TOPIC:

Queen's South Africa Medal (Bar - Transvaal) named to 4570 Corpl: J. Martin. Rl: Lanc: Regt.
King's South Africa Medal (Bars - South Africa 1901 and South Africa 1902) named to 4570 Pte. J. Martin. Rl: Lanc: Regt.
Cpl. Martin was taken prisoner at Vryheid on 11/12/1900 and was released on 04/01/1901.
The 2nd Bn. served in South Africa from December 1899 to May 1902 and had heavy casualties with 139 men killed or died of wounds, 40 died of disease, 258 wounded and 67 taken prisoner.
In October 1900 the unit became the garrison at Vryheid with a strength of about 900. It was based at Lancaster Hill. On 11/12/1901, at about 2am, 1,200 Boers attacked the hill from the north. The defenders fought hard but were nearly overwhelmed and when Lt/Col. Gawne led reinforcements out of the town he was mortally wounded. The Boer advance was eventually stopped by heavy defensive fire and the barbed wire at the top of the hill.

Another great addition to your POW collection, John. Thank you for showing it. The single clasp 'Transvaal' suggests that Martin joined the regiment as one of the replacements filling the gaps left by the disaster at Spioenkop on 24 January 1900.

Regards
Brett

John,

As Brett suggests, another lovely pair of medals.

His KSA is list on WO100/320p54 with a note saying Time Expired 17 Sep 1902.

His QSA is not listed on Ancestry because his page (WO100/168p88) is missing.

He was from Buxton, Derbyshire. His service papers are available.

Best wishes
David

Hi everybody

The Military History Journal, Vol 10 No 4 (December 1996) contains an excellent article by
Mark Coghlan titled “The Transvaal Outbreak : The Boer attack on Lancaster Hill, Vryheid, 11 December 1900”. This can be downloaded from the Internet.
It is well illustrated with a map and contemporary photos and covers the action extremely well. It highlights the unequal outcome of the skirmish in terms of casualties : all indications are that the Boer Commando’s had only two men killed. There is, however, no mention of the number of Boers wounded and/or taken PoW and that figure will probably never be known.

Fortunately I have an ABO medal to a Serjeant in the ZAR State Artillery who was wounded and taken PoW at Lancaster Hill on 11 Dec 1900.

The Military History Journal, Vol 10 No 4 (December 1996) contains an excellent article by
Mark Coghlan titled “The Transvaal Outbreak : The Boer attack on Lancaster Hill, Vryheid, 11 December 1900”. This can be downloaded from the Internet.
It is well illustrated with a map and contemporary photos and covers the action extremely well. It highlights the unequal outcome of the skirmish in terms of casualties : all indications are that the Boer Commando’s had only two men killed. There is, however, no mention of the number of Boers wounded and/or taken PoW and that figure will probably never be known.
Fortunately I have an ABO medal to a Serjeant in the ZAR State Artillery who was wounded and taken PoW at Lancaster Hill on 11 Dec 1900.



Welken (or Wilkin as on State Artillery Muster Roll and PoW Register) was barely 16 when he enlisted in the State Artillery on 20 Feb 1896. He must have been quite a capable soldier to have the rank of Sergeant 4 years later.
According to his Vorm "B" he served with a "Franssen Kanon" i.e. one of the Long Toms. He lists his presence at Dundee, Ladysmith, Mooi River, Colenso, Spion Kop, Helpmekaar, Almonds Nek, Graskop, Amersfoort and eventually Vryheid. Here he was wounded (nature unspecified), taken PoW (No 18364 and sent to India.

Henk

PS I have a similar pair to the one shown by John : this is to 4646 Pte A Crone Rl Lanc Rgt. Thanks to Brett I now know that the single bar Transvaal points to a post-Spion Kop replacement
H

Joseph Henry Martin was already in the regiment and was serving in Singapore with their 1st Battalion from the 17th of January 1899 until the 26th of March 1900, he had originally joined from the Militia in 1894, he was very much the career soldier!

Brett Hendey wrote: Another great addition to your POW collection, John. Thank you for showing it. The single clasp 'Transvaal' suggests that Martin joined the regiment as one of the replacements filling the gaps left by the disaster at Spioenkop on 24 January 1900.

Regards
Brett