TOPIC:

A small plaque in the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Battle, Sussex.

Many thanks Berenice.

Interestingly, Dooner's entry for his states: He was killed in action at Nonskraal, in the Fauresmith district, December 25th, 1901.

The Times, 1 Jan 02, states Kokskraal but gives no details.

He was buried in Fauresmith near Kokskraal.

I can't find much else about him so far. Will keep looking ...

I wonder how accurate his reported last words were? Dressed up a bit to provide some comfort and pride to his family perhaps but no different to what happened in any conflict.

From The Register :

Phillips first served in the ranks, then four months with the Provisional Transvaal Constabulary then commissioned. He has WO128 papers on FindmyPast.

Gazetteer
[2924: 2950-2404] a farm in the Orange Free State (Fauresmith district; Free State), 25 km south-west of Fauresmith. Variants: Near Langkuil (WO108-372), Nonskraal (Dooner), Nanakraal (SAFF) Nanskraal (SAFF). On 25 December 1901, the waggons which formed the baggage train of Maj A.C. Hamilton's column had reached the farm on their way northwards when they were surrounded by some 200 burghers under Asst Chief-Cmdt J.B.M. Hertzog and Asst Chief-Cmdt C.T. Nieuwoudt. They were captured and set on fire and 57 prisoners taken (48 - WO108-372); of the escort, four were killed and five wounded (seven wounded, one fatally - MGMJ). The subsequent enquiry blamed the advance guard comprised of NCOs and other ranks who mistook the Boers for their own men. The main column being only 3.5 miles away. HMG IV p.430 (map no.64). WO108-372.

Only 7 of the prisoners are recorded in the Official Casualty Rolls.

Regards
Meurig

Thank you Meurig,

I searched the newspapers for all variants of the name and there was nothing to be found.

There were lots of articles on the other, much larger, engagement that day, at Groenkop/Krismiskip/Tweefontein.

With thanks
David