TOPIC:

Lance Sergeant Henry Raymond Saddler Arrowsmith, 3952, 1st Suffolk Regt, KIA 6th January 1900

This research is courtesy of Find a Grave; reference below.

BIRTH: 24 Dec 1874
Balham, London Borough of Wandsworth, Greater London, England

DEATH: 6 Jan 1900 (aged 25)
Colesberg, Pixley ka Seme District Municipality, Northern Cape, South Africa

BURIAL: Colesberg British Military Cemetery
Colesberg, Pixley ka Seme District Municipality, Northern Cape, South Africa

3952 Lance Sergeant Henry Arrowsmith, 1st Battalion the Suffolk Regiment. Son of George William Thomas Arrowsmith (chemist and dentist) and Anne Julia Arrowsmith (nee Micklam) of Balham, Surrey and later Seasalter, Kent.

Enlisted in the Suffolk Regiment in Sep 1894. In Apr 1897 he deployed with his battalion to Malta until Jan 1899. The battalion deployed to South Africa for the Second Anglo Boer War, sailing on the Scot in early Nov 1899, and arrived at the Cape on the 28 Nov 1899.

They were sent to assist General French in the Colesberg district. Between 1-4 Jan 1900 the Boers had been driven off hills forming part of the Colesberg defences. On 6 Jan 1900 the battalion attempted to undertake a night attack on Grassey or Suffolk Hill, one remaining hill in Boer hands in the north-west portion of the defences.

The attack failed and the battalion withdrew leaving the commanding officer and 28 dead, 24 wounded and over 100 taken prisoner. Sergeant Arrowsmith was one of those killed in the attack near Rensburg Siding, just north of Colesberg. He was buried on the battlefield and a cairn was erected over the burial site. His remains were later reinterred at the Colesberg British Military Cemetery, Colesburg, Northern Cape.





He is commemorated on the following memorials:

Suffolk Boer War memorial in the Cornhill, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk





Suffolk Regiment Boer War memorial in St Mary's Church, Crown Street, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk



Ipswich Boer War memorial in Christchurch Park, Ipswich, Suffolk

Thanks to BereniceUK the memorial is well researched here:
https://www.angloboerwar.com/forum/17-memorials-and-monuments/31400-suffolk-soldiers-memorial-ipswich?start=0

Cambridge Boer War memorial at St Mary the Great Church, St Mary's Street, Cambridge, England



Reference: www.findagrave.com/memorial/249587463/henry-arrowsmith
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More research to follow......

A detailed post, Sturgy, supported by excellent photographs.

Sturgy - Great write up & photos.

It always strikes me that it was not right for relatives of those who were killed early in the war to receive a medal that could be seen as being inferior to the one given to a soldier who survived to the end. Based on a letter in the Smethwick Telephone this concerned at least one member of the public at the time. There was a simple answer which seems to have been beyond the wit of members of the establishment - a special and perhaps more eye catching clasp for those who lost their lives as a result of the war. At least the matter was addressed in WWI with the personalised memorial plaques.

Anyway Henry Raymond Saddler Arrowsmith's sacrifice was appreciated by the good people of Reading as shown by this clipping from Reading Mercury of 20th January 1900.

Hi Smethwick; thanks for the newspaper article, that was great!

I agree with you on the award given to a fallen soldier; in Henrys case he seemed to have been well respected by his friends and I believe they raised funds and had a memorial tablet erected at the St Alphege Church in Seasalter; I had previously emailed the church to see if the memorial tablet is in the "Old Church" and if I get a response I'll update this post; hopefully with a picture!


The Old Church dates from 1140

The Arrowsmith family must have been well known since his father was the local dentist and chemist in Whitstable.

Whats amazing is that 123 years later the Chemist is still there, albeit with many different owners:



Picture courtesy of Googlemaps

Update: A kind lady St Alphege Church has got back to me and confirmed that the memorial tablet, mentioned in the post above, is not installed at St Alphege Seasalter Church but is in fact on the wall in the Lady Chapel of St Alphege Church Whitstable; after 123 years it is in remarkable condition:





Newspaper Articles on the memorial tablet itself:




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