Townsend was killed in the near year attack on the kop occupied by the Heilbron Commando, "McCracken's Hill" took it's name from Frederick McCracken who went on to command the Berkshire's and received a DSO as well as his promotion.
It is quite a march up the top of Coomb Hill, but, worth while on a clear day.
So you have established that this man had also been 5506 Private George Townsend 3rd Berkshire Regiment from Henley on Thames, beyond reasonable doubt?
The 3rd Battalion was exactly that, it was not a training formation, it was a Militia battalion, it did not provide recruits to the Army as such, although, it's members could certainly join the Army.
It shared the Depot with the rest of the regiment in their particular Regimental District and the staff at Brock Barracks were responsible for training members of both the Army and the Militia, moreover, this was the only thing they had in common, organisation and funding were rather different.
The Anglo Boer War was so serious that whole Militia battalions were embodied for service, not only at home, but, actually in South Africa, on campaign too.
Perry wrote: He is memorialized on the Victorian Memorial on Coombs Hill. He was killed 1 Jan1900. He had been stationed in the E. Cape before the start of the war (2nd) He went to battle under McCracken and by all account fought bravely and was awarded the Queens medal posthumously. He had married Susan Cholwich in Grahamstown. Susan was a granddaughter of John and Mary Cholwich (originally from Devon)who settled on the farm Navarre close to Seven Fountains. They are buried at St. Peters Church in Sidbury. His widow gave birth to their only child 28 days after his death.
His soldier number was 4691. He had served in the Militia in the UK before joining. He is believed to have originated from Oxfordshire according to the papers I have.
Pamela Perry (born Townsend)
On 12 May 1896 George Townsend enlisted in 3rd Battalion The Royal Berkshire Regiment as a Militia soldier. The 3rd Battalion was the training formation for The Royal Berkshire Regiment and trained the recruits for both the Militia and Regular Battalions. His Service No was 5506.
The Militia was a part time formation. Men in the Militia were part-time soldiers. Militia recruits received about four or five months training and were then discharged to the community subject to periodic call-up for refresher training. The Militia was particularly attractive to casual agricultural labourers who were unemployed after the harvest had been gathered. Joining the Militia in the autumn meant that the man had food, shelter and pay for a few months in the winter. On discharge in the following spring the man was free to follow his calling.
However, many men elected to join the Regular Army from the Militia, and it is evident that George Townsend was one such of these men.
The Militia component and the Regular component maintained separate Service No sequences; consequently on enlisting in the Regular Army he was allocated a new Service No (Service No 4691).
For the man his service was continuous but the discharge process was necessary because the change of status from Militia soldier to Regular soldier involved a change of legal status also. (Militia service was 'At Home', Regular Service entailed a world-wide service obligation).
I notice he is not mentioned on this web site?
