TOPIC:

I have been given about 80 letters written by a gunner in the 18th Battery RFA. In these letters (covering period (Jan 1900 to May 1902) he talks about the battles he fought in, the horrors of the war and the transfer to India at the end of 1901. Interestingly, I also have the tin and chocolate that was sent out to him (in excellent condition - which he then sent back as a present). Anyway, I have completed a full transcript of the letters which are fascinating for the reasons given but there are many words (mostly places and battles referenced) that I do not recognise due to the handwriting and 'non-english' nature of them. Is there any easy way I can find a list of the battles and places visited by the 18th Battery during this period?. That would help me a lot. If not I shall be happy to pick up a good book on the subject and learn more in my own time. His name was Gunner James Bruce - and that's about all I know about him at this point. Thank you for reading and appreciate any help or pointers.

Dave,

That sounds an amazing collection.

There is some information on the 18th RFA here: angloboerwar.com/unit-information/imperi...tillery-18th-battery

You can search the site for places names too.

One option you may like to consider is to post a letter on the forum and request help that way,

Best wishes
David

13589 Gnr James Bruce.

From Mothervile, Lanarkshire, Scotland. There are service papers online (at cost) and in the National Archives (free if you visit),

Dave
"13589 Gnr. J. Bruce" of 18RFA was awarded the clasps "Belmont", "Modder River", "Johannesburg", "Orange Free State" and "South Africa 1901". Shown in medal roll WO100/141; which also shows "deceased" in the margin. The Palmer casualty roll shows "13589 Gnr. A. Bruce of 18RFA" as wounded Magersfontein 11/12/99. Note the initial "A" - which is the same as in the official casualty list - and clearly incorrect.
18RFA was worked very hard; as shown in the information David referred to. The battle of Magersfontein was one of the three disasters suffered by the army in the so-called "Black Week". It could be interesting to see what Gunner James Bruce had to say about that day.
Regards
IL.

Thank you so much for this info. I was intrigued about the word deceased in your text and that was explained in the last letter (which I only transcribed this morning) where another member of the Battery writes back saying that James Bruce died of kidney failure. He had contracted a fever which was mentioned in previous letters so I guess related to that. He doesn't say much about Magersfontein as it appears the correspondence starts while he is hospitalised due to injury there. He does talk about other battles including Brandfort in some detail though. One question I have is why my Great Uncle corresponded with a complete stranger? Were people in the UK encouraged to be a pen pal to soldiers in the Boer War? I have no leads on that. They talk of meeting after the war but sadly that didn't happen...................Thank you again - some great leads there.

Thank you David, I will definitely follow up on the National Archives suggestion as I need more information about James Bruce as a person and soldiering career