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Paul very many thanks for taking the time and trouble to post all these invaluable pages from Birkin's book.

The 111th Company Casualties of 17th June 1901

Birkin wrote:

It was at Maraisburg that the 111th had their first fight. After a long chase the Boers, late in the day, took cover in some mountains at Klipfontein. Colonel Crabbe ordered Lieutenant Slaughter and twelve men of the 111th to charge the kopje – a severe enough test in all conscience and, as it proved, a disastrous one. Lieutenant Slaughter with his twelve men galloped to the kopje and at the foot were received by a veritable hail of bullets. A high barbed wire fence barred further progress and a successful retirement was impossible. Happily the ground was intersected by ruts and watercourses and in these the men lay down, leaving the safety of their horses to chance. For four hours the men lay prostrate, during which time our guns unceasingly shelled the Boer position, and when at last darkness came on the survivors crept away into safety. The attack had been attended with heavy loss. Lieutenant Slaughter was shot in no less than five places, happily without fatal result. Trooper Maltby was killed, having in his body seventeen bullets. Trooper Ward was shot through the spine, whilst most of the horses were riddled. Lieutenant Slaughter was, unfortunately incapacitated for further service and his loss was a heavy one. During the fighting he had with three bullets in his body, carefully tended Trooper Maltby, and it was while thus engaged that he received two more. The squadron could ill afford to lose men of his calibre.

Lieutenant Slaughter was Edward Joseph Slaughter born January 1872 in London. He was the son of a London solicitor. He was invalided home some seven weeks after he was wounded, on 8th August aboard the Assaye arriving at Southampton on 27th August 1901. At the time of the 1911 Census he was living in digs in London and working as a “solicitor’s managing clerk”. In 1917 he married Grace Pellow and their only child, a daughter, was born the next year. By the time of the 1921 Census he had qualified as a Solicitor and became the senior partner in the firm of Slaughter & Colgrave situated near the Strand in London. He passed away in Cornwall in July 1954 aged 82. He would have been aged 42 at the start of the Great War and there is no evidence that he served in that conflict. The impact of five Boer bullets does not seem to have shortened his life. The service of Edward in the Second Boer War and his younger brother Reginald is commemorated on Panel 1 of Hampstead’s Roll of Honour in what was once Hampstead Town Hall:

www.angloboerwar.com/forum/17-memorials-...ll-of-honour?start=0

32390 Trooper Charles Maltby was born in Wakefield and was 25 years of age when he died. When he attested in Doncaster he gave his occupation as “plumber” and his next of kin as his sister – so presumably both his parents were dead. He had previously served in a militia battalion attached to the Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.

Then we have Trooper Ward “shot through the spine” which sounds like a case of partial paralysis at the best. Birkin’s Nominal Roll identified him as 27380 W Ward and he was invalided home. The service records of 27380 Walter Ward show he stayed the course and returned home unwounded with the remnants of the Company in August 1902. Neither was he 32477 Herbert Ward who as the Nominal Roll and his service records show also stayed the course although he did spend three months in jail for being asleep on duty. When he was discharged his conduct was given as “latterly good”. I was about to give up when a further attempt produced an isolated sheet of the 111th Company Medal Roll drawn up in 1904 with one name on it - 30361 W Ward who was discharged “medically unfit” on 5th February 1902. His service records confirm he is the Walter Ward who Birkin should have included on the Nominal Roll as invalided home.

30361 Trooper Walter Ward. His service records report he suffered a gunshot wound to the back and arrived back in the UK on 5th January 1902 and was discharged "medically unfit" a month later. He was born in Clerkenwell in London, the son of an Undertaker (in the funereal sense). By the age of 16 in 1891 he was employed as a coffin maker. He attested at the Pall Mall Deposit in London. After the war he returned to making coffins in London as shown by the 1911 & 1921 census returns and the 1939 Register. The 1911 Census indicated he married a lady called Ethel in 1909 and they had a daughter in early 1911. The 1921 Census indicated no addition to their family and by 1939 Walter was a widower. I can find no confirmable record of his death but despite having been “shot through the spine” when he was 26 he lived to celebrate his 64th birthday when he was still gainfully employed. I wonder if Birkin exaggerated the nature of his injury.

Popping back to the other Walter (27380). After the war he emigrated to Canada as a married man. Come the Great War he duly enlisted in the CEF and returned to England as a Sergeant in the 79th Battalion of the Canadian Infantry. He was never to get further than England as it was decided to operate there on his deformed right hand. The operation was not a success and he returned to Canada where he was discharged “medically unfit” with Walter claiming the operation had made the condition worse. Wading through the pages of medical notes it transpires that Walter claimed his deformed hand dated back to 1889, when he was 8 years of age and cut his hand on a salmon tin, the wound became infected and when the consequent swelling subsided he was left with a deformed hand – his middle and index fingers were crooked with limited mobility. Even so he was passed fit by the doctor who examined him in Derby in February 1901 and presumably passed the subsequent marksmanship test required for service in the Imperial Yeomanry. His October 1915 Canadian attestation papers show he was a resident of Manitoba and employed as a “Section Foreman”. The only comment under “Distinctive marks, and marks indicating congenital peculiarities or previous disease” was “snake tattooed on his left arm” – this appears to have been an addition since his 1901 examination in Derby. There is no doubt that they were one and the same man as both were born in the village of Allestree just outside Derby at the same time – today Allestree is a suburb of Derby.

So what clasps were these three casualties awarded to adorn their QSA Medal ribbons?

Based on service records and the November 1901 Medal Roll:
Lieutenant Slaughter – Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, South Africa 1901
32390 Trooper Charles Maltby - Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, South Africa 1901

Based on his service record and the 1904 Medal Roll:
30361 Trooper Walter Ward – Cape Colony, South Africa 1901

Which is interesting considering each page of the November 1901 Medal roll is overwritten:
“With Col Crabbs Column in Cape Colony. Travelled through Orange Free Colony on their way to Elandsfontein but saw no service in Transvaal & Orange Free State”.

Paul Dunn possesses 5 QSA’s issued to men of the 111th and they all bear the 3 state clasps.

Does anybody possess the QSA issued to Trooper 30361 Walter Ward?

The 111th Company Casualties of 24th January 1902

Birkin wrote:

When the column had forced its way through the pass, the fighting force stood to arms throughout the night, and next morning was ordered to advance on a farm that should have been the outspanning place the evening before. No sooner had the advance guard got within hailing distance than they were ordered “hands up”, but preferred instead to gallop away, upon which some of them were shot. A big fight was quickly in progress. Flanking parties were sent out, the 111th was escort to the guns, and a small patrol under Sergeant Gardner was ordered to the left to keep a sharp look-out. This proved a disastrous movement for Sergeant Gardner and his men. He had penetrated a considerable distance and had reached what he thought to be excellent cover, when some sixty Boers, whose presence was unknown to him, burst out on the left. The opposing forces were, for a time, concealed from one another, and Sergeant Gardner was ignorant of the fact that he was directly in the Boer line of retreat. The consequence was that the enemy swooped down on to this little force and they met in mutual surprise. Sergeant Gardner was asked to surrender, but would not hear of it, and was shot dead, while Sergeant Powell, and Troopers Jackson and Goodley were seriously wounded. The remaining three men of the patrol, after being stripped of their putties, spurs, rifles, bandoliers, and horses, were allowed to go.

Sergeant Gardner was 32334 Sergeant Ernest Gardner. He came from Sheffield and was aged 31 at the time of his death. When he attested in Doncaster he gave his occupation as “joiner” and claimed previous military experience with a volunteer unit in Leeds where he was living at the time. He left behind a widow and two young children.

Sergeant? Powell – his service record and discharge papers indicate he enlisted as a “Private” and was discharged as a “Private” and in newspaper casualty lists he was given the rank of “Trooper”. His service number was 32413 and his full name was Edwin Aigner Powell. He was the son of the Vicar of Heptonstall. (Heptonstall in Yorkshire is the neighbouring village to Hebden Bridge where “Last of the Summer Wine” was filmed.) Edwin was actually born in Halifax and when he attested in Doncaster gave his occupation as “Gentleman”. He was aged 26 when he was wounded and his service record reported he received a gunshot wound to the thorax which gave him breathing difficulties. Birkin’s Nominal Roll shows he was invalided home on 9th April 1902, his service record shows he arrived back in England on the 29th April 1902 and he was discharged “medically unfit” six weeks later on 12th June 1902. His discharge papers gave his conduct as “Good” and had an additional page bearing a note written and signed by Edwin – “Pay is due to me from about the 14 April 1901 to date of discharge less the following advances – S Africa £27.12.0 and Shornecliffe £37.0.0”. This indicates he spent the final six weeks of his service at Shorncliffe Camp in Kent where there was a hospital. After the war he followed in his father’s footsteps and took Holy Orders. In 1909 he emigrated to the United States of America and a year later married an American lady, Olivia Heinrich in Ohio. He died of heart failure in 1948 aged 73 in The Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. Olivia outlived him and presumably had a hand in formulating his obituary which claimed he served as a Cavalry Captain in the Boer War where he was severely wounded and decorated for his bravery.

