TOPIC:

Thanks Brett - capital stuff.

I don't have a copy of Uys' Delville Wood book but I'll bet it contains lots of leads for me.

Brett Hendey wrote: Not really what you are looking for, Meurig, but nevertheless the QSA of a Somme battle casualty - Trooper Thorkel Waltham Bru-de-Wold, who served with the Natal Police in the Siege of Ladysmith. During the 1906 Natal Rebellion he was a Captain in the Mapping Department of the Natal Militia. During World War I, he served first with Enslin's Horse in the German South West African Campaign. He then served with the South African Infantry in Egypt before moving to France. He was killed in action at Delville Wood on the 15th day of the Battle of the Somme serving as a Second-Lieutenant in A Company, 2nd SA Infantry, which had been raised in Natal.

I have his QSA, but his Rebellion Medal is missing, and his 1914/15 Star trio was probably never claimed. An unnamed trio has been added to his QSA. His next-of-kin was his sister. Both siblings were childless. They were the only children of Colonel H T Bru-de-Wold CMG DSO VD, Officer Commanding the Natal Militia during the Rebellion, and one of the Colony of Natal's most distinguished soldiers.

Brett

The scans are from Ian Uys' book 'Roll Call. The Delville Wood Story' Uys Publishers 1991.

Ian Uys' book is well worth having because of its nominal rolls and accounts of the Battle of Delville Wood. Compared to the actual number of British casualties on the Somme, the South African losses at Delville Wood hardly rate, but they were sorely felt in places like Natal, where so many of the casualties had been recruited. Bru-de-Wold's home town, Maritzburg, was hard hit. The outporing of pariotism that followed the disaster led to many man volunteering to fill the gaps in the South African Infantry. One such volunteer was was my great-uncle, Albert Henry Charles Elkington, who was then 37 years old. He went on to die of wounds in the 3rd Battle of Ypres on 21/9/1917. His sister, my grandmother, preserved relics of his life with the family bible, so she was clearly very affected by his death. At least Elkington has a grave, which Meurig has photographed for me. Bru-de-Wold was not so fortunate. His name is inscribed on the memorial at Thiepval, which was at the centre of the commemoration on 1/7/1916.

Brett

Hi
Pte Marshall was KiA 100 years ago on 18 July 1916. He was also severely wounded during the Boer War.




13 May 1901: Doornhoek
From Arthur Conan.Doyle’s “The Great Boer War” 1902 edition:
“To continue the survey of the operations in the Cape, the first point scored was by the invaders, for Malan's commando succeeded upon May 13th in overwhelming a strong patrol of the Midland Mounted Rifles, the local colonial corps, to the south of Maraisburg. Six killed, eleven wounded, and forty-one prisoners were the fruits of his little victory, which furnished him also with a fresh supply of rifles and ammunition”.
This skirmish took place on the farm Doornhoek. In the SAFF Casualty Roll the men taken prisoner are not recorded, and 3 names are listed under Komgha Mounted Volunteers .

• QSA, 1 bar CC: Tpr. R. Marshall, Midland M.R.; BWM & AVM(Bil): Pte. R. Marshall. 2nd. S.A.I.
Robert Marshall was severely wounded in the skirmish at Doornhoek. Although this was recorded in the SAFF Casualty Roll under Komgha Mounted Volunteers, his QSA was issued off the roll of the Midlands Mounted Rifles.
He enlisted in the 2nd SA Infantry at East London on 10 August 1915 with an entry “2 bullet wounds 1901” on his Medical History Form.
After the Senussi Campaign in Egypt (Jan – March 1916) his unit disembarked at Marseilles on 20 April 1916. Three months later, on 18 July 1916, Marshall was killed at Delville Wood. On that day an estimated 600 German guns blasted the wood and its occupants for eight hours with high-explosive shells: at times the rate of shelling reached seven per second and more than 200 000 shells fell in an area of less than a square mile.
Like so many of his comrades he has no known grave, but his name is recorded on the Thiepval Memorial.

Henk

Thank you very much Henk - back from my holidays so now updated on the blog.

Another interesting anomaly shown up here: the Komgha Mounted Volunteers do not have a medal roll page. There is a DMT and TG for Komgha. I checked in The Times and Marshall is shown as "Komgha Mounted Volunteers", distinct from casualties for the Midland Mounted Rifles. Tylden does not list a "Komgha Mounted Volunteers".

Additionally The Times shows two casualties for the action at Doornhoek which are shown in SAFF as "Doornkop".

Hi all.


I recently bought a neat Sudan / WW1 medal group to RSM Cameron - 4 SAI. He was killed on the first day of the battle at Delville Wood. This group has featured under the heading of 'Medals to the Seaforth Highlanders". There is sufficient mention of this soldier in Uys's book on Delville Wood and others but what I do need some assistance with is:

a. Has anyone done any research on the number of Delville Wood participants who received QSA's - specifically SA forces?
b. Has anyone done any research on QSA' recipients killed on the first day of the Battle of Delville Wood or killed in general?

Hoping for some assistance from this remarkable forum.
Many thanks

Goose

Good evening. My name is Denzil Bazley, HT Bru de Wold was my great uncle, married to my gr-grandfather's sister Sarah, not Helen as per Uys' book. I am currently writing BdW's story and following up on the loss of his medal's from the NMR Museum. If you have any references to BdW and his son T W BdW, I would really appreciate them.