TOPIC:

Robert Lockhart Swann

Private, Glasgow Company, Volunteer Medical Staff Company
Orderly, Scottish Hospital
Private, 17th Company, 6th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry – Anglo Boer War
Sergeant, 2nd Lowland Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps
Company Quarter Master Sergeant - Army Service Corps
Lieutenant, 4th Battalion, Kings African Rifles - WWI

- Queens South Africa Medal (CC/OFS) to ORD: R.L. SWANN. SCOTTISH HOS.
- Queens South Africa Medal (CC/OFS/TVL/SA 1901) to 21057 PTE R.L. SWANN. 17TH COY IMP: YEO:
- British War Medal to LIEUT. R.L. SWANN
- Victory Medal to LIEUT. R.L. SWANN
- Territorial Forces Efficiency Medal (GV) to 352 SJT. R.L. SWANN. 2/L LD. F.A. R.A.M.C.

Robert Swann was born in Polmont, Stirlingshire, Scotland on 10 May 1883 to Robert Lockhart Swann, a Commercial Traveller by occupation and his wife Mary Ann, born Springall. He first made headlines, unintentionally, at a very young age, the North British Daily Mail of 25 October 1888 carried the report as follows: -

“LENZIE – Accident to child – Yesterday afternoon an accident occurred to a child aged 5 years, the son of Me Robert Swann, commercial traveller, Queens Buildings, whereby he received a fracture of the right leg. The boy, it seems, had been in a field disturbing a pony, and the animal turned on him and knocked him over. Fortunately the occurrence was noted by Mr R Horne, road surveyor, and he at once proceeded to the child’s assistance. It was found that he had received a severe injury to one of his legs. He at once carried him home, and Dr Smith was called and dressed the injured limb.”

Having recovered from that ordeal Swann was, according to the 1891 Scotland census, 7 years old and living with his family at 112 Victoria Road in Cathcart, Renfrewshire. With him were siblings Jeanie (9), James (6), Mary (2) and baby Harry (7 months). Robert’s grandmother, Jane Springall (71) was also in residence.

As the 19th century drew to a close the war clouds that had been gathering over South Africa burst with the commencement of hostilities between the two Boer Republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State and the might of Imperial Great Britain, on 11 October 1899.

Quite apart from the obvious need for fighting troops on the ground was the urgent requirement of medical care for the combatants. The R.A.M.C. (Royal Army Medical Corps) was, on its own, incapable of dealing with the sheer volume of sick and wounded which began to fill the Field Ambulances and Stationary Hospitals dotted around the country. Their efficacy was further hampered by the fact that the fighting was taking place on various fronts in different geographical locations at the same time. This meant that an already thinly-stretched Medical Staff battled to cope with the number of admittances facing them.



Enter the fray then a host of privately funded medical organisations who were called into being to work alongside and to complement the R.A.M.C. and their endeavours. One such was the Scottish National Red Cross Hospital which was organised, in the first instance, by the St Andrew’s Association and was funded by voluntary donations. The organisation of the hospital commenced in January 1900, the personnel eventually consisting of an officer in charge, 18 civil medical officers, 1 Quartermaster, 1 Warrant Officer, 2 secretaries, 35 nursing sisters of the Army Nursing Service Reserve, 45 first-class orderlies, all of whom were medical students, and 57 second-class orderlies, making a total of 160.

The first section arrived at Cape Town on 13 May 1900, and the hospital was opened for patients on 4 June, at Kroonstad. Previous to that time however, the hospital staff had been employed on duty in the military hospitals at Bloemfontein and Kroonstad. It remained during the whole period at Kroonstad, and its equipment was handed over to the Government, when it ceased to exist as a private hospital, on 14 October 1900.

Swann was one of the abovementioned 57 second-class orderlies who put their hand up for service. A serving member of the Glasgow Company, Volunteer Medical Staff Company, he was a perfect fit for the role and, at the age of 18, headed for the war zone having, on 21 February 1901, been appointed a Burgess of the City of Glasgow, with his address given as 56 Rose street, Garnethill.

Much has been written about the work the S.N.H. did but perhaps the best way of illustrating their role is via some of the numerous newspaper reports in which they garnered a mention.



The North British Daily Mail of Friday, 18 May 1900 carried an article under the heading “Red Cross Hospital – Glasgow Nurses and Medicals for South Africa” which read, in part, as follows:

“Two interesting ceremonies took place yesterday in Glasgow in connection with the departure for South Africa of nurses and medical men, under the auspices of the Scottish National Red Cross Hospital. The party, numbering altogether 81, forms the second and third sections who have gone to give aid to their wounded countrymen.

