TOPIC:

Rob – I have sent you a private message (look up to the right).

Your GGF had an intriguing life – born in NW Wales and brought up amongst the slate quarries found there, decided to join the army whilst in Essex where an as yet unidentified relative appears to have lived, rather than going home to do this and join a Welsh Regiment he went to Colchester Barracks where the Royal Munster Fusiliers were based at the time, thus he became an adopted son of Southern Ireland (as it was called at the time), a status he seems to have enjoyed as he ended his days in Dublin. I wonder if his 1898 civil offence which resulted in a month in prison had something to do with an altercation about the Irish Question?

Like Ian I have made my own copy of the chapter regarding the Boer War in the on-line book you pointed us towards and it makes interesting reading. I was bit concerned when the author announced five 1st RMF officers had died when he had only identified two but the closing paragraphs identified the other three deaths which all occurred in 1902:

Frank Russell-Brown, died on 4 April 1900 of wounds received on 31 March 1900.
Charles Roland Moore, KIA 25 May 1901.
Randolph Edward Whitehead, KIA 13 January 1902.
William Charles Robert Croker, KIA 23 February 1902.
Geoffrey Norman Shea, KIA 20 April 1902.

All five make an appearance in “The Last Post” by Mildred Dooner – use the name search facility on this site (look up to the left) to find out what she wrote about them.

I have extracted from the book the photo of the twenty 1st RMF officers before they left for South Africa – none of the five above are on it because they were all additions to the battalion after it arrived in South Africa.



There is a G D Crocker in the middle who later became a Brigadier-General, if I have deciphered the indistinct caption correctly. He was MID during the ABW as were many of the others. Also four of the twenty are identified as being KIA in the Great War but that is another four stories (the book was published in 1927 after the RMF had been disbanded).

William Robert Charles Croker is interesting. He can be found on the 1901 English Census residing at Sandhurst – just under a year later he met his end in South Africa. Find A Grave has also gone to town on him including a contribution from a Forum member and the text is based on what Mildred Dooner wrote:

www.findagrave.com/memorial/210053947/wi...harles_robert-croker
www.findagrave.com/memorial/245705762/wi...harles_robert-croker
www.findagrave.com/memorial/192010934/wi...harles_robert-croker

Hi David,
Very interesting indeed. Have responded to your private message
Until
Rob