TOPIC:

Some pictures of the Buller monument in Exeter.

Good morning David,
A good Major, a brave Colonel, a bad General and a very good monument!
Regards Frank

David

You might be interested to know the name of a man whose path through life twice crossed that of Buller. The following is an extract from an account of the Natal Native Scouts that I plan to post soon:

"General Buller knew Luke Kumalo during the Zulu War, when he acted as a Corporal, and in the Boer War of 1881, when he acted as an interpreter to Sir George Colley. Soon after his arrival [in Natal in 1899], General Buller summoned Luke Kumalo and used him as his Orderly and Interpreter until his return to England. This man has the Zulu War medal."

Luke Kumalo was destined not to get a QSA.

Regards
Brett

Hello Brett,
Do you think "Sir Reverse" had a hand in the lack of a QSA for Kumalo? or was it just the Natal Government?
Regards Frank

Brett Hendey wrote: David

You might be interested to know the name of a man whose path through life twice crossed that of Buller. The following is an extract from an account of the Natal Native Scouts that I plan to post soon:

"General Buller knew Luke Kumalo during the Zulu War, when he acted as a Corporal, and in the Boer War of 1881, when he acted as an interpreter to Sir George Colley. Soon after his arrival [in Natal in 1899], General Buller summoned Luke Kumalo and used him as his Orderly and Interpreter until his return to England. This man has the Zulu War medal."

Luke Kumalo was destined not to get a QSA.

Regards
Brett

David

The final decision about the non-award of the QSA to the Natal Native Scouts was taken by a civil servant with the tacit support of politicians. However, men in uniform must share the blame. As you have revealed elsewhere, General Lyttelton played a part, and I blame Major-General Dartnell for his role in the non-award of this medal to the black Natal Policemen and Zululand Policemen. As far as I know, men like White and Buller played no role in this affair, except perhaps as non-interventionists. They valued their black soldiers while the war was on, but after that it was probably "out of sight, out of mind".

Regards
Brett

Brett,

That's interesting. I had not thought of underlying source for this decision. Generally the rules regarding the issue of any campaign medals to local, non-enlisted pseudo-soldiers (to avoid a different word!) does seem haphazard which probably means the decision was taken for each campaign?

Regards
David