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Picture courtesy of Spink

QSA (1) Transvaal (1557 Tpr: W. G. Hughes Imp: Lt. Horse);
KSA (2) (Tpr. W. G. Hughes. Steinaecker's Horse.)

Picture courtesy of Token Publishing

A letter to Medal News this month contained this picture and text:

Dear Editor

On a visit to Lincolnshire for a few days rest from work, I found this memorial to a casualty of the Boer War and a very interesting one to Trooper Frederick Allen Freshney of the Imperial Light Horse. Trooper Freshney was severely wounded at the Battle of Colenso and, after returning home, he died of his wounds in 1906, age 32. He must have been a very nice person as many of his friends paid for the erection of this memorial. It goes to show it’s worth stopping and having a look at these war memorials and graves, you never know what your find.

Robert Morley

Interested Forum members
He is shown in NFF and Palmer as "95 Tpr. Creshney, F.A. ILH " and Dangerously wounded Colenso, 15/12/99. One of eleven casualties on that day.
The nominal roll on this site shows he enlisted 1st ILH at PMB on 22/9/99 (wounded Colenso) and discharged Medically Unfit at Netley on 24/8/1900.
The medal roll WO100/250 page 34 shows his name as Frederick Allan Freshney and records the issue of a QSA medal with clasp "Tugela Heights" which was authorised 3/11/02. I wonder if ever that was corrected?
Regards
IL.

Also for those interested and thanks to Chris Ramsden of Find A Grave:

:

This is to be found in St Peter's Church, Saltfleet.

A transcription record on FMP tells us the pump memorial posted by David is in the village of South Somercotes (a couple of miles to the west of Saltfleet) and bears the following inscription:

" IN MEMORY OF FREDERICK ALLEN FRESHNEY TROOPER IMPERIAL LIGHT HORSE WHO WAS SEVERELY WOUNDED AT THE BATTLE OF COLENSO SOUTH AFRICA DECEMBER 15th, 1899 AND IN CONSEQUENCE THEREOF DIED AT SALTFLEET MAY 20th 1906 AGED 32 YEARS BRAVE IN ACTION. PATIENT IN SUFFERING ERECTED BY HIS MANY FRIENDS"

His probate is also of interest as it shows he died 4 months after his father:



His discharge papers can also be found on FMP. On Ancestry there is a Freshney Public Family Tree which provides a 1898 head & shoulders photo of him taken from a Cycling magazine. At the time of the 1901 Census he was staying with an unmarried uncle & aunt with a 29 year old "professional nurse" in attendance.

Saltfleet is near the Lincolnshire coast north of Mablethorpe and about 10 miles NE of Louth.

Hi

Brett Hendy in his discussion of the single clasp `Tugela Heights' in the Forum of this site mentions Freshney and explains how he came to be issued with the Queen's medal with that single clasp. it was apparently on the intervention of Winston Churchill. See www.angloboerwar.com/forum/singleclaspqsas/8990-tugela-heights .

Best regards
Peter Jordi