TOPIC:

Hello Henk,

A wonderful QSA to a Cape Police casualty.

Algernon Parker was born in London and attested into the CP dist 2 in Kimberley on the 2nd May 1898 as Pte 609. He was 24 years and 8 months old at the time. He was a Clerk by Trade. Parker also had previous service in the BSA Police and H.M Customs.

Thanks for posting the medal.

Regards
Adrian

Henk

Thank you for posting Parker's medal and his sad story. Reports of "mortal wounds" in the Boer War conjure up pictures of terrible suffering, but few are as frankly recorded as that of Parker.

Regards
Brett

Henk,

The stories behind some medals are frightful to learn. To have been severely wounded or mortally wounded as was the vase with Algernon Parker must have been dreadful.

The skirmish on the 11th involved 116 men with 116 horses of the Cape Police plus their maxim detachment of 7 men, one gun and 8 horses.

During the engagement, the CP expended 3,840 small arms rounds of a total of 4,494 for all the force engaged. Of this, the maxim fired 110 rounds.

Algernon parker was their only casualty. There were two men wounded that day and 5 horses wounded.

The CP lost the following equipment:

1 field service cap, 1 smasher hat, 1 nosebag, 1 horse brush, 1 currycomb

Best wishes
David

The man who has obsessed me for the past few months, Tpr H C Gorton, ILH, was mortally wounded during the Battle of Wagon Hill on 6 January 1900. He had "seven wounds in the body and five in the head". He was carried off the hill with uncontrollable hic-cups, which were probably the result of a wound to the diaphragm. His comrade, Sgt J W Laing, who was also wounded, was in hospital with Gorton and wrote:
"I would like again to mention that my poor old pal "Dickie" Gorton hic-coughed himself to death in the bed next to me."

It took Gorton four days to die, which must have been agonising for him and distressing for those who witnessed his suffering.

Brett

Brett,

I am very sure that PTSD is no recent phenomena. I wonder if returning soldiers received any help for these things when they returned. I guess not.

Best wishes
David

David
I knew several WW1 diggers in the 50's and 60's; as well as many WW2 types and even more from Malaya and SVN. There was absolutely no help given to them to fit into civilian life and I am certain that it was not any better for the ABW. That said, they all tried to get on with it; forget the nasty bits and treasure the comradeship.
IL.