TOPIC:

I have read Col. Plumer's dispatch that appeared in the London Times of March 22, 1900. He received a Wepener clasp and Relief of Mafeking clasp for the QSA medal so he could not have been detained too long. Is there any information on whether he was released or escaped? I am doing a personal research project on his early life and military service in the Boer War and WW1. Thanks for any help..

From The Times, 23 Mar 00



I cannot see any more mentions of him. The casualty roll contains his name but how fewer details than The Times article.

Ernbarn
Hickman in "Rhodesia Served the Queen" says that, on 14th March, 1900 "Lt. C.Duly, as a cyclist scout, discovered the Boers in ambush, and was slightly wounded. At the same time, Lt. H.Chapman, of the BSA Police, was captured". Later, Hickman (in Appendix D to Chapter XXVIII) says "The loss of Lt. Harold Chapman, however, in the area of Pitsani-Pothlugo, is known, as I have related in the previous chapter. He was an old Etonian and felt that the fact he had been taken prisoner was a personal disgrace, whereas, in truth, it was nothing of the sort. He served in the ranks during the First World War, but not with the BSAP, and was killed in action. His Boer War telescope is now a historical exhibit in the Queen Victoria Museum, Salisbury". No mention at all about Wepener.
Regards
IL.

Chapman was a guest of the Boers during the operations to relieve Wepener, my data from FindmyPast:

First name(s) Harold
Last name Chapman
Service number -
Rank Lieutenant
Regiment II (Bulawayo) Division British South Africa Police
Rolls WO100/238 page 15
WO100/238 page 62
WO100/238 page 108
WO100/358 page 136
Literary references The Times Digital Archive 19000620
Rhodesia served the Queen: A. S. Hickman 281,283
Library and Archives Canada-WW1
Commonwealth War Graves Commission - www.cwgc.org
WWI Medal Index Card. The National Archives, London
Biography Educated at Eton.

Served WW1 Cpt 6th bn Yorkshire Rgt, severely wounded at Gallipoli. Forced to resign his commission in 1916 on account of drunkeness. He re-enlisted in the Canadian EF as Pte 646232 and was killed 15-07-1917 and is commemorated on the Vimy Memorial, France.

Source: MIC. CANA-WW1. CWGC. Mkt
Notes [The National Archives WO100. The QSA and KSA campaign medal rolls.] [Rhodesia served the Queen: A. S. Hickman] QSA Clasps: RoM,T,R KSA Clasps: SA01,SA02
Event detail Prisoner Of War on 14/03/1900 at Lobatsi
Event unit II (Bulawayo) Division British South Africa Police
Event source SAFF
Event notes [RQ]
Second event detail Released on 06/06/1900 at Pretoria
Second event unit II (Bulawayo) Division British South Africa Police
Second event source TDA
Second event notes In hospital convalescent with contusion
Country Great Britain
Record set Anglo-Boer War Records 1899-1902
Category Military, armed forces & conflict
Subcategory Boer Wars
Collections from Great Britain, UK None
Copyright Jones (UK) Ltd