur, thank you again for being so prompt and helpful in your responses. I need to find someone who has already thoroughly researched the Rand Rifles and the Miner's Revolt for their own purposes! The medals in question should be arriving soon and when I have them in hand I will approach a researcher to look for relevant records in Pretoria. There may be no more than a single card, but perhaps something useful will come from it. Regards Brett

Thanks again, Arthur. I am passing on the information you and William have provided to a friend, who is also interested in the Rand Rifles. He pointed out the the Rand Rifles of the Boer War were (?mainly) mine guards, so perhaps the premature recruitment was amongst those men. I wonder if there is any way of establishing the names of RR veterans who went on to take part in the 1922 Miner's Revolt? Do you know the name of the Officer Commanding the Rand Rifles and if a regimental nominal roll exists? Regards Brett

Arthur I have done an Internet check and Rand Rifles, the place between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund, still exists and seems to be a holiday resort of some significance. Even an assemblage of available young ladies is advertised. They would no doubt have been much appreciated had they been available in 1915. While the regiment has long since ceased to exist, its lives on in Namibia as an unusual place name. Regards Brett

William Every little bit helps and I am grateful to you for adding to the picture of the Rand Rifles. I am looking forward to the medals arriving in their new home, after which I will ask for papers to be copied. Regards Brett

Arthur Many thanks for the information, which is exactly what I had been hoping to get. Regards Brett

I have acquired a medal group that includes a World War I trio named to a soldier in the Rand Rifles. I have discovered by consulting Chris' "imperial-research.net/gswa" site that the Rand Rifles were part of "Military District No. 8" and took part in both the Rebellion and the GSWA campaign. The only book I have that deals with this period does not mention the Rand Rifles and I would be grateful for any information about this apparently short-lived regiment. Brett

Will Thank you for showing us more of your amazing collection. In spite of my interest in the SAMR and its foundations, I had not seen many of the badges in your displays. Regards Brett

I think Colonel McCrae would be ashamed by the behaviour of his descendents. Brett

BP I have attached a very poor picture of the SE quadrant of the Belgian UN Korea Medal in my collection. I hope this helps. If not, I will try again. Regards Brett

BP The Belgian UN Korea Medal in my collection has the "J. DEMERET" inscription followed by "51", perhaps indicating the date of design or date of manufacture. It has a replacement ribbon with neither the safety pin nor the double bayonet pins. The latter must have been the contemporary method of attachment. Perhaps the medal in your collection is recent copy. Evidently, there are many official and unofficial copies of the original UN Korea Medals in circulation, so the Belgian medal may now have been added to this list. Regards Brett

Mervyn By way of contrast, it would be interesting to see examples of the devalued Zimbabwe dollar notes with numbers in the millions and billions. I had a few examples but I gave them to my younger son who lives in the UK. Perhaps someone else can oblige? Regards Brett