| Bernstein | Harry | | Lieutenant | BSACM Matabeleland 1893 (0). Henry Lawrence Bernstein was born in Melbourne, Australia in June 1972, the son of a Polish jeweller and an American mother of Jewish descent. A confirmed participant in the Matabeleland operations of 1893, when he served as a Lieutenant in Graaf's Column, he afterwards enlisted as a Trooper in the Artