TOPIC:

These two photographs of officers and men of an unidentified unit were taken in Pietermaritzburg by William Laws Caney.

A few details are worth noting. The Martini Enfield rifles and bandoliers appear to be brand new (the former are awaiting their slings, and the latter have clearly never been loaded with cartridges). On the left, in the officers image, a bandolier and haversack lie on a bench unissued. The choice of Mauser-type bandoliers seems a little strange.
The most senior officers appear to be two lieutenants, the remainder being second-lieutenants, which suggests a very small unit. The medal ribbons worn by a few of the officers seem to indicate not insignificant previous service.

My guess is that these men could be members of the Pietermaritzburg Town Guard, some, perhaps, with previous experience in the Pietermaritzburg Volunteer Rifle Corps / Pietermaritzburg Rifles (Frontier Wars).

The badge on the officer's sidecap in the second image is difficult to make out: GS? 68?

Any thoughts?






















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FWIW :

The officers with two pips on their shoulders would have been captains. Until 1902, a captain wore two pips, a lieutenant one, and a second lieutenant none.

The captain sitting in the wicker chair in the first photo has four medal ribbons. The first looks rather like the Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee Medal ribbon, and the second could be the South Africa Medal 1877-79. He also appears to be wearing shoulder titles.

The officer standing behind him to the right, and also in the centre of the front row of the other photo, has three ribbons, which appear to be India General Service 1854-95, Sudan Medal 1897 and Khedive's Sudan Medal. If so, he must have been in the Regular Army before the war. In the second photo (wearing the side cap) he has no rank badges, but in the first he has a pip on each shoulder, suggesting that he was promoted between the dates on which the two photos were taken.

Thank you Arthur,

That is very helpful. I had completely forgotten about the 1902 change to rank insignia, and I have always struggled to read medal ribbons in black & white photographs. Not least due to the fact that dark/navy blue shows as white.

I have no idea whether these photographs are from the ABW or not. They could be earlier.

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This doesn't add much to the debate but is an interesting article on the Caney family on the Heritage Portal. It least tries to match dates to their photographic endeavours.

www.theheritageportal.co.za/article/cane...family-photographers

The chap in the 4th pic appears to have "69" numerals on his forage cap.
IL.