TOPIC:

A Chieveley award from City Coins auction 71, 27 November 2020

QSA (0) (Guard F. Frost. Natal Govt. Rlwys.)
QSA (0) (Guard F. Frost. N.G.R. Armoured Train), skimmed & privately named.

A marginal note on the QSA roll confirms Frost as “Guard of Armoured Train. In mishap at Chievely”. It is possible that Frost felt slighted when Churchill recommended that Driver Wagner and Fireman Stewart be awarded Albert medals for their services in the mishap and that he then had the second QSA engraved with the words “Armoured Train” in the naming.

Also from City Coins auction 71, 27 November 2020

QSA (1) Talana (loose on ribbon) (W. Yallup. Natal G.R.)

William Yallup died in 1903. The QSA roll for the Natal Government Railways confirms that Platelayer Yallup was “In Armoured train disaster” and that his NGR QSA was issued on 3 August 1906.

There is also a hardly legible cross-reference to the Dundee Town Guard.The latter unit’s QSA roll shows Member W. Yallup with clasp Talana, and states that the Town Guard’s medals were issued March and May 1904. This information, however, does not clarify the presence of the loose Talana clasp that came with the medal well over a century later.

Good Morning Everyone........

Here are a few with a Railroad connection even if a tenuous one......

Mike




CAPE GOVERNMENT RAILWAY

CIVILIAN WILLIAMS, E.C., NO BARS AS ISSUED
DRIVER KERR, J.A.P.E., NO BARS AS ISSUED

CAPE RAILWAY SHARPSHOOTERS

1041 PRIVATE CROSS, J., CAPE COLONY

IMPERIAL MILITARY RAILWAY

CIVILIAN, BREWER T.W., NO BARS AS ISSUED
MR./FITTER ZAMBRA, L.J., CAPE COLONY

NATAL GOVERNMENT RAILWAYS

MR. HILDITCH, CHARLES HENRY, NO BARS AS ISSUED

RAILWAY PIONEER REGIMENT

2250 PRIVATE HAYWOOD, ALARIC LEOPOLD VICTOR, 4th BATTALION, ORANGE FREE STATE, TRANSVAAL
1324 LANCE-CORPORAL BLACKIE, JAMES, CAPE COLONY, ORANGE FREE STATE, PROMOTED LIEUTENANT 2nd R.P.R.

SCOTT’S RAILWAY GUARDS

798 TROOPER CHEESMAN, E.V., CAPE COLONY, RHODESIA, SOUTH AFRICA 1901, SOUTH AFRICA 1902

A nice variety of railways linked items there Mike.
A couple more from me :

CAPE GOVERNMENT RAILWAYS

Carpenter, Mr. W. Barbour. QSA no clasps.
'Railway duties prevented this man from joining any corps, but he rendered great assistance during military operations with column under Colonel Plumer between Bulawayo and Mafeking.' WO100/279.

IMPERIAL MILITARY RAILWAYS

Boilermaker, Mr. W. Barbour. QSA no clasps.

Fitter, Mr. T. Rowlands. QSA no clasps.

Let's keep them coming and see how many different trades we can list!!

Steve

David,

Very nice railways medals. Lucky winners.

Yes, I had my eye on those 4 you have posted from the City Coins #71 sale and gave them very serious consideration for bids. But, I had to put overweighted bids in for three Tommy Atkins QSAs that I had set my heart on which left not quite enough to get the winning bids for those four. Fortunately, worth the gamble as I got all three main targets.
However, I did win two of the railways medal lots for very reasonable cost which probably didn't receive so much interest.
Postings will be on the thread in due course.

Steve

W. PUNT. RAILWAY OFFICIAL

QSA. No clasp.
Skimmed and officially reimpressed.

From City Coins #71 catalogue:

'The section of track through Elandslaagte fell under the jurisdiction of a railway official named Willem Punt. The story of what befell Winston Churchill on his arrival at the station has been handed down through the family, and was told to me by his grandson also Willem Punt.

"It began to rain, and when the prisoners were told to take shelter in the baggage room, Churchill was taken to one side and put under guard in the ticket office. But the fun started when they were all told to board the train. One or two officers who had just joined the party objected to travelling with a newspaper an. "

This seems extraordinary, given Churchill's military background and his recent exploits. It is possible that the officers feared the consequences of Churchill's determination to escape.

" My grandfather, "Willem Punt continued," told the officers that they would have to put up with the newspaperman. He was unaware of the newspaperman's identity but I'm sure in any case he would have ignored the officer's objections. "

Extracts from 'Churchill Wanted Dead or Alive'
by Celia Sandys.

I have read in a couple of threads informing the reader that Willem Punt was a real character of the South African railways. I should be extremely grateful if anyone on the forum could please pass on any stories about this railwaymen. Or also elaborate on the details of his occupation as an official and his responsibilities.

Hope you enjoyed reading this Churchill connection!

Cheers,
Steve