What a pity that there is not an extant attestation document for William Mitchell which could possibly have given his nationality or next of kin
However, what started off with a QSA and the 'dry' admin documentation to a man of KH who was killed in action, now begins to evolve into something far more interesting thanks to a little help from my fellow forummers!
IL---The reference to Stirling (which I really should use more as a resource from the forum booklist) puts us in the right area regarding his OFS clasp and reiterates that much of the force of 250 men were unblooded in battle, and being pitted against the wily De Wet. You cannot envy them.
ResearchRescue provides the letter home from Trooper George Nugent (thankfully the New South Wales boys wrote home prolifically and were suitably descriptive) which could provide the 'smoking gun'.
Incident 1---Nugent mentioned the skirmish involving 50 KH being surrounded by Boers on Monday 24th September resulting in one man killed and another (he thought) wounded. Hayward (1982) only lists Mitchell as being killed on the 24th, no mention of a wounded man.
Incident 2---this incident occurred on Sunday 23rd September, the date given on the Nominal Roll for Trooper Mitchell's death, location Vredefort. Hayward gives no casualties at all on that date. So, is this a case of dates becoming mixed up in the fog of war? It might be feasible that his body was taken back to Heilbron for burial and so delayed accurate reporting or was he buried where he fell and his remains relocated later?
More questions than answers!
The sniping incident on the 23rd is of great interest, can you imagine the anger amongst Mitchell's comrades over the slim tactics of the Boer farmer, who Nugent says may have had his come uppance by having his farm burnt down and possibly shot. In an act of vengeance or an execution under an officer's command? Such was the brutality of this 'gentleman's' war.
And what of the Boer farmer? Who was he? Where was he buried if he was shot?
IL---I absolutely agree with you that KH, SALH need their regimental histories and biographical information to be set down for posterity. KH would take a few years to complete and would make a very worthwhile retirement project. They were composed of a rich and varied sample of men, Rory's Jameson Raider, C.E.H.Sutherland springs immediately to mind.
My sincere thanks for your input gentlemen as always.
