TOPIC:

Hello

To my surprise my grandpa served in the boer war.
Looking at his world war 1 personnal records I made the discovery.

2 years Uitenhage Volunteer Rifles.
6 months Regiment dept port elizabeth.

Hugh Higgins was born in 1886 in Liverpool, Lancashire, his father, Hugh, was 27 and his mother, Bridget, was 26.
He died in 1937 in Campbellfield, Victoria, Australia at the age of 51.

How would I proceed to find further information to obtain copies of his enlistment papers?

I appreciate you taking the time to help me out.

Aussie welcome to this forum.

A small correction: The 6 months service was with the Remount Depot in Port Elizabeth. Remount Depots were strategically located throughout South Africa during the war. Higgins must have been an accomplished horseman and/or in possession of a required technical skill such as farrier.

According to Major G Tylden's book 'The Armed Forces of South Africa' the Uitenhage Volunteer Rifles existed between 1894 and 1913. During the Boer War it started with a strength of 135 and this rose to 576. Tylden does not record its activities during the war.

Hopefully, other members will be more helpful about the possible location of Higgins' service papers.

Regards
Brett

In the case of the Cape Colony Volunteers, it really comes down to when a particular fellow actually joined, most Corps expanded rather dramatically once war had been declared, if an individual joined during the war, so often, his terms were different, with any future claims, guaranteed by the War Office, here in Great Britain, rather than the Cape Government, in effect, you were a member of the SAMIF.
So depending on the all important dates, certainly from memory, at least, you may find papers in WO126/89-90 at Kew.

Brett Hendey wrote: Aussie welcome to this forum.

A small correction: The 6 months service was with the Remount Depot in Port Elizabeth. Remount Depots were strategically located throughout South Africa during the war. Higgins must have been an accomplished horseman and/or in possession of a required technical skill such as farrier.

According to Major G Tylden's book 'The Armed Forces of South Africa' the Uitenhage Volunteer Rifles existed between 1894 and 1913. During the Boer War it started with a strength of 135 and this rose to 576. Tylden does not record its activities during the war.

Hopefully, other members will be more helpful about the possible location of Higgins' service papers.

Regards
Brett