TOPIC:

Hello Rory. The SALH roll is found wanting on many occasions; it almost seems as if they excluded casualties. Snowden came from an extremely well-to-do family of 10 children to the Rev Canon Edmund Snowden of Huddersfield. Francis Henry (Frank) Snowden has an impressive memorial erected in Maritzburg (presumably by his family), and there is a letter available (through Findmypast) in the Eastbourne Chronicle of 9 June 1900. It was written by Staff Sergeant W F Williams to his parents at Felixstowe, dated April 18 1900 detailing the tragic death of Snowden, shot while rescuing a trooper De Villiers . The action at Elandslaagte on April 17 1900 was well after the Relief of Ladysmith, during a routine patrol. Even more tragic is the fact that Snowden died not from his wounds, but from a nasty skin disease, erysipelas, a bacterial skin infection which stems from his wounds. The memorial carries the words: In Memory of Francis Henry Snowden, corporal, South African Light Horse, wounded near Elandslaagte April 17th while rescuing a comrade under fire, Died at Fort Napier Hospital 27th April, 1900, aged 37 years.
Greater love hath no man than this; that a man should lay down his life for his friend. St John XV 12.
On the BSACo roll and the QSA roll, his next of kin is named as his brother, C E Snowden, headmaster at the Surrey School, Wandsworth.

The medals to J H Salter DCM ( www.angloboerwar.com/forum/5-medals-and-...medal?start=48#73820 ) are being re-advertised by DNW. They sold in January 2021 for a hammer price of £2,800.

Every moment of resistance to temptation is a victory.

Picture courtesy of Spink

BSACM reverse Rhodesia (1) Mashonaland 1897 (3577 Pte. W. Baltic. 7th. Huss.);
QSA (3) Cape Colony, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902 (3577 Pte. W. Baltic. 7th Hussars)

Picture courtesy of Woolley & Wallis

BSACM reverse Rhodesia (0) (TPR JOHN BARRIE, BULA. FLD FCE), officially engraved;
QSA (1) Rhodesia (20 TPR: J. BARRIE. RHODESIA REGT), impressed

Picture courtesy of Morton and Eden

CMG b/b s/g with cavalry-style supporting rod behind;
BSACM Rhodesia 1896 (0) (Capt. R. Mc.Farlane, R.F.F.), engraved in sloping capitals;
QSA (3) Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal (Capt. R. MacFarlane 9/Lcrs:), engraved in sloping capitals;
KSA (2) (Capt. R. Mc Farlane. C.M.G. 9/ Lancrs.).

CMG LG 1 January 1898 – ‘in recognition of services in connection with the suppression of the revolt of Matabeles in Rhodesia’

Major Ronald McFarlane was born in 1860 in Campsie, Stirlingshire on 22 June 1860, the 4th son of D. McFarlane and Catherine McFarlane (née Schaw). Educated privately, and then at Sandhurst, he received a commission as Second Lieutenant with the 9th Lancers on 31 January 1880, rising to Lieutenant o 1 July 1881, and then to Captain on 23 May 1888.

After a relatively uneventful early career he retired from service on 31 May 1892 (with gratuity) but evidently volunteered to serve with the Bulawayo Field Force in the Matabele Rebellion in 1896. Ransford, writing later, commented that the ‘Army’s loss was Bulawayo’s gain, for this bearded officer with the piratical air and a hard instinctive fondness for fighting became the backbone of its defence… never a bad word is said about Captain Macfarlane’. As an enemy force drew near to the town of Bulawayo near the Unguza River, MacFarlane was sent to confront them:‘

On April 25, 290 white troopers and friendly natives under the command of Captain Ronald Macfarlane left Bulawayo to scout the Unguza. Supported by a 1-pounder Hotchkiss gun and a Maxim, the patrol soon encountered several hundred Ndebele. A skirmish line of mounted scouts managed to draw the warriors into range of the two larger guns, and a fierce firefight erupted. ‘Bullets of all sorts came whistling along, from elephant-guns, Martinis, Winchesters, and Lee-Metfords, and for about an hour things were decidedly unpleasant, wrote Lieutenant Claude Grenfell. The Ndebele made two determined rushes to reach the Maxim gun, but were driven back with heavy losses. Macfarlane, in the meantime, ordered a mounted charge against Ndebele warriors gathering behind a rock ridge to the left.’ For these services in command of patrols he was Mentioned In Despatches, and was appointed CMG in the New Year’s Honours of 1898.

MacFarlane also served during the Boer War of 1899-1902, and afterwards is believed to have lived out his remaining days in Rhodesia. MacFarlane was reputedly a keen shot, huntsman and polo player, and Secretary of the Bulawayo Club.

He is mentioned numerous times in Frank Courtney Selous’ book ‘Sunshine and Storm In Rhodesia’.