TOPIC:

Hi

Looking for more information on my great grandfather William Clark who fought in the second Boer War I believe from 1899 to 1902 for the 6th Dragoon Guards. Would like to know what battles he may have been in etc. Also what sort of medals, campaign etc. he may have received.

Also is it possible to get any records of his military service, or has most of the Boer War records and military records from that time been destroyed?

Any help would be very much appreciated.

regards
Justine

Justine
6th DG had a busy war: present at Colesburg, Koedoesrand, Relief of Kimberley,Paardeburg, Poplar Grove, Dreifontein, Karee Siding, Zand River, Doornkop, Diamond Hill, Witpoort, Belfast and Bergandal. They were also very active during the Guerilla phase of the war. There is an excellent writeup of the activities of 6DG in Stirling's "Our Regiments in South Africa". I think you can find that book on this site.
I had a look for a William Clark of the 6DG in the Palmer casualty roll - but no entry I could find so, in terms of not being wounded or a PoW - "he might have got away with it".
I took the liberty of looking for a W.Clark of 6DG in my CD of cavalry units and I did find "3631 Cpl.W.Clark"of 6DG with QSA clasp entitlement of Cape Colony, Paaredburg,Dreifontein and Transvaal. This MAY be your GGF or it may not. There are several other "W.ClarkEs" of 6DG and sometimes surnames were recorded a bit iffy.
Others on this site may be able to take your query further than I. Have you tried Ancestry. etc?
Good luck with your search.
IL.

Thanks for the information. I am not sure if that is my g grandfather, as I have some enlistment papers for him but they are from 1909 when he has joined the army reserve....is there anyway of finding his service number from that?

Clark is spelt without the e, so there are only 2 W Clarks on ancestry from the Boer War that I have found so far. The one you mentioned is one of them. Can it be narrowed down from where they are from, as that may make it easier.

cheers
Justine

Justine
The first thing to do is to find out if your GGF actually did serve in the ABW. The big question is: does the regimental number on the papers you have match any of the "Clarkes" on Ancestry? Papers from the Army Reserve should show his number and enlistmentees had to serve a fixed term with the Army and a further fixed term with the Reserve. It is quite possible to obtain the enlistment papers. etc (if they still exist; some do not) from the UK National Archives. You will need a researcher to do this if you do not live in UniK. The medal rolls would be on line.
Good luck with your quest.
Regards
IL.

Hello Justine

The service papers are in fact on-line at findmypast.co.uk (1761-1922) and Ancestry (1913-1922) - there is some overlap between the two.

I just had a look at findmypast for 3631 W Clark - his papers exist.

William Clarke (sic) born Birmingham, served 1896-1904.

Next of kin shown as
mother - Elizabeth Smith (formerly Clarke) and brothers Albert, Walter & Samuel.

If this is not your GGF then it is worth checking out the "W Clarke"s from the medal roll.

Regards
Meurig

Thank you. Yes he definitely served in the Boer War as I have pictures from when he was there.

I have looked at the medal rolls and the only ones I can find are the W Clark you mention but if he was from Birmingham that won't be my great grandfather, but there is another one that was a Farrier Quartermaster, which I believe could be my great grandfather. Is there anyway to show if he was from Bedfordshire?

I might look into using a researcher, do you know if it is expensive?

cheers
Justine