TOPIC:

Frank
Unless a source is available online I have not investigated further, WO126 as far as I know needs a physical visit to the PRO, I am quite happy about Tatham as it stands. Thanks to all for the lists shown, I shall join Rory in the quest for a colonial Spion Kop casualty!!

Just for interest is another in my collection, QSA, 1 clasp, Relief of Ladysmith to 922 Pte F. Horsham, IMP : LT : INFY.


Attested for service 26th November 1899 and died of disease 12th January 1900, just over a month later. He had the dubious honour (according to my research) of being the first member of the regiment to die on active service, a sobering thought to his fellow comrades no doubt, He is buried in Fort Napier Pietermaritzburg, and it is interesting to note the common headstone found on I.L.I. graves. These were paid for by subscription by members of the regiment and follow a similar trend found with headstones to members of the Imperial Light Horse.

Regards
Jon

Jon
Thank you for posting Horsham's story. Although only an aside in the ILI's history, it does reveal the insidious disease risk that faced all the men in uniform in Natal at that time. A very special QSA to have in your collection.
Regards
Brett

PS This has turned into a most interesting and rewarding thread. Thank you to all who added to it.

Hello Jon,
Yes, a visit to the reading room at Kew is needed, to be quite honest, the ILI papers are a little disappointing and don't go as far as some of the other SAMIF papers, although, on occasion, there is some additional contemporary annotation in the case of casualties, like those of the ILH.
That single clasp is a particularly nice example to have in a ILI collection, certainly not something you would normally expect to see, do you know anything else about him, is he commemorated in Ladysmith?
Regards Frank

crypt wrote: Frank
Unless a source is available online I have not investigated further, WO126 as far as I know needs a physical visit to the PRO, I am quite happy about Tatham as it stands. Thanks to all for the lists shown, I shall join Rory in the quest for a colonial Spion Kop casualty!!

Just for interest is another in my collection, QSA, 1 clasp, Relief of Ladysmith to 922 Pte F. Horsham, IMP : LT : INFY.

Attested for service 26th November 1899 and died of disease 12th January 1900, just over a month later. He had the dubious honour (according to my research) of being the first member of the regiment to die on active service, a sobering thought to his fellow comrades no doubt, He is buried in Fort Napier Pietermaritzburg, and it is interesting to note the common headstone found on I.L.I. graves. These were paid for by subscription by members of the regiment and follow a similar trend found with headstones to members of the Imperial Light Horse.

Regards
Jon

Hello Brett,
That is certainly very true, dysentery, in particular, could be a real killer, it ran (no pun intended) rife, throughout the Manchester Regiment during their tenure in Ladysmith.
Regards Frank

Brett Hendey wrote: Jon
Thank you for posting Horsham's story. Although only an aside in the ILI's history, it does reveal the insidious disease risk that faced all the men in uniform in Natal at that time. A very special QSA to have in your collection.
Regards
Brett

PS This has turned into a most interesting and rewarding thread. Thank you to all who added to it.

Morning All

Finally after all these years I had the means to acquire a Colonial casualty for Spion Kop

In the recent DNW auction several Spion Kop casualties were on sale, and as I was on a bus between Berlin and Prague at the time I was unable to follow the live bidding, so took a gamble and left nominal bids on the two Colonial KIA, hoping to get either the Imperial Light Infantry or the Thorneycroft's M.I.

I was dreading getting both, but I had prepared my wife for that outcome and buttered her up in the preceding days.

To my surprise I was top bidder on the QSA to Pte C.F. Snaith Imp:Lt:Infy, and at a hammer price well below my bid.

He is listed on the memorial at Spion Kop, as well as the Boer War Memorial in Saltwell Park, Gateshead (UK).


I was surprised by the lower prices achieved by many Boer War Medals compared to Sept 2013 sale, but I suppose with the recent City Coins auction, and perhaps market conditions at present resulted in lower prices being achieved.


Regards

Jon

Very well done Jon! It is a sobering thought that the price has come down so much in the span of 4 years though.

Was this beauty from Doug Jenkins' collection? He is a member here.

Regards

Rory