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Hi all
I am researching a soldier called George Robert Mantle who departed to South Africa on Feb 16 1900 with the 1st Volunteer Battalion Leicestershire Regiment. He seems to have spent most of his time at Bloemfontein Transvaal. He had engineering training. Are there any sources on the war service of this unit and any casualties they sustained?. He survived the war. Colonel Sa/erron seems to have been the commanding officer/ I can't find any information about them online.

Welcome to the Forum

Do you have access to Find My Past & Ancestry?

If so do a Military search on both - on FMP enter only his full name and his Boer War service records come out top of the hits. His service number was 6683.

On Ancestry just enter his initials and surname and enter 6683 in the keyword box and one of his medal rolls comes out top of the list.

The 1st Leicesters were already in SA when the Boer War 1899-1902 started and got besieged in Ladysmith. Your man embarked for SA in mid Feb 1900, with about a 3 week ship journey to reach SA, as a volunteer reinforcement and hence missed much of the "excitement" as Ladysmith was relieved on 28th Feb 1900.

Search the Recent Topics on this Forum for "Poultney" and top of the list will come out my write up on a Smethwickian who served in the 1st Leicesters and was besieged in Ladysmith. Also go to the Unit Information/Imperial Units to find out more about the Leicestershire Regiment involvement in the Boer War.

Thank you for this. I have got into my soldier's records George Robert Mantle and find his main service was at Bloemfontein Transvaal and the second battle of Laings Nek which seems to have been pretty much a non event with the Boers outflanked and retreating. He trained as an engineer so might have been involved with the railway there or building block houses and stringing barbed wire. The Volunteer Battalion's main action was at the battle of Belfast 27 August 1900 but he was not there. His service medals are exclusively for time in Transvaal. Any ideas about what service in this sector entailed?
cheers Alison Skinner