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Hello Sharon,

A breastwork is a barricade usually about breast high that shielded defenders from enemy fire.Whether it is still there or not I cannot say.

Duff would most certainly have completed an attestation form. I do not have copies of those for the Kimberley TG but I do for a few others. I think they may be in the National Archives in England???

The QSA(2) refers to the medal that he was awarded for his service during the Anglo Boer War. David mentioned that he had also served in the Uitenhage Vol Rifles so I had a look at the medal roll page that he is on. It is the supplementary roll which confirms that he had previous service in the Kimberley TG and that he also qualified for the date clasps SA 1901 and SA 1902 on his QSA medal.

I will drag out the Kimberley TG medal roll in a few minutes. It's in the car I think!!!

He is confirmed on the Kimberley TG Roll for the medal and the Defence of Kimberley clasp.

He would therefore have the QSA medal and I believe 3 clasps and the Kimberley Star which was an award given to the defenders of the town by the Mayor.

Regards
Adrian

Oh my word !!!! I think I must have the biggest grin on my face You don't know how excited I am ... thank you soooo much for you time & help. I positive this must be my elusive chap - he disappeared from Kimberley and then ended up in a paupers grave in Grahamstown. I wondered why he ended up in that area - probably stayed there after serving in Uitenhage. Now all I need to do is figure out how to go about getting the info from the Archives in England, I'm sure if I google the Archives it's all in the FAQ.

Thanks again
Regards
Sharon

Sharon,

I have just edited my last message to show that I found his entry on the Kimberley TG roll.

If you drop me a PM with your email address I will email you copies of both roll pages on Monday. I will only be able to do it from my computer in the office.

I am sure that someone else might be able to assist you further with regards the attestation papers.As I said earlier I think they are in the UK.

Regards
Adrian

Good evening Sharon,
I would be very surprised if there are any attestation papers for the Kimberley Town Guard in WO126 at Kew, there might be odd men with the Kimberley Horse and Kimberley Light Horse, in addition a number of men who served in the Kimberley TG and Kimberley Municipal TG, but, only if they had served again with other SAMIF units.
I should add WO126 is not available on line.
Regards Frank

Sharon,
I've just had a very brief look at WO100 and he has three enteries, Kimberley TG WO100/282 page 44 for his Defence of Kimberley clasp, Uitenhage VR WO100/277 page 267 for the Cape Colony clasp, crossed out of course, as you could not receive it with the Defence of Kimberley clasp and the Uitenhage VR supplementary roll, WO100/277 page 313 in respect of the two date clasps for his later service, the Kimberley TG is shown in the remarks column in both these two rolls.
Regards again Frank

The most interesting of the three, WO100/277 page 267, as mentioned you can see the "ditto" crossed out in respect of the Cape Colony clasp, the "Yes" being the Defence of Kimberley clasp.

Hi Frank

Thank you for both your replies .... I've read them, and re-read them but I don't really know what you're talking about (with a puzzled look on my face). I've just googled attestation papers and found out that 'WO' means War Office - I'm rather green when it comes to war/military info. Do you think Robert would have discharge papers at all? From what I can make out Robert went from Kimberley to Uitenhage (or am I reading that wrong) - would he have had to re-enlist (or whatever you call it) or would he have been transferred.

Regards
Sharon