TOPIC:

Would anybody have any details on the route that a man in Vancouver would have taken to join up with the South African Constabulary in 1901. Port of Departure, arrival in England, departure from England, arrival in port in South Africa, etc.

broznitsky,

Do you have a man in mind? It might be easier to track him by name or the unit to which he belonged.

Trooper Devereaux, probably with A Squadron. May have left Vancouver prior to May 1901.

I guess that you are talking about A1364 3rd Class Trooper Percy Leonard Devereaux.......

This information can be found in Chapter 3 and 5 of the book "No Colours, No Drums - Canadians in the South African Constabulary by Jim Wallace. Published 2003..... and specifically on page 180, on how he was Mortally Wounded..... He was reported by the press to be the last man who died in the Boer War......

It is out of print but does show up on Abe Books......

Mike

Thanks Mike. I know about Devereaux; what I have been asked to pin down is the route that British Columbian men took, to get from Vancouver and Victoria to South Africa. I assume most of them travelled as a group.

In knowing that they were recruited (against the governments agreement in some cases) in Canada they like other contingents were sent to a staging location Ottawa (for men from the west) and Halifax (for eastern recruits) then shipped to Halifax by train and shipped direct to South Africa...... They sailed on the Elder-Dempster Line ship SS Montfort direct to South Africa.....

Mike