TOPIC:

this is by way of an introduction on joining this exceptional site. I am researching in earnest my grandfather Ralph Waterworth no 11367 who signed up in St Helens lancs, 26/9/1895 in Royal artillery. According to faded documents and some research he was in 10th mountain battery and was awarded S.A medal with 2 clasps 1. defense of Ladysmith 2. Belfast (Bergendal). Unfortunately, the medals are not in my possession, and no one in family knows what happened to them. From research it would appear he was at battle of Nicholsons Nek, and presumably was some of the few who managed to escape back to Ladysmith.I am still in early days of my research and interested in any information about him or the battery.

Hi
And a warm welcome to the forum.
There is a little about the 10th in this link
www.angloboerwar.com/unit-information/im...0th-mountain-battery
Good luck with your future research.

Paul

Hello and welcome to this forum,
You appear to be at a rather more advanced stage in your research than perhaps you might think if you have seen the service papers and medal roll etc.
He is not shown as a casualty at Nicholson's Nek, he might have been there, some sources state that only four guns of No 10 Battery were present with Colonel Charlton's force.
If he was actually part of that force, he would have been lucky to get away, as the Colonel seems to have ordered the white flag before half his men knew what was happening.
Number 10 did not play a really intense part in the defence of Ladysmith as they were only armed with, what were really, just short range anti personnel weapons.
So they did not fight it out in the way that some batteries ended up having to do, for example at Caesar's Camp on the 6th of January 1900, one particular battery was famously forced to switch over to canister shot because the enemy were well under 100 yards before their guns.
Anyway, again welcome here,
Kind regards Frank

www.angloboerwar.com/forum/5-medals-and-...y-seige-of-ladysmith

The above link is to an earlier thread on the 10th Mountain Battery.

Regards
Brett

Welcome to the forum. Your man may have been at Nicholson's Nek and, as you suggest, managed to make his way back to Ladysmith. On the other hand he may well have remained in Ladysmith while this action was fought.

What is sure is that he wasn't killed or taken prisoner at Nicholson's Nek as this action was fought on 30 October 1899 while the qualification period for the Defence of Ladysmith clasp didn't start until 3 November.

Regards

David

i would like to thank all those that have replied to my first post...I am new to using forums...so please bear with me.
Re: to my Grandfather and his time in the 10th M.B. I am still researching, and trying to fill in gaps..however there are parts of his service I guess I will never know, like,
1. Did he remain behind in Ladysmith, while the rest of the battery went onto Nickolsons Nek? or was he one of the lucky ones who managed to get back to Ladysmith?
2.What was he doing, during the Siege of Ladysmith?
3.What did he do for the approx 6 months after they were relieved and leading up to and including the Battle for Belfast (Bergendal)?

I have done quite a bit of research so far and have some possible answers to the above.However I will put these on my next post and offer them up for discussion. I am not sure if I should post it here or elsewhere on the forum? Again thank you for your interest and replies.