Canrobert Posted March 12, 2018 Posted March 12, 2018 Hi, Just picked up a Boer War badge which i know little about other than it's a British American squadron of the 4th County of London Yeomanry. My question is if this was an imperial Yeomanry unit, what was the company and battalion numbers for it. I'm damned if i can find them. I also need to know how these units were named on the QSA/KSA; i.e. ? ? IY or Kings Colonial or other. Thanyou.
QSAMIKE Posted March 13, 2018 Posted March 13, 2018 Hello Canrobert......... Suggest you look here: http://www.steppingforwardlondon.org/the-kings-colonials-imperial-yeomanry.html They did not see service in the Boer War as a unit...... Mike
Canrobert Posted March 13, 2018 Author Posted March 13, 2018 Hello Mike, Thankyou for replying. My only interest is in QSA's and combinations/groups to Colonial mounted units and Imperial Yeomanry. I've been collecting these on and off for forty years. However, collecting to this theme, one very quickly finds that you are left with only the rarities to find. I picked up this badge from a local fair on Sunday because the price was right, and it sparked an interest as to where the 4th County of London were on the IY lists. I assume by your reply that no medals were issued named to this unit, and that the only chance of getting one is if the recipient served in another unit and then possibly transfered into the Kings Colonials after the war. I would think they would be rare. Anyway, thankyou again. ATB, Mike.
QSAMIKE Posted March 13, 2018 Posted March 13, 2018 Good Morning Mike...... Yes you are correct as far as I know but then again I can be proved wrong and keep learning something..... I have been also collecting QSA's for nearly 50 years and working on the impossible..... Getting at least a single to every unit that served..... I am missing 2 Navy and 2 Cavalry, really hard ones to find and lots of Imp Yeo, SA, Colonial as well...... Mike
Canrobert Posted March 13, 2018 Author Posted March 13, 2018 Good evening Mike, Well, with half a century of experience, there's very little i could surprise you with. But you are right, we continue learning and sometimes in the most unexpected ways. If you wish, let me know what navy and cavalry you need. i have many contacts in the UK. Also, i see Dix, Noonan and Webb are putting a large collection of Imperial Yeomanry up for auction in May. A little story which may interest you:- In the late sixties, a family friend was the C.O. of the Royal Hospital in Chelsea. I always, even in the those days, showed a keen interest in British military history, and Stan, the C.O., invited me to visit and stay at the hospital for the weekend. Needless to say the old boys there, mainly WW1 vets, kept me interested with stories of their exploits. However, Stan had a little surprise in store. In the infirmary was a Boer War man and i was able to visit him for a good two hours. Aged 97/8 his name was Frank Martin, a trooper in the 10th Hussars. I was awestruck by the things he was telling me as you can imagine. The first assignment he had was lining, on horseback, the procession route in London of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. He went out to South Africa sometime in 1901 and apart from his many duties out on the Veld, he specifically remembered being at Government House in Pretoria, again on horseback, when Lord Roberts addressed the troops. That meeting with Frank mean't a great deal to me and i've never forgotten it. I feel so privileged to have had that opportunity. ATB, Mike.
Ulsterman Posted March 13, 2018 Posted March 13, 2018 cool. i met a couple of Boer war vets myself as a kid. Oh to have seen what they did.
QSAMIKE Posted March 13, 2018 Posted March 13, 2018 Good Afternoon Mike...... Many years ago I worked in a local veterans hospital and I also remember meeting a Boer War vet who served in the Imp Yeo. and I remember his saying that over 100 of them arrived in SA and they were issued a dozen horses..... They were mostly office clerks and shop workers and had never ridden a horse in his life neither had many others..... During the war he got to know a number of Canadians and after the war came to Canada instead of going back to UK..... The missing medals: Q.S.A. WANT LIST: Any CANADIAN UNITS CAVALRY: 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards and 4th (The Queen's Own) Hussars ROYAL HORSE ARTILLERY: E, F, I, J, K, O, R, Batteries ROYAL NAVY: H.M.S. Beagle and H.M.S. Widgeon SOUTH AFRICAN CONSTABULARY (Following Specific Men) 2102 3rd CLASS TROOPER CHARLES WILLIAM RYALL 2072 1st CLASS TROOPER WILLIE HERBERT GIBBONS 3420 3rd CLASS TROOPER HAROLD FALTENHINE 2090 1st CLASS TROOPER RICHARD DOUGLAS MUIR 2120 3rd CLASS TROOPER CLAUDE LESLIE YOUNG Mike Just remembered this Mike...... Mike
Canrobert Posted March 14, 2018 Author Posted March 14, 2018 (edited) Hello Ulsterman, I think we have one thing in common; a wonderful sense of history. Something which, unfortunately, has escaped many. Thanks for your input. Mike. Edited March 14, 2018 by Canrobert
Canrobert Posted March 14, 2018 Author Posted March 14, 2018 (edited) Good afternoon Mike, Leave your wants list with me and i'll keep my eyes peeled. Your story about British vets moving to Canada is one i've heard myself and is it any surprise. To a ranker living in Engand in 1900, Canada must have seemed like paradise. Especially if they had friends there and other Brits. I think the same is true of South Africa; especially the Cape. I have a number of groups to men who transferred to South African raised units and after the war were offered jobs in the SAC and/or the BSAP. Wonderful QSA display. Thankyou for sharing it again; it must have taken you a long time. ATB, Mike. Edited March 14, 2018 by Canrobert Spelling error
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