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Hello David,
A nice example of a single clasp and an interesting write up.
Seems Pte.Dillon never recovered from his injuries.

Paul

Gentlemen,
Here is the last one I bought, if George Fairman "broke and ran" he would not have got very far with gunshot wounds to both legs, I expect he just lay on the veldt all day in the blazing sun, without any water, whilst his friends lay dead and dying all around him, I salute a brave man!

Frank - As he was shot in both legs it does seem likely Fairman was wounded in the initial attack. The reason I suspect Dillon was wounded in the mass panic retreat when the Highland Brigade broke is that he was shot in the back of the head.

Regards

David

The QSA to 4127 Pte. W. Pell, A. & S. Highrs. who was wounded at Modder River, 28 November 1899.


Picture courtesy of DNW

Hi

I've compared the casualty list extracted from The Times set out above with the service records for the 1st Battalion Scots Guards set out at pages 211-251 in the illustrated record of The 1st Battalion Scots Guards in South Africa 1899-1902 edited by Captain J H Cuthbert. I have found that the following casualties suffered by the 1st Battalion were not mentioned in The Times list, but are referred to by Cuthbert: Surgeon Major S G Moores, slightly wounded; Lieutenant W J M Hill, wounded; 614 Pvt. A Nicholson, wounded; 989 Pvt. W Parsons, wounded; 9124 Pvt. W Simson, wounded; and 1259 Pvt. R Webb, died of wounds on 13 December 1899 received at Modder River on 28 December 1899. It seems that The Times refers to two men not mentioned by Cuthbert: 8957 Cpl. J Mitchell and 9745 Pte D Walmsley.

This indicates that there may be more legitimate single clasp medals and medals to casualties than first meets the eye.

By the way, Cuthbert sets out a detailed chronology of the movements of the 1st Battalion during the war, which some may find useful.

Best regards

Peter Jordi

Hello Peter

That's very useful, overall there are many "missing" casualties. The Times does publish supplementary lists as they arrive from the War Office so some of these men maybe tucked away in a later issue. Moores maybe listed under RAMC, his parent regiment.

Webb appears in the The Times Nov 30 1899 as wounded at Belmont.

Regards
Meurig