……General Chapman said, ‘You are giving yourself to a service which must redound to your credit. You are going to assist the great medical army service now in the field.’”

R.L. Swann’ name was among those listed. Once landed in South Africa, he and his colleagues set to work and it wasn’t long before their efforts were appreciated. The Dundee Evening Telegraph of 10 September 1900 wrote as follows under the heading “More Praise For The Scottish Hospital”:

The following letter appears in the Bloemfontein Post. “Sir, perhaps a few lines from the pen of one who has been there on the vexed question of hospitals in South Africa, which is so exercising public opinion at home, may prove acceptable, and may find space in your paper. They will at least remove all doubts as to the possibility of the Scottish National Red Cross Hospital having any place in Mr Burdett-Coutt’s category of ill-managed hospitals in South Africa. Bear in mind, however, that I am only speaking of one hospital. But I feel it is my duty, as a slight recompense for the kindness we experienced at the hands of this excellent institution, to let the public know that the opinion I express is not that of one, but of many. All those who, like myself, have been patients in this admirably conducted institution are unanimous in declaring that it is the finest hospital in South Africa.

From the time we were admitted until the time we were discharged we were treated more as intimate friends by our doctors, nurses and staff generally; our every comfort was studied and our every want forestalled. I am sure it would gladden the hearts of those at home to know the indefatigable way in which their delegates attended to and nursed those who had been wounded in their country’s cause, or were played out with months of knocking about and bad water on the uncharitable veld. Every man’s individual case was studied, and the best that medical skill and careful nursing could do for him he got. The accommodation and general fittings, medical and otherwise, could not have been excelled even in a large well-found hospital at home.

A “Ninth Lancer”

At this point in the proceedings of the war the two Boer capitals of the Orange Free State (Bloemfontein) and the Transvaal Republic (Pretoria) had fallen and the war had entered its Guerilla Phase – no longer pitched battles but rather hit-and-run type skirmishing where small pockets of highly mobile and experienced Boers would attack isolated columns and patrols, plunder what there was, and ride off again before the relieving troops could arrive. The Boers relied on their excellent horsemanship and undoubted prowess with the rifle to inflict as much damage and injury to the scattered British columns who were trying to hunt them down and drive them into a corner in order to affect their surrender.

The Dundee Evening Telegraph of 18 September 1900 carried a follow-up letter to that published on 10 September which read as follows and was more pertinent to Swann and his comrades:

“The Scottish Hospital at Bloemfontein – A “Grateful Tommy, “ writing to the Bloemfontein Post corroborates the letter of “Ninth Lancer” regarding the Scottish National Red Cross Hospital. “I was also a patient there,” he says, “ and during the whole time received every possible attention from the doctors, sisters and orderlies. I feel especially thankful to these latter whom “Ninth Lancer” omitted to mention, for the willing and cheerful way they attended to all our wants. No praise is too high for them and I shall always feel very grateful to the first-class orderlies of the Scottish Red Cross Hospital.”



The work of the Scottish Red Cross Hospital was set out in a letter published in the Perthshire Advertiser of October 15, 1900, by one of their Doctor’s – Professor Henry K. Clark. He wrote, in part, thus: -

“Kroonstad, O.R.C., September 14, 1900 – this hospital has been settled at Kroonstad since the end of May. The first detachment consisting of the staff and equipment for 100 beds, reached Cape Town on May 12th, the date of Lord Roberts entry into Kroonstad. No. 3 General Hospital and the equipment and the rest of the staff of the Scottish Hospital reached here on 27 May 1900, and henceforth the condition of matters speedily improved. In a marvellously short time the temporary hospitals were put in a satisfactory condition, and the hospitals were soon able to take in all the new cases of disease and injury.

A month after the sending off from Glasgow, a second section, consisting of the staff and equipment for 210 beds was forwarded and still a month later; a third section of 210 beds, to make up the full complement of 530 beds for a General Hospital. During our short stay At Bloemfontein we had visited the hospitals, and had marked the prevalence of enteric, and were not surprised to find a like condition of matters at Kroonstad.

