TOPIC:

Cecil Clement Thomas (b. Dec. 1879) was my great uncle. He joined the Worcestershire Regiment in April 1897 (under age) and went with the 2nd Bn to South Africa, arriving in Jan. 1900, and took part in the defence of Worcester Kopjies in February. On 18 March he wrote to his father:

“I had the nearest escape as ever I shall have they put two rifle Bullets through my helmet and one through the back of my coat, After we had been out fighting 17 hrs we retired to camp at 10.20 I then volunteered to go out and fetch the wounded in we were out about 5 hrs hunting the kopjies for the wounded we brought in about 40 men we had to leave some who were wounded to die on the Hills as the Boers were on our track we then had to walk 14 miles to Arundel without having abit to eat the hole time so you can tell what warfare is like.” (Apparently his schooling did not include punctuation!)

He was awarded the Queen’s South Africa Medal. The list of names includes "4857 Pte Thomas C" and there’s a note against his name: “To England 16.7.00”, but unfortunately that is the last I have been able to find about him. The Worcestershire regimental history talks of 'the enteric scourge' (i.e. typhoid) as a major cause of casualties and my guess is that he may have been sent to England, but did not make it.

He does not appear in any of the following indices: GRO Army Deaths 1896-1900 or 1901-1905; GRO Marine Deaths 1846-1902; GRO Natal & South African Forces Deaths 1899-1902. Army Returns Deaths 1901-1905. GRO Marine Deaths Indices (1846-1902) for 1900. Nor is he listed in the general register of Deaths for the 3rd and 4th quarters of 1900 or any of the four quarters of 1901 and was not found in a search of www.freeBMD.org for 1900-1901.

Any suggestions of where else to look would be very welcome, please.

ahthomas,

That sounds a conundrum. I looked at the roll page on line (WO100/184p143) and it only says 'To England'. Can I ask where your copy of the roll was sourced please?

CC Thomas was not at the end of his service period in 1900 so he was not returned home 'time expired' and more likely invalided home. Those men who dies en route are often recorded on the rolls with something link 'dies at sea' but it is impossible to say how accurate such records are.

It is interesting to note that all the men on that page of the roll who received the same clasps as CCT (CC & OFS) were either marked as 'Deceased' or 'To England'.

There is a service record for him (second forename is given as Clarence but born 1879 in Leominster, Herefordshire so presumed your great uncle) in WO97 or available in FMP. Have you seen this record?

Best wishes
David

Hello David
I got the information from a very helpful reply to my enquiry from WO100/184 Vol. XIX: 2nd Bn Worcestershire Regiment Roll of individuals entitled to the Queen’s South African Medal and Clasps. Letters from Cecil to his father in Leominster have sufficient detail to locate him with A Company in the actions at Slingersfontein and in defence of Worcester Kopjes, and the regimental museum kindly sent me a copy of an article entitled The Defence of Worcester Kopjies dated July 1934, by Lieut.-Colonel H.A. Carr, D.S.O., who commanded the 2nd Battalion from 1919-1921, explaining a picture of the events described.

What I am up against, I think, is the class-based pattern of writing about military units which listed officers by name but simply gave the number of men but without their names. This is clearly evident in the shipping information so helpfully recorded on this web-site (under Miscellaneous Information, where a typical entry lists the officers by name plus: “Sick laying down, 16; sick convalescent, 373; wounded laying down, 1; wounded convalescent, 7.” This is in sharp contrast with WWI, only about 14 years after the Anglo Boer War, when private soldiers can be found by name e.g. on Commonwealth War Graves listings.

I've not seen Cecil's service record - thank you for drawing my attention to it, and I'd be glad of your help to know where to search for it. What's FMP?

Best regards, ahthomas

Hello ahthomas.......

Take a look at this.....

www.angloboerwar.com/forum/5-medals-and-...-hugh-de-berdt-d-s-o

Mike