Trooper Jackson was 32364 Trooper Alfred Jackson. He was born in Market Weighton which is a town in the East Yorkshire Wolds about midway between York & Hull. The 1891 Census shows he was one of six children and his father was a “shoemaker”. When he attested in Doncaster he gave his occupation as “fireman”. When he was wounded he was 22 years of age and his service records reported he suffered gunshot wounds to both arms and his left hip and the radius bone in his left arm was fractured. Birkin’s Nominal Roll shows he was invalided home but does not give the date, his service record shows he arrived back in England on 4th April 1902 and was discharged at Shorncliffe Camp a month later. The 1911 Census return shows he married a lady called Lucy in 1907 and they had two children aged 3 and 2. The family were living in Market Weighton and Alfred gave his occupation as “maltster’s labourer”. On St Valentine’s Day 1914 Alfred rejoined the army enlisting in the Army Service Corps. At the medical it was noted he had bullet scars on both arms. Three weeks after the start of the Great War he was posted to France but returned home after 7 weeks. During March 1915 he was again posted to France where he was to remain for nearly 11 months. During his time in France he seems to have been based at depots rather than being in a combat role. In March 1916 he seems to have been transferred to a home Labour Corps and it is unclear when he was finally discharged. The 1921 Census return shows the family still living in Market Weighton and Alfred employed as a labourer in a local nursery (in the plant sense). At the time of the 1939 Register Alfred & Lucy were still living at the same address and Alfred was still a “nursery labourer”. I can find no confirmed record of his death but despite his Boer War injuries he lived to be at least 60 when he was still in gainful employment.

Trooper Goodley was 32327 Trooper John Goodley. He was born in Whittlesea, Cambridgeshire and his father was an “agricultural labourer”. When he attested in Doncaster he had been married for 18 months and had a six month old son. His wife started out life in Nottingham as Nora Elizabeth Chambers and three years before John. The marriage also took place in Nottingham but they had moved to Doncaster by the time John attested. He gave his occupation as “contractor’s checker” and his age as 24. His service record reported he suffered a gunshot wound in the back on 24th January 1902 but he was obviously the least wounded as he was never invalided home and returned home with the remnants of the Company in August 1902. In June 1902 he had been promoted to Corporal and his discharge papers reported his conduct as “very good”. Nora Elizabeth and their, by then, 3 children can be found on the 1911 Census living in Preston Terrace, off Bunbury Street in Nottingham and Nora is having to provide an income for her young family ranging from 3 to 10 years old by working as a “Blouse Machinist”. John can also be found on the 1911 Census return for Nottingham but he was one of 859 patients residing in the Nottingham City Lunatic Asylum and written in the right hand column of the form against his name was the word “lunatic”. By the time of the Great War he must have recovered because he served in the 7th Battalion of the Northamptonshire Regiment. On 17th July 1916 he was killed in action during the Somme Campaign aged 39 and his body was never recovered. He is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial. Nora Elizabeth never remarried and passed away in 1961.

The November Medal Roll for the 11th Company shows all four of the above were awarded five QSA clasps – Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, South Africa 1901 & South Africa 1902.

Reference to Birkin’s Nominal Roll shows the 111th were to suffer two more fatalities – victims of disease rather than combat. Their service records and newspaper casualty lists agree with Birkin. They will have to wait for my next post but I have located the South African death certificate for one which adds extra dimensions to his story and the other left behind a widow and young family.

The 111th Company Fatalities Due To Disease

32246 Trooper James William Bowness was drawn to my attention when my cousin Lesley sent me her spare copy of “The History of Upton-Kexby” compiled by the Upton-Kexby Historical Society to celebrate the Millennium.

