TOPIC:

Two teenage brothers from Egham, Surrey England, who fought in the Boer War in South Africa with one killed in action whilst chasing the rebel Boer Commandant Gideon Scheepers in the Cape Colony.

Parents:

Father: Henry William Bridger (b1847 Leominster, Sussex)
Mother: Mary Garnham (b1851 Butley, Suffolk)

The Bridger brothers were born to a working class family employed as Labourers in the area. The parents had a total of 7 sons with George and Thomas being the 3rd and 4th eldest respectively.



BIRTH: 1881
Addlestone, Surrey, England

DEATH: Unknown

George Richard Bridger attested with the 13th Hussars on the 9th January 1899 at the age of 18 years, weighed 60kgs and was 5ft 51/4” tall.

For some reason George did not sail with the regiment when it left for South Africa at the start of the 2nd Anglo Boer War in November 1899.

George left England for South Africa on the 8th May 1900; he joined the regiment in Natal and having missed the earlier engagements for the Relief of Ladysmith just qualified for the “Natal” clasp by arriving before the 11th June 1900 cut-off.

In August 1900 a portion of the 13th Hussars and 5th Lancers came up Van Reenen's Pass and met Macdonald's brigade in Harrismith; but the regiment was mainly employed after June 1900 and up to the close of that year on the Standerton-Newcastle line.

In 1901 the 13th Hussars were brought to the Western Transvaal, and, along with the 5th Dragoon Guards, operated about Klerksdorp and afterwards east of Pretoria under Brigadier General G Hamilton and other commanders taking part in many successful engagements.

It was here in the Western Transvaal when he learnt of his brothers death in the Cape Colony.

George continued to serve with the 13th Hussars until peace was declared; he sailed for England on the 1st October 1902 having served for 2 years and 154 days.

On the 25th March 1903 he transferred to the 19th Hussars, issued with regimental number 5598, and immediately returned to South Africa; he remained there until 1904 before returning home.

There is no record of George getting married or starting a family; in 1911 he was living with his parents whilst working as a Labourer Fitter.




BIRTH: 1883
Egham, Surrey

DEATH: 11th August 1901 (18 years old)
Wanhoop, near Uniondale, Little Karroo, Cape Colony South Africa

Thomas Bridger attested with the 10th Hussars at the outbreak of the Second Boer War on the 13th November 1899; he would have been approximately 16 years old at the time.

It’s not known when Thomas joined the 10th Hussars in South Africa but it would have been sometime in 1900.

Gideon Scheepers entered the Cape Colony with Commandant P H Kritzinger's commando on 16th December 1900 and carried out his first attack 30th December 1900.

In the first seven months of 1901 the regiment, along with the 12th Lancers, were in a brigade under Colonel E C Knox which operated in the Eastern Transvaal, taking part in French's great sweep to the south-east corner, and they also operated in the north-east of the Orange River Colony; and both regiments were afterwards taken to Cape Colony, where, under the direction of General French, they did endless chasing after P H Kritzinger and Gideon Scheepers and their followers during the remainder of the campaign.

11th August 1901 (Sunday): Official Records of the Day

General Kritzinger and his men evade Crabbe’s column, cross the railway line in groups and meet GHP Van Reenen and Louis Wessels in the Suurberge. Wessels had just arrived from the Free State with 23 men along with dispatches from General de Wet. Commandant Scheepers commando clashed with a patrol of the 10th Hussars in dense bush near Wanhoop (Uniondale district). A trooper is killed and four are wounded.

The trooper mentioned in the report is Thomas Bridger.

By shear co-incidence the date is infamous as it’s the day Lt Breaker Morant, in the Northern Transvaal, executed PJ (Floris) Visser for wearing Capt Hunts coat.

Provenance:

The medals of both brothers were passed to the eldest brother James H Bridger (b 1871), who passed the medals to his son George H Bridger (1902 – 1952), who in turn passed the medals to his sister in-law Gladys Ivy Owen (1916 – 1999) who combined the medals with her husband who had served in WW2 (Burma) and his fathers medals from WW1 to form a family medal group from 3 military campaigns.

I have ordered the book “On Imperial Servce 10th Hussars during the Boer War” and I’ll see if I can shed any more light into the movements of the 10th Hussars during that period.