Our dreams of interesting surgical cases and valuable experience of bullet and shell wounds seems likely to be dissipated, but, thanks to the energy of Christian De Wet, we got a fair share of bullet wounds from Rhenoster, Lindley, Bethlehem and the east country generally. Many of these apparently exemplified the innocuousness of the Mauser bullet so often referred to by your correspondents. Thus we had a sea of bullets passing the lungs, the liver, the stomach and the brain, and possibly one passing through the heart, without any serious consequences following the wound, healing in the course of a few days. Latterly the cases have become less interesting, and our admissions now consist largely of the tired, footsore and rheumatic brought in by the various columns as they pass Kroonstad.”

As Kroonstad was the base of all operations in the Free State. The staff witnessed many bad sights. While stationed for a time at Bloemfontein, it was common to see from 10 to 20 funeral parties pass in a short time (enteric fever ripped through the garrison and the townspeople because of the poor and sometimes interrupted water supply to the city). Coffins were not available in times of war and the soldier’s blanket served as his shroud. The hospital staff contributed to the casualty lists, scarcely one individual retaining perfect health during the whole period. The sickness of some led, as it may be expected, to an increased workload for those fit for duty. As Kroonstad was in the centre of the disaffected area, it frequently happened that trains were captured or wrecked by the Boers, with the result that the railway station soon became a hospital of battered engines and trucks. As Kroonstad stands on an elevation of 6000 feet above the sea, the winter nights are intensely cold, and water left in a basin overnight will be found with a 3 inch coating of ice in the morning.

The six months voluntary service Swann had signed up for now at an end, he took his discharge and headed back to Scotland aboard the Tagus, docking at Southampton on 9 November 1900.

After a hiatus of some months, he decided that the lure of the veld was too strong to resist and, at Lanark on 24 January 1901, he completed attestation papers for enlistment with the Imperial Yeomanry. Claiming to be a Clerk by occupation and 21 years and 9 months old, he confirmed his six months Scottish Hospital service as well as his service with the Glasgow Medical Staff Corps. A tall man at 5 feet 11 ¾ inches, he weighed 10 stone and 12 lbs. and had a fair complexion, grey eyes and brown hair. A Presbyterian by way of religious denomination, he had no distinguishing marks about his person. Having been found fit by the Doctor, he was assigned no. 21057 and the rank of Trooper with the 17th Company, 6th Battalion, I.Y.

Sailing for South Africa he was to spend 174 days in the country before being discharged as “Inefficient” on 16 August 1901. Returning home once more after an ignominious second appearance in the war. He was awarded the Queens medal with the appropriate clasps but, in an unusual turn of events, he was awarded the medal twice – as an Orderly with the Scottish Hospital and as a Trooper with the Imperial Yeomanry – no doubt one of many clerical errors made by those compiling the rolls which was all done manually.

According to the Glasgow electoral roll Swann was an Insurance Clerk by occupation and was still, as at 1906, resident at 56 Rose Street, Garnethill. According to the 1911 England census he had moved south of the border and was an unmarried 27 year old Insurance Inspector lodging in the house of John Higgin at 82 Helmsley Road, Newcastle. He had kept up his militia service and was rewarded for his diligence with the Territorial Forces Efficiency Medal on 1 January 1912 as a Sergeant with the 2nd Lowland Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps.

Unbeknown to Swann and millions of others the “war to end all wars” – the Great War – was about to wrap the world in its deadly embrace. Hostilities commenced on 4 August 1914 and Swann, a serving member of the R.A.M.C. enlisted without delay. The 2nd Lowland Field Ambulance was a unit of the Territorial Force with its headquarters at Yorkhill Parade, Yorkhill, Glasgow. They served with the 52nd (Lowland) Division and had just departed for summer camp when war was declared, whereupon they were recalled to base. Mobilised for war service on the 5th August they were moved to take up position on the Scottish coastal defences.

They sailed from Liverpool and Devonport from 18 May and 8 June for Gallipoli and were in action at Gully Ravine, Achi Baba Nullah, Krithia Nullahs and the evacuation of Helles on the 7th and 8th January 1916 whereafter they moved to Egypt and concentrated at Abbassia near Cairo. On 2nd March they moved to El Kantara and took over No. 3 section of the Suez Canal defences. They were in action at Dueidar in April and the Battle of Romani in August.

