TOPIC:

Hello all
Whilst doing some research on my greatgrandfather and his service in the 1st world war I have found out that he served in the Scottish Horse. I had believed he would have been in his home towns regt Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders with who he served during WW1.
I have a letter from the Cavalry Office in London dated 1902 regarding a change of address and have found out from the argyll's regt museum that they have no record of him for the Boer war. Searching online websites I came across an entry for an A Robin with the Scottish Horse and subsequently found this website. Having searched the nominal rolls I found an A Robin from Stirling: Served 07 Nov 01 to 23 Dec 01. C.T., Left in No 13 Gen Hospital
Source: Nominal roll in WO127
Such a short service and can anyone help me find out any more. Also what does C.T. stand for and why would he be left in a Hospital? wounded or sick?

I would be most grateful for any help

thanks
Graeme

Good Morning Graeme.....

Here is what I found.....

Robin, Andrew 37209, Trooper 1st Scottish Horse

There was a Hospital was located in Cape Town so the C.T. could stand for that, he could have been sick or wounded, as the majority of casualties were from disease......

Just checked the casualty lis and he is not listed as wounded so it must have been disease.....

Mike

Good evening Graeme and welcome to this forum,
I would be inclined to regard the entry in WO127 as suspect, moreover, do you believe this man actually was your great grandfather?
You might find his attestation paper in WO126/122-126 at the TNA Kew, which may or may not prove it either way.
Robin is shown in WO100 as being entitled to a QSA, he is on WO100/263 page 76 in respect of his QSA and three clasps, Cape Colony, Orange Free State and Transvaal, WO100/263 page 186, this latter is their supplementary roll, the Transvaal clasp and South Africa 1901 and 1902 clasps are shown and the same remark i.e. "Left in No13 General Hospital" rather than being discharged.
In WO127, abbreivations are often used and "CT" is always Cape Town, in addition, officially, the 1st Scottish Horse was raised in Cape Town on the 18th of January 1901, it was a class C corps within the SAMIF, i.e raised for general service in South Africa and directly under the AAG Colonial Forces AHQ Pretoria, with a strength of six squadrons, the period of service was for six months or to the end of the war, it was disbanded at Johannesburg on the 7th of July 1902.
Of course the reality was that men were recruited in Stirling, Perth, Glasgow and half a hundred other places.
Anyway Graeme, good luck with your research and please do let us know how you get on.
Regards Frank

Thanks for the replies..I am sure that this man is my great grandfather as I have found an online record of his atestation from Nov 1901 when he was 21 at Tillicoultry near Stirling (joining the Imperial Yeomanry). Robin was not a common name in the stirling area and the letter from War office dated 27th Nov 1902, signed by John Pye Lt i/c Cavalry Records at 41 Pall Mall, seems to fit all the details.
I found it strange that he should enlist in this but at the time Tillicoultry could be regarded as a country area and he might have had some knowledge of horses. The dates also fit as he was already married with a few bairns and in his 30's when he enlisted in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders at the start of 1st World War. He survived the 2nd battle of Ypres only to be medically discharged due to debility.

As has been stated there is no mention of discharge but being left in a general hospital but this seems to mirror his WW1 records obtained from the regt museum where there is is no info after his invalidity back to Britain 27/9/15.
Graeme

Graeme,
Well, that all sounds good to me, so if you have his WO126 attestation and you are satisfied he is your man, the Scottish Horse was a very good unit, men came from all across the empire to join, many were recruited from the caledonian institutions in Canada and Australia, it was very much a multi- national corps!
Regards Frank

Graeme,

As Frank suggests, a good next step would be to investigate whether his attestation papers are in WO126/122-126 at the National Archives. If present, it would probably confirm or discount your assumption.

Please let us know how you get on.

Best wishes
David