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Back in 2023, which seems an awfully long time ago, I announced to this forum that my first book “War on the Veldt. The Anglo-Boer War Experiences of the Wiltshire Regiment” was completed. I thought at that time that it was, and proudly presented the Rifles Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment Museum in Salisbury with a privately printed hardcover copy. This book and my literary journey has had a long history. I first decided to write this book in I think 2004, but at that time and for many years afterwards I was still serving in the Royal Navy, and it is only now that what was to become a truly momentous project has been completed. Over the years I gathered information from every available source, was interviewed by BBC Radio Wiltshire and subsequently received a huge amount of information from descendants of soldiers who had served with the Wiltshire’s in South Africa, including some incredible first-hand accounts which have previously never been published.

As the book neared completion I approached all of the mainstream publishers who thought the subject matter was “too niche” and one well-known publisher even said that it was “a book about one single regiment in a war that no-one is interested in”. Then through my contact with the Regimental Museum it was agreed that the Museum would publish the book and provided the assistance of a fine group of staff and volunteers led by former Museum Curator Lieutenant Colonel David Chilton, and made all archive material available to me. My sincere thanks now go to Chris Bacon, Will Bennett, David Chilton, Sandra Daniel, and Martin McIntrye for their help and support during this process. Therefore, the book has been produced in association with the Rifles Berkshire and Wiltshire Museum.

The Archivist Chris Bacon gave me access to an item I had previously not seen before, a small book, a ledger from which the Queen’s and King’s South Africa Medal Rolls were created, which proved to be a priceless treasure, as it has allowed me to produce a complete Roll of campaign medal entitlement which also lists the company in which every man served.

The delay in publication has allowed for inclusion of this material, biographies of every officer of the Regiment (and those attached from other regiments), who served in South Africa, a detailed annex concerning gallantry awards with the much appreciated help of Will Bennet, and for new coloured maps to be created exclusively for this publication by my eldest son Adam, a talented 3D Media Developer who also painstakingly cleaned up old photographs and created cover artwork.

So now, I am delighted to say that the book is now available to purchase exclusively from the Rifles Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment Museum, Salisbury:

www.thewardrobe.org.uk/shop/books-regimental

I am very pleased to say that all proceeds will go to the Museum.

It is also available as a downloadable version exclusively from the Wiltshire Family History Society, by arrangement with the Museum:

genfair.co.uk/product/cs036-war-on-the-veldt-13966586/

I am very pleased to say that all proceeds will be shared by both organisations.

For me, I am very proud of this book and delighted that the Wiltshire’s story is now told. As forum members know, so much historical information lies unread in various archives across the country and indeed the world, so I am very happy to have “done my bit” for my Great Grandfather, his comrades and his Regiment.

The book is A4 size and over 300 pages, including many images and colour maps. There are seventeen chapters and eleven annexes covering every aspect of the Regiment and their experiences in South Africa and the book is fully indexed.


Review 1:
The War on the Veldt

When the author set out to find out more about the part his Great Grandfather, Pte John Heath, played in the Anglo-Boer War, he little knew where this would lead. The result is this remarkable book.

Called back to the Colours as a Reservist in 1899, later that year, John Heath sailed for Port Elizabeth with the 2nd Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment, under command of Lieutenant Colonel H.M. Carter. Arriving on the 12th of January 1900, they were hurriedly despatched by train to Rensburg to oppose the invasion of the Cape Colony by the Boers. By the 25th, they were in the thick of the action. This is their story.

They were remarkable soldiers, tough, resilient, courageous and tenacious, fighting across vast distances in a country that could be hellishly hot or cold, and often bone dry, against an enemy that was unlike anything the British Army had faced before. Their part in the action around Colesberg, a forgotten part of the campaign, was key to Lord Roberts’ plans to defeat the Boers. They returned to England on the 21st of May 1903, having been away for three years and five months, “engaged on a campaign perhaps as serious as any in which Great Britain had yet embarked”.

In his book, Ian Smith gives a significant insight into the lives of the individual soldiers of a renowned County Regiment in war and is a boon to family historians whose forebears served in the Wiltshire Regiment.

Major Kenneth Molyneux-Carter
Great Grandson of Lieutenant Colonel Harry Molyneux Carter who commanded the 2nd Wiltshire Regiment in South Africa


Review 2:
War on the Veldt, The Anglo-Boer War Experiences of the Wiltshire Regiment by Ian Smith in association with The Rifles Berkshire and Wiltshire Museum (published by The Rifles Wardrobe and Museum Trust, 2024).

This history of the Wiltshire Regiment during the Boer War of 1899-1902 began with modest aims but grew into an all-consuming passion taking the author many years. Initially Smith wanted to find out what part his great grandfather Jack Heath had played in the conflict serving as a private in the regiment. What has emerged is a monumental record – more than 300 pages - of the regiment’s history in a war which has now largely faded from public consciousness.

Helped by editing and indexing by David Chilton – a familiar figure to WFHS members – and input from volunteers at The Rifles Berkshire and Wiltshire Museum in Salisbury, the result is a book of immense value to family and military historians, Boer War specialists, medal collectors and anyone with an interest in the Wiltshire Regiment.

There is a full medal roll, a section on gallantry awards, biographies of officers, and lots of photographs and maps. Most useful of all are the often graphic accounts of the war as seen by the regiment’s rank and file trawled from diaries and letters, many of the latter published in newspapers at the time. These are honest descriptions of a brutal war where both sides were armed with high velocity rifles.

The book covers every section of the regiment during the war, is packed full of names and will save anyone researching an ancestor who served in the Wiltshires a great deal of time.

Mr Will Bennett on behalf of The Rifles Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment Museum and included in the Wiltshire Family History Society journal

I hope that many forum members will enjoy this book.

Ian

Ian,

You are to be congratulated on your immense achievement. I am sure the work will be a great help to anyone wanting to know about the role of the Wiltshires during the Boer War.

Best wishes
David

Thank you for your kind words David.

I hope that forum members will find this book interesting.

Welll done, Ian!
Just ordered my copy.
Rob

Thank you very much Rob.

Well done for getting it over the line Ian!
Ops around Colesberg are within my sphere of interest of the 2nd Worcesters, and of course poor old Sergeant Walkley of the Wiltshire's who fell dramatically at Rensburg Siding.
Just ordered my copy. Looking forward to receiving it.
Cheers Steve