Upton & Kexby are two small villages which lie to the east of Gainsborough, the villages to the east of Gainsborough are fertile ground for hunting for the ancestors of my paternal grandmother. Lesley’s purpose was to see if I could establish a definite link between the “important” Seneschall family of Upton, which included two spinster sisters who lived in the same house but never spoke to each other, and our mutual 3 X great grandfather, William Seneschal (1773-1860) who died in the village to the immediate south of Upton. I could not and have passed the matter on to my niece Kati whose recent family history discovery had us all ducking imaginary cannonballs fired from a French Frigate in the Napoleonic Wars. Apologies I am digressing and being self-indulgent.

Getting back on track the following sentence in the document caught my attention especially as the family tree developed by Kati has at least one Bowness making an appearance. “Miss Harpham could just remember the Boer War. One Mr Will Bowness from Upton, uncle to the Fotheringham’s was in the yeomanry and died on the battlefield.” It did not take long to identify “Will” as his service record gave his next of kin as “George Bowness, Upton, nr Gainsboro, Lincolnshire”.

John William or Will, as I shall call him, was actually born in Snitterby, a village lying about 10 miles to the east of Upton. His attestation papers indicate he was born in January 1875 and census returns do not disagree with this. The 1881 Census return found Will, his three siblings and his parents living in Snitterby and shows his father was a “Horse Dealer & Trainer”. The 1891 Census shows the family still living in Snitterby and 16 year old Will was working as an “agricultural labourer”. By the time he attested in Retford on 4th March 1901 the family had obviously moved to Upton and Will gave his occupation as “horse trainer” – so I imagine he was a very welcome recruit to the Imperial Yeomanry and may have provided his own horse. Geography lesson – Gainsborough lies alongside the east bank of the River Trent which forms the border between Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire and Retford is about 12 miles to the south west of Gainsborough.

Will, who had no previous military experience, set sail for South Africa on 23rd March 1901 with the rest of what was to become the 111th Company, 3rd Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry. Birkin above describes the movements and adventures of the 111th Company in South Africa. During February 1902 Will must have begun to feel unwell as he was admitted to the 21st General Hospital at Deelfontein on 26th February suffering from enteric fever. Eight days later, on 5th March 1902 he died aged 27 years. His South African Death Certificate tells us his illness was overseen by Civil Surgeon Hale and Nursing Sister Ethel Harmer was at his bedside when he died.

Civil Surgeon Hale was Lancelot Hugh Downman Hale born 1869 in Eton because his father Rev Edward Hale was a master at Eton College where he was known by the pupils as “Badger”. Lancelot attended Eton College and qualified as a doctor at London University. His “service” in the Second Boer War earned a QSA with the two dates clasps. He married after the Boer War and returned to South Africa where he died in 1920 whilst living in Pretoria. Below he is fourth from the right in the middle row and determinedly not looking at the camera.



Nursing Sister Ethel Harmer was born Ethel Amelia Harmer in Cromer, Norfolk in 1872. She trained as a nurse at Guy’s Hospital in London. She never married and died in Norwich in 1938. She may be one of the Nursing Sisters in the photograph below which was entitled “Angels in Disguise”. Both photographs were found in an album compiled by Daniel Litton Harding who served in the RAMC and was based at the 21st General Hospital, he can be seen in the above photograph on the back row, extreme left. The album is now part of the Welcome Collection. The 21st General Hospital at Deelfontein started out as the Imperial Yeomanry Hospital and Arthur Sloggett (later Sir and dead centre in the front row) was in overall command throughout most, if not all, of the hospital’s life.



Nursing Sister Ethel Harman wrote letters to Lady Lumsden of Belhelvie, who was a benefactor of the hospital, and two of them were reproduced in the Aberdeen Journal of 7th May 1902:

No. 21 General Hospital, Deelfontein. April 9, 1902.

Dear Lady Lumsden – The cigarettes arrived yesterday just too late for me to catch the English Mail. I have given them all to the Scotsmen. I asked one or two men to write to you themselves, but as “Tommy” in hospital is always very tired, I am rather afraid you will not get the letters. I have not heard anything yet about your box of warm things, but that will, of course, be much later coming by the transport. We have just heard some very bad war news. Another of our columns is reported captured by the Boers, and here in Cape colony, not far from our place. It is very dreadful if true, especially as there seem to be so many columns all around. It is a strange thing how the Boers surprise our men and take them prisoners.