In 1917 they were in action in the First, Second and Third battles of Gaza, at Wadi el Hesi, the capture of Junction Station, the battle of Nabi Samweil, and the battle of Jaffa, including the passage of the Nahr-el-Auja. 52nd Division remained in the line near Arsuf until March 1918 by which time Swann had long left their service, having transferred to the Royal Army Service Corps with no. SS/317 and the rank of Company Quartermaster Sergeant, before being commissioned into the Uganda-based 4th Kings African Rifles as a Lieutenant on 14 September 1917 - the entry appearing in the London Gazette of 10 January 1918.

For his efforts he was awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal – both issued off the K.A.R. roll at Nairobi, Kenya on 5 September 1921.

Back home in Scotland he wed Emily Bertha Hall, the only daughter of the late William George Hall, H.M. Customs and Excise, London, at St. Enoch’s Parish Church on 3 July 1919. The couple were married by Reverend Archibald Maclaren. It was said that Swann was the eldest son of the late Robert Lockhart Swann and Mrs Swann of 104 Hanover Street, Glasgow.

Sadly their marital bliss would come to an early end with Swann passing away at the age of 41 in 1924.

- Photos of Scottish Hospital and Orderly group - Volunteer (Pete)
- Various newspaper reports credited above
- Ancestry for census data, medal rolls etc.

Good morning Rory.......

By any chance when you were researching Swann did you run across the following Orderly......

447 - Orderly Keith, R., Scottish National Red Cross Hospital, Cape Colony, Orange Free State

Mike

I didn't - sorry Mike.

Rory,

In case you have not found this, Swann was one of the 89 members of the Scottish National Red Cross Hospital who received the Freedom of the City of Glasgow on 21/02/1901.

(Nurses are not included in this list, as at the turn of the century only men could be granted the Freedom)

William ADAM
John AITKEN
Herbert ALLAN
Thomas ANDERSON
Edward ANGUS
Alfred BLACK
George Thomson BOGLE
Charles William BROWN
William BROWN
Patrick Thomas CAIRNS
George Herbert CLARK
Henry Edward CLARK
William Broadfoot CLARK
Wiliam COPELAND
John Marshall COWAN
Henry DOIG
George DOUGLAS
George DOWIE
William Hendry DUNCAN
Daniel FISHER
George John FORD
Eric Dalrymple GAIRDNER
James Charles GALLOWAY
Alexander GARROW
George GERRY
John GERRY
Alexander GLEN
Saul Hyman HARRIS
George HODGE
William KEARNEY
Alexander Dingwall KENNEDY
James KENNY
William LEE
Duncan LIVINGSTON
James LUKE
Charles Hay McDONALD
Donald Fraser McDONALD
James McDONALD
Patrick McFARLANE
Alexander Ronald McGREGOR
William McINTOSH
David Duncan Fraser McINTYRE
George McINTYRE
Abraham McKEW
John McLACHLAN
William McLAREN
Adam McLEOD
George Munro McLEOD
James McMILLAN
David Scott Erskine McNAB
Duncan Andrew McPHAIL
Andrew Alexander McWHAN
James MILLER
Samuel Douglas MILLER
David MOODIE
Peter Joseph MUNDY
Arthur Alexander MURISON
Alexander Harper NAPIER
John NEESON
John Dunn NISBET
William Ferguson OATT [Oattes]
William PATTERSON
George PICKERING
Allan PIPE
John Charles REID
Thomas Heyliger RICHMOND
James Robert ROBERTSON
Peter Hamilton ROBERTSON
William G. RODGER
Norman Cumming ROGERS
Campbell ROSS
Alexander SCOTT
Joseph SEIVWRIGHT
David SHANNON
Charles W. SHARP
Norman Burgess STEWART
Richard STEWART
Robert Lockhart SWANN
John THOMSON
James Nathaniel TODD
Edward Brown TOPPING
Hugh Fleming WARWICK
Norman West WATSON
John WILLIAMSON
David Ashley WILSON
John WILSON
John WILSON
John WOTHERSPOON
Alexander YOUNG


He will almost certainly have received one of the Scottish National Red Cross Hospital medals, which were distributed in the Queen's Rooms, Glasgow, on 29 Oct 1901. As he was an orderly, I believe this would have been the bronze version (star). The silver and gold medals appear to have been presented to medical students (1st class orderlies) and nurses respectively.



.Photograph courtesy of Paul Dunn


SEE: Scottish National Red Cross Hospital Medals


..

Thanks Neville - I had noted in my above article, that he was made a Burgess of Glasgow on 21 February 1901 but hadn't given any thought to another medal. Were these issued named? If not, I'll try to procure a Star to add to the group.

Regards

Rory