TOPIC:

Hi I have just found this site as I have discoverd that my grandfather, Gibbon Fitzgibbon, was involved in the Boer War. An entry in a medical directory of 1904 reads: "Late Civil Surg. S. Afric. Field Force". He qualified as a doctor from Trinity College Dublin in 1901. Any information about civil surgeons would be gratefully received.
Many thanks
Walter

Hi Walter, welcome aboard.
There's a list of Boer War Civil Surgeons on the forum:
www.angloboerwar.com/other-units/1882-civil-surgeons
I can't see his name on it but it is possible he is listed on some other list. I also had a quick look at the Queen's South Africa (QSA) Medal rolls to see if I could find a surgeon by that name and wasn't able to. Is it possible he used a different first name initial or spelling of his surname? Another possibility is that he arrived in South Africa after the end of hostilities in May 1902 and thus didn't qualify for the medal so therefore doesn't appear on the medal rolls.

Cheers,

Mark

Hi Mark,
Thank you very much; as he only qualified n 1901 he may have gone out after the end of hostilites. Am I correct in assuming that the Civil Surgeoons were paid volunteers to went to assist the R.A.M.C.?
I shall check the list you have given in case I can recognise any other name.
Regards
Walter

Walter,

I have been through the QSA roll for the civil surgeons in the past and know it runs to many pages so it is possible that he is listed there. But, as Mark, suggests he may have arrived after the war finished.

There are some books by civil surgeons so you can learn more of their work in SA.

Kind regards
David

Walter,

There is a civil surgeon called G Fitzgibbons on the roll WO100/226p81. This is a supplementary roll listing entitlement to the 1901 clasp (not 1902) and suggesting the QSA was issued off another list. If he qualified in 1901, this may not be him. He is unlikely to have been in South Africa before he qualified and this is what is suggested by the medal roll.

The name is very close though.

Regards
David

David,
Thank you, I have looked at another medical register entry for him and although he qualified as M.D. in 1901 He qualified as M.B. and B.Ch in July 1900 so he may well have gained surgery experience with the Field force in 1901.
Is the WO reference number that of TNA at Kew? If it is my wife & I visit TNA from time to time looking up details & I might be able to look at the original record.
Mamny thanks for your help
Regards
Walter