April 14.

There are about 600 men in hospital, but only a few really bad enterics. Luckily, enteric has been much milder this year than last. Poor Cecil Rhodes’s death has made a great stir out here. The funeral train passed through last Friday week on its way up to Matoppos, in Rhodesia, where the body is buried. We were allowed into the saloon to see the coffin, which was on a gun carriage, and covered with the Union Jack. The flowers were simply beautiful.

Your very truly, Ethel Harmer.

And from the same album here is the Union Jack Flag draped coffin bearing the body of Cecil Rhodes.



Will was buried in the Deelfontein Military Cemetery.

Back home in Upton the 1911 Census return shows Will’s father, George had expanded his business interests and taken over running the Upton Post Office (thankfully before Horizon came on the horizon). Actually I think Will’s mother, Martha was the one licking the stamps. By the time of the 1921 Census George & Martha had moved to Kexby where George was now working for the local corn miller as a carter, even so they could for apparently the first time in their lives afford a servant. Were Will and his father related to me? No but there is a very tenuous family association - Will had a cousin Albert who was too young to serve in the Boer War but he did marry the niece of one of my maternal Great Grandmothers – as Lesley is a cousin on my father’s side this news did not seem to interest her.


Birkin, at the end of his discourse on the 111th reported that when they had arrived at Victoria Road towards the end of June 1902, because the war had ended, the 111th were able to bury all their sorrows. This was not entirely true as their comrade in arms, 32373 Trooper Harry Percival Lewis succumbed to enteric fever in the 21st General Hospital on 14th July 1902. He was born in 1870 in Oswestry in Shropshire but by the time he attested in Doncaster he was a married man with two young children and the family were living in Sheffield. I presume he was buried alongside Will but not having found his death certificate I cannot confirm that. Harry’s premature death appeared to have repercussions for his son.

Harry’s father seemed to be an unsettled character with a significant change in occupation at each census: 1871 = “Printer, Bookseller, Stationer”; 1881 = “Brewery Agent”; 1891 = “Brush Traveller”. By 1881 the family had left Oswestry and settled in Sheffield where Harry married Nellie Bulmer on 2nd July 1892. On 31st January 1895 George Willie arrived followed by Florrie on 19th April 1893. When 30 year old Harry attested he gave his occupation as “Butcher” and for some reason knocked two years off his age.

The 1901 Census showed Harry’s family living in Sheffield with Nellie working as a “Dressmaker” on her own account no doubt to supplement the army pay she was receiving. In 1909, seven years after Harry’s death she remarried to a Peter Simmonite. I think her second marriage may have been a matter of necessity as the 1911 Census shows they had a two year old son, Edward. Peter Simmonite was a “Commission Agent” (i.e. bookmaker), Nellie was still deriving an income from making dresses, Florrie was at home but George Willie was missing as he was residing in a local Reformatory. In February 1910, aged 15, he appeared in the Magistrates Court where he pleaded guilty to stealing some bedding and clothing valued at 15 shillings and then pawning it. His mother addressed the Bench and asked for him to be “sent away” as it would be better for him and for her. She added that since he had left school two years ago he had only been employed for a fortnight and he was very backward. He was sentenced to stay in a reformatory until he was 19 years of age. The admissions register for the Reformatory has survived which tells us 15 year old George weighed only 6 stone but he could read & write “fairly well” – not sure I would call that “very backward” but he was definitely undernourished. Among other things it tells us his mother was “steady and honest” but his stepfather was “otherwise” and liked to spend his money on beer and consequently was at times short of money. However, whoever filled out the register considered his stepfather did not mistreat him despite the “cut scar on the bridge of his nose”. I will leave you to make up your own mind regarding George’s relationship with his mother & stepfather.

I can find no evidence that George Willie served in the Great War but the 1921 Census found him a Sapper in the Royal Engineers based at Greenhill Camp in Sheffield. The 1939 Register found him living in Sheffield and employed as an “electric arc furnace worker”. It also shows he had married a lady called Nellie and, based on two redacted entries, they had two children.


