TOPIC:

Hello,

I am hoping to confirm a long family oral history that my grandfather, Robert John McRae Ross, served in the Anglo-Boer war.
The family oral history is that he ran away from home, lied about his age and enlisted in the British military. And that he served in South Africa.
He was born in May 1882 in Greenock Scotland, so he would have been about 17 years old in 1899.

The only evidence I have found of possible service, is in his Attestation Papers when he enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in 1914, for World War I. That document asks about any previous service in any "Military Force". His answer was just "No. 8 Field Ambulance".

This was how he served in WWI also, in a "Canadian No. 1 Field Ambulance."

So I am here to learn about the records available about service in South Africa and personnel in Field Ambulance units.

Thank You.

Jim Halpin
Worcester, Massachusetts, USA

Jim

I had a look and could not find any exact matches but I will keep searching.

There was certainly a similar unit in the Boer War, the No 8 Field Hospital