TOPIC:

Image of my great grandfather, he was with the Wolverhampton Service Company attached to the 1st Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment, he is in the centre sitting down, left hand side Pte J Thomas, right hand side Pte Manifold, thought l should share this image as there will not be any official photographs, l shall have to check the Daily Papers for our region, may find articles.
I have his medals with bars, part of the starving V111 corp, also have his Remembrance day poppy, with haig on the stem head.



..

Don’t they look young
Clive

Trooper,
Really good to see that the medals and poppy are still with the family along with the photo of these young lads.
Thanks for sharing here
Cheers Steve

Trooper,

I think you need to change the caption on the photo by replacing Wolverhampton with West Bromwich



The above extract is from “The South Staffordshire Regiment, South Africa 1899-1902 (The Second Boer War)” by Jeffrey Elson. Jeffrey self-published his 123 page work and I bought the last of the 100 copies he had printed a couple of years ago.

The attestation papers and service records for your great-grandfather and his two comrades can be found on Find My Past.

They show all three served with the 1st Volunteer Service Company attached to the 1st South Staffs Regiment. Manifold and Thomas left England on 10th March 1900 and your GGF followed on as a reinforcement/draft on 3rd May 1900. All three returned to England on 20th May 1901.

Your GGF was born in Carmarthen and gave a Mere Green, Taunton address for your GGGF when he attested. When he attested he gave his name as Archibald but did not admit to a second name.

6946 John Bissell Thomas was born in West Bromwich and gave a West Bromwich address for his father.

6952 Samuel Herbert Manifold was born in Rocester near Uttoxeter and gave a Recoster address for his father.

All three appear on the Medal Rolls for the 1st VSC, findable on Ancestry, and were awarded the Wittebergen, Cape Colony, Transvaal & South Africa 1901 Clasps.
Responding to Clive’s comment and assuming all three gave their correct age when they attested – Thomas would have been 20/21 when the photo was taken, your GGF 22/23 and Manifold 24/25.

I am happy to email you all the relevant paperwork I have downloaded if you provide me with your email address via the private message facility on this site.

Finally, I need to add they had the honour of serving alongside 6 Smethwickians who were members of the Smethwick (Rifle) Volunteers also known as H Company.

Regards, David.

PS TFEM = Territorial Force Efficiency Medal (according to Jeffrey Elson).

I have another image of my great grandfather, he must have been in the Militaria South Staffordshire, a lot younger in a walking out uniform, kilt worn. I think l may put this image on as well, old photos becoming very rare now. Thank you Philip

So sorry, I have his second name as Ernest not Edward, 2nd Meyers Green West Bromwich, on which stands the Sandwell Hospital, His Captain H.S.Denton stayed on and I believe was KIA.
The Crown and Constitution Inn, area known as Black Lake, West Bromwich. I hope l have rectified my mistakes.