Thus the 111th Company suffered a death rate of 3.2% during their 17 month stay in South Africa during which for 2 months there was no threat from Boer bullets or shells. Thus a bit below average, based on 22,000 out of 500,000 Imperial soldiers perishing, but any statistician would tell me the comparison is not valid for a variety of reasons.

I have just realised I have overlooked another 111th casualty whose wounding on 10th September 1901 led to him being invalided home. Investigation shows the incident involved three soldiers of note, one of whom received recognition by Mildred Dooner, the second was said to be the youngest QMS to serve in the Boer War and the third performed an act of bravery which Kitchener chose not to recommend for recognition. Another post in preparation.

111th Company Casualty & Bravery on 10th September 1901

Trooper Coulson, or more fully 32277 Trooper Harry Coulson received mentions on two different occasions by Birkin.

Birkin was not very good at including dates but the following happened not all that long after the 111th joined Crabbe’s Column and probably in late June/early July 1901 and appears to have been the first direct encounter Harry experienced with the Boers.

A considerable period now elapsed, marked by no incident of importance, the column trekking with pack mules over the Zouberg Mountains in pursuit of various commandoes. During one of these treks, a sergeant and three troopers of the 111th lost the squadron and, after wandering about all night, called in the morning at a farm to obtain food. While there they were surprised by a Boer commando and after a sharp fight three of them surrendered. Trooper Coulston, however, was in ignorance of the surrender of his comrades and continued to hold out until the Boer leader sent Sergeant Pressley to tell him that unless he surrendered at once, he would, when captured, be immediately shot. Thereupon he surrendered, but proved so troublesome to the enemy that they were glad enough ultimately to let him go.

When Harry enlisted in Doncaster on 5th March 1901 he had claimed no previous military experience and 18 days later he was on his way to South Africa where he must have arrived horseless in mid-April as Birkin tells us the 111th did not receive their horses until 9th May 1901 the day after they arrived by train at De Aar. Then “after a period of rigid preparation” they joined Crabbe’s Column on 24th May. So Harry took on the Boers with just a fortnight’s training in being a mounted infantryman under his belt.

According to Birkin on the 10th September 1901 Crabbe’s Column had surrounded a Boer commando led by Van der Mewer. Before going in for the kill Colonel Crabbe decided to bring up a gun and -

During the interval a lieutenant of the Derby Imperial Yeomanry was responsible for an act – brave and reckless though it was – which cost him not only his own life but also the lives of two of his men. To the front was a farm house from which the Boers had fled to the kopje but was still held by some of the enemy. Calling to two of his men, the lieutenant asked them if they would rush the farm with him. They got to within thirty yards of the place, when the Boers shouted “hands up”. The order was complied with, when they were immediately shot, the two men were killed outright and the officer mortally wounded. Colonel Crabbe called for volunteers to fetch in the lieutenant (who was writhing on the ground) and two men of the 111th volunteered. They reached the lieutenant in safety and were in the act of carrying him away when the enemy again fired, blowing off a portion of Trooper Coulson’s foot with an explosive bullet. Promptly he hopped behind an adjacent rock and thus saved his life. Here must be recorded a noteworthy deed of heroism. Trooper Featherstone, undaunted by the fate of his comrade, took the Lieutenant upon his back and, despite his remonstrances, commenced to carry him back towards the British lines. They were now under the concentrated Boer fire from the farmhouse and had proceeded but a short distance when the Lieutenant was shot through the heart, while still upon Featherstone’s back. All unconscious that he was carrying a corpse, the trooper with his inanimate burden reached the Column and was personally congratulated by the Colonel on his bravery.

For the identity of the 104th Company lieutenant and his two comrades who died visit:

www.angloboerwar.com/forum/17-memorials-...mshire?start=6#94024

Presumably Birkin considered Featherstone should receive a DCM for his bravery as the London Gazette of 17th January 1902 shows both Coulson and Featherstone were mentioned in despatches by Lord Kitchener.



How badly was Harry Coulson wounded? His service record reported “Gunshot Wound (fractured left tibia). Not permanent will require 6 months for leg to be quite strong.” A noticeable lack of mention of damage to his foot. Birkin’s nominal roll reported he was invalided home but did not give a date, his service record shows he arrived back in England on 5th December 1901 and was discharged “medically unfit” at Aldershot on 31st January 1902.

