TOPIC:

Once again Neville's newspaper searching abilities have outshone mine.

The Swansea Volunteers were more formally known as the 3rd Company of the Glamorgan Rifle Volunteers and here they are just before they left for South Africa where they would have worn khaki uniforms.



The photo can be found on-line in the Peoples Collection Wales website.

I have come across the photographer (artist) before - Henry Alfred Chapman (1844-1915) who was a very successful Swansea business man and former Mayor of Swansea - his two sons served in the Pembrokeshire Imperial Yeomanry during the war. Here he is with his younger chess playing son Odo.

Thanks Smethwick for this addition and Neville, once again you've excelled yourself. Chris

Looking at medal rolls the Swansea Volunteers seem to have had an interesting time in South Africa as most, if not all, of them received the Diamond Hill & Belfast clasps to their QSA's as well as Cape Colony & Orange Free State.

In the papers I have found some letters Wignall & Petherick (see photo caption) wrote home but sadly neither mention the battles of Diamond Hill or Belfast. One does complain about the amount of apparently senseless marching. Here some more about the Lieutenant in the photo:

Thanks again Smethwick
Who'd have thought an enquiry about a simple badge would result in such a wealth of unexpected
information.
Cheers
Chris

Chris - my interest in the Boer War sprang from a memorial in Smethwick, where I spent my formative years, which commemorated the SA service of members of the Smethwick Rifle Volunteers. It has now expanded in too many directions but especially that of the Pembrokeshire Imperial Yeomanry because I now live in Pembrokeshire. A significant number of Swansea men served in the Pembrokeshire IY, such as the Chapman Bros. So the title of your post immediately attracted my attention. The Smethwick & Glamorgan Rifle Volunteers go back to 1859. Because the French were our allies in the Crimean War the people of GB relaxed about being invaded until the start of the Franco-Prussian War in 1859. Quite why they thought this should raise the risk of GB being invaded I don't understand but it did and the call went out for communities across the land to form Volunteer Companies. Somebody then realised the dangers of giving rifles to unsupervised men and the Rifle Volunteers became attached to the local regiment and officially became companies of a Volunteer Battalion. Thus officially the Smethwick RV became H Company of the 1st Volunteer Battalion of the South Staffordshire Regiment. The naming protocol in S Wales seems to be have been a bit different and I am still getting my head fully round it. Whatever, the Swansea Volunteers went out to South Africa as part of the Welsh Regiment as you can detect from the 24 January 1900 attestation of John James Petherick. You can also see, despite what it says at the top, the form was modified to cope with Volunteers only being expected to serve between 1 & 2 years overseas. The men in the photo were the first wave of Swansea Volunteers to go to SA and they returned when their replacements, the second wave, had arrived. There was probably a third wave as well. On the form you can make our JJ's service number in the Glamorgan Rifle Volunteers. Regards, David.

Hi David

That's a fabulous slice of BW history.

My main focus is on men from the Sheffield area particularly those who served in the BW.
But also in the BW in generalo and I really like those unusual pieces of memorabilia that the war seemed to generate.

Many thanks for sharing.

Chris