TOPIC:

Hello all, Thank you for accepting me into the forum.
I have recently discovered that my great grandfather who i had thought had only served during WW1 was also a Boer war veteran. I have found him in the medal register as Pte William A Meikle 8704 of the 6th Bn 18th Coy Imperial Yeomanry. He was a blacksmith by trade and must have been at the top limit of service at 34 in 1899. He also served through the whole of WW1 and was 49 in 1914! I know nothing of his Boer service other than his QSA medal entitlement of Transvaal, Cape colony,Wittebergen and 1901 clasps.
I am brand new to the site and would love to find a little more about this now fascinating man and life in the Scottish Imperial Yeomanry. My ultimate goal would now be to find his medals, which must be out there somewhere! Any pointers would be really appreciated. Thank you. Alex.

From one (very) new member to another, welcome. I'm sure you'll find this site quite interesting as I have since joining. The more I read on here the more I want to read. It's a very informative site full of historic information. History was never my strongest suit, in fact the opposite. But after learning so much, I'd love to be able to go back in time, with different teachers of course. I think our goals are more or less the same and wish you luck on your journey.

Take care Alex.
Gord

Hi Alex and welcome to the site.

There may be papers for his Boer War Service in WO128 at the National Archives. I am not sure whether these are available online as yet.

Best wishes
David

WO128 papers are on FindmyPast.co.uk in the British Army Service Records 1760-1915 section enter "WO128" in the "Series" to narrow the search.

One quick note Alex. Since you may be coming across medals from the Boer war with an interest in acquiring them, have a good look at the section on "Medals and Awards".Of special interest ( to me at least ) was the subsection "Queens Own Africa Medal issues and problems". I found it to be very informative.

Take care.
Gord

Hello David

Thank you very much for the information, I will have a look at the National Archives and see what I can find.

Regards
Alex