Who was Harry Coulson? – he was Leeds through and through. Born in Leeds on 17th December the son of Emmanuel & Louisa Coulson – Emmanuel was a labourer/operative in a Chemical Works. The family lived in a back to back in Chancellor Road. The 1891 Census showed 15 year old Harry working as a “leather dresser”. When he attested in Doncaster he gave his occupation as “Driver”. The 1911 Census found him back in Leeds as a married man of two years standing. He had married a widow with a ready-made family of four sons with ages ranging from 6 to 13 when they married and by 1911 they had a daughter of their own born in 1910. The Census return is headed by Harry’s 68 year old unemployed father-in-law but Harry filled out the form with a bit of difficulty. He badly misspelt his father-in-law’s name and described him as his “Farther”. Harry gave his occupation as “General Carter”. They were living at 12 Speedwell Street which ran off Chancellor Street and the photo below shows Speedwell Street in 1928 with the two children standing by the door of No.12. At first sight it looks a big house until you count the doors and windows which shows it as a two up/two down. Other photos show the houses were also back to backs with shared toilet and washing facilities located in the communal courtyard behind them.



By 1921 the family had moved to Chancellor Street where they were living over the Green Grocers shop run by Harry’s unmarried elder brother. Also living there was Harry’s sister and her husband and 3 children. All these 8 people were sharing accommodation comprising just 3 rooms and it was just as well Harry had not added to his family and his stepsons had moved on. Harry was employed in a nearby factory as a “general labourer”.
The 1939 Register found Harry a 64 year old widower living with his nephew and wife and his unmarried daughter. His nephew was working as a “slater”, his daughter as a “weaver” and Harry was a “knocker up”.
Harry died in Leeds while still living in Speedwell Street on 16th December 1950, one day short of his 75th birthday. He was interred 4 days later in Leeds General Cemetery.

As I said Harry was Leeds through and through and I suspect his injuries on the 10th September 1901 left him with a limp at the very best and affected his subsequent employment. In his sixties did his employer take him on one side and say sorry Harry you are too slow to justify your pay but owing to your exemplary time-keeping we are happy to pay you a couple of quid a week to ensure your mates arrive on time. Did the rat-a-tat of his pole on bedroom windows recall the thud of the Mauser bullets landing around him. Did his stories of far off South Africa keep him in beer at the nearby Chemic Tavern – the day he single handedly took on the Boers until his “bloomin” sergeant ordered him to surrender – the day he attempted to save an officer until a “murdrus” Mauser bullet stopped him in his tracks – the day the great Lord Kitchener mentioned him in a letter to the King – the nights he spent looking up at the stars of the southern hemisphere. When he looked back on his life did he consider the 23rd March to the 5th December 1901 were the best days of his life? Hopefully he managed to put aside enough money each summer to enjoy the performances of Wilfrid Rhodes, Herbert Sutcliffe, Hedley Verity & Len Hutton – Headingly Cricket Ground was slightly under 2 miles from where he lived. He died too soon to savour the great days of Leeds United.

111th Company IY – an Overview and some Stats.

Sources of information:-

Two dozen sets of attestation papers and service records including all those who did not survive or were severely wounded or were mentioned in despatches.

Company Medal Roll (WO 100/121) dated 21st November 1901 but obviously updated after that. This covers 126 of the 127 rank and file.

Company Medal Roll (WO 100/136) dated 11th November 1904. This covers 1 of the 127 rank and file.

The section on the “111th Squadron (Yorkshire Dragoons)” to be found in “History Of The 3rd Regiment Imperial Yeomanry 28-1-00 to 6-8-02” by Lieut-Col. R. L. Birkin. I am grateful to Paul Dunn (dunnboer) for making these pages available to me.

Nomenclature – despite Birkin I have adopted the nomenclature I cut my teeth on with the Pembrokeshire Imperial Yeomanry which complies with that used by the War Office and makes more sense to me. Thus a Regiment to Birkin is a Battalion to me and a Squadron to Birkin is a Company to me.

Contemporary Newspapers available on line through my enhanced membership of Find My Past.

Any errors below are entirely down to me.


The Overview.

The bulk of the men who made up the 111th Company were Yorkshiremen who had attested in Doncaster during February and early March 1901 following a local appeal by the Earl of Scarborough for volunteers to form the second wave of the Imperial Yeomanry. A significant proportion of those who volunteered had no previous military experience. They sailed for South Africa on 23rd March 1901 and on 4th May arrived at De Aar in Cape Colony by train. The following day they were issued with their horses and after a fortnight’s “rigid preparation” they were assigned to a mobile Column commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Eyre Macdonnell Stewart Crabbe.

They served in Crabbe’s Column until the last day of 1901 when they were transferred to mobile Column commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Thompson Capper and they remained with Capper until the end of the war. These Columns were 2 of 17 operating in Cape Colony during this time.

Whilst serving in the Columns sections were at times peeled off to man blockhouses. Birkin mentions this happening more than once and when the wounding of one of the five severely wounded was reported in a local paper his parents told the reporter he had spent time manning blockhouses as well as serving in the Columns. The Times History in a footnote gives the fighting strength of the Company as only 65 in early February 1902 when as part of Capper’s Column they came to the aid of Crabbe’s Column. This shortfall is too large to be accounted for alone by those already invalided home and those ailing in hospital or on blockhouse duty must have also contributed to the shortfall. Thus, knowing a man served in the 111th does not allow one to say they were involved in the four significant encounters the Company experienced unless their role in the encounter was prominent meaning they were a named participant.

The four significant encounters were:

17th June 1901 – near Maraisburg - “their first fight” – the 111th suffered one killed in action and two severely wounded of whom one was an officer.

10th September 1901 – near Ladismith – during an attack on a Boer commando led by Commandant Van der Mewer one man of the 111th was severely wounded whilst trying to save an officer of the 104th Company. Altogether Crabbe’s Column lost 5 dead and another 11 severely wounded.

24th January 1902 - near Sutherland - during an attack on a Boer held farm the 111th were ordered to escort a gun being brought up to the battle scene, half a dozen of their number were then ordered on a reconnoitre which brought them into the path of Boers fleeing the farm – this small group suffered one killed and three severely wounded.

4th/5th February 1902 – near Sutherland - Capper’s Column twice went to the assistance of Crabbe’s Column who had managed to get themselves into difficulties. The Boers were both times driven off without loss to Capper’s Column but in the meantime Crabbe’s Column had lost 31 men killed or severely wounded and the convoy they were helping protect had been destroyed by the Boers.

After the war ended they appear to have kicked their heels until the remnants of the Company left South Africa on 6th August 1902 aboard the Kinfaus Castle and arrived at Southampton on 23th August 1902. They then proceeded to Aldershot where the Company was disbanded a week later on 30th August 1902. There seems to have been no organised welcome home although it was noted in a local newspaper that relatives in Sheffield had bunting and flags out in the expectation of their menfolk returning home.

The Stats.

Based on the Medal Rolls and Birkin’s Nominal Roll the rank and file numbered 127 on formation which was 11 in excess of War Office recommendations issued in January 1900.

Birkin’s writings show the composition of the officers was subject to change. Captain C R Harbord was the commanding officer throughout but he seems to have had more than one period of significant leave. Three Lieutenants are listed on the Medal Roll but there was definitely another who presumably qualified for another Medal Roll. One of the listed Lieutenants was severely wounded in “their first fight” and invalided home during August 1901.

Regarding the all- important rank and file:

2 were killed in action and 2 died of disease.

5 were reported severely wounded. 4 of these were invalided home and discharged “medically unfit”. The fifth recovered in South Africa and returned home with the remnant Company.

A further 31 were also invalided home presumably owing to sickness and disease. Of these 20 were discharged medically unfit and the other 11 at their own request, so they had presumably recovered during the voyage home and any subsequent medical treatment.

When the remnant Company returned home 3 were left behind in South Africa, sick in hospital.

4 opted to be discharged in South Africa.

Thus the remnant Company who disembarked at Southampton were 81 in number comprising 64% of the original.

2 were mentioned in despatches – for their actions on 10th September 1901.

All the rank and file, bar one, were subsequently awarded QSA Medals with all three state clasps plus one or two date clasps depending on when they returned home. The exception was the one who was listed alone on the 1904 Medal Roll who was issued with a QSA adorned by only the Cape Colony & South Africa 1901 Clasps – he had been invalided home on 4th January 1902. In my opinion there was an over allocation of state clasps and this opinion is supported by a enigmatic note written across each page of the 1901 Medal Roll.