TOPIC:

A clasp inscribed "Talana" will be granted to all troops under Lieutenant-General Sir W. Penn Symon's command on October 20th, 1899, who were north of an east and west line drawn through Waschbank Station.

Here is my analysis of the single clasp Talana QSAs:

"Twas an Irish fight"

On the mountainside the battle raged, there was no stop or stay;
Mackin captured Private Burke and ensign Michael Shea,
Fitzgerald got Fitzpatrick, Brannigan found O'Rourke;
Finnigan took a man named Fay and a couple of lads from Cork.
Sudden they heard McManus shout, "Hands up, I'll run you through,"
He thought it was a Yorkshire Tyke - 'twas Corporal Donaghue!
McGarry took O'Leary, O'Brien got McNamee,
That's how the English fought the Dutch at the Battle of Dundee.

Estimated that upward of 30.000 Irish troops fought in the war on the British side. Numbers vary for those on the Boer side- maybe 300 in two commandos (under Blake and Lynch) and 1.200 scattered through the Boer forces.

At Talana were both Blakes Boer commando (sometimes called MacBrides - he raised it but Blake led it)and the Royal Dublin Fusiliers and Irish Fusiliers.

He thought it was a Yorkshire Tyke - 'twas Corporal Donaghue!

Picture courtesy of DNW

This is a lovely single clasp Talana to Major A. C. McLachlan, 18th Hussars, who was wounded and taken prisoner at Talana prior to seeing further active service in North Nigeria 1902-03 and in the Great War

MC (GV) 'Captain A. C. McLachlan, 18th Hussars, 24th May 1915’; QSA (1) Tal (Lieut. A. C. McLachlan, 18/Hussars); AGS 1902 (2) N. Nigeria 1902, N. Nigeria 1903 (Capt. A. C. McLachlan, 8th Hussars); 1914-15 Star (Capt. A. C. McLachlan, 18/Hrs.); BWM & VM (Major A. C. McLachlan).

DNW Mar 14. Estimate £3000-3500


MC LG 16 Jan 1916.

Albert Charles McLachlan was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 18th Hussars in December 1893, and advanced to Lieutenant in August 1899, on the eve of the Boer War. Subsequently employed in the Natal operations, he was wounded and taken prisoner at Talana on 20 October 1899.

On that date, as verified in The 18th Hussars in South Africa, he served in ‘B’ Squadron and acted as his C.O’s galloper and, in common with most of his comrades, and attached elements of the Mounted Infantry, was taken prisoner. The same source states that he was one of 13 men who remained in enemy hands until sent into Ladysmith during the investment, but as a prisoner on parole, he was ‘debarred from taking any further part in the war’ (Queen’s Medal & clasp). Subsequently attached to the West African Frontier Force, McLachlan participated in the North Nigeria operations of 1902, when he was present at Argungu and mentioned in despatches (London Gazette 28 October 1904 refers), and afterwards in the Kano-Sokoto campaign of 1903 (Medal & 2 clasps).

During the Great War, he first landed in France in May 1915 and, in addition to his M.C., added two further “mentions” to his accolades (London Gazette 1 January 1916 and 15 May 1917 refers). On 25 May 1915, the date inscribed on the reverse of the recipient’s M.C., the Germans launched a gas attack in their last but one major attack in the 2nd Battle of Ypres.

QSA to 4692 Pte. J. Bell, Rl. Irish Fus. who was killed at Dundee.


Picture courtesy of DNW