TOPIC:

Hello to all . Joined this site hoping to glean any info on my ancestor, an unmarried miner from Kalgoorlie WA who enlisted as Pte. Cecil Ernest FISHER 5Th WAMI regimental no.256 ,died of malaria at Leydsdorp 9th December 1902 and is presumably buried in one of the 69 unmarked graves in the Leydsdorp cemetery.( I think Leydsdorp is abandoned and no longer safe to visit?) Apparently official records of the 5th WAMI were accidentally destroyed in South Africa. I only recently realised that none of our scattered family had collected Cecil's medal entitlement, and after a long search online a member of the British Medals Forum told me that unclaimed QSA medals were stored at at the Swan barracks in Perth until the 1970's. A decision was then made to donate some 35 QSA and 10 KSA to the Royal United Services Institute of WA in Fremantle. The remainder were probably destroyed.RUSA to date have not responded to my query as to whether they hold my relatives medal.
So, no medal, no marked grave, no photo or official papers,no mention on the WA Anglo-Boer war memorial, or the Australian War Memorial (as he supposedly died after discharge and is therefore not eligible for rememberance).
Did the men who stayed behind after discharge join irregular units, or was the lure of the goldfields the reason?
Regards
Neil.

Neil
Well, you seem to have covered most of the info. 5th WAMI left OZ 6th March, 1901 and together with the 6th WAMI, left for home on 7th April, 1902. Murray (Official Records of the Australian Military Contingents to the War in South Africa) covers the operations of the unit rather well, The 5th was merged with the 6th upon arrival in SA. There is no note in Murray about C.Fisher taking his discharge in SA; that is not unusual. He may have briefly enlisted in one of the local irregular units.
On the site trove-nla there are a number of contemporary newspaper articles about the enlistment, training and departure of the 5th WAMI. I did not see any specific entry for a Pte. C.Fisher.
Good luck with your quest,
Regards
IL.

Neil,

That's a sad tale. It is thankfully not often that so few traces are left behind - not that that helps you of course

He is listed on the Supplementary roll, Wo100292p161 for the OFS, SA01 and SA02 clasps. A note says 'medal and cl(asps) unclaimed'.

The Transvaal clasp in on Wo100/292p152 on the QSA roll.

He is listed on WO100/292p156 as one of the medals unclaimed.

Neil,

I had a look for possible SA unit attestation but did not find any.

Here are the C E Fishers on the roll:

E C Fisher 1st (Herts) V B Bedfordshire
C E Fisher New South Wales Lancers
C E Fisher 5th Western Australian Mounted Infantry
C E Fisher 49th Company Imperial Yeomanry

There were no matches for any combination of his forenames either.

You mentioned Perth. The Supplementary roll was signed in Perth, 31st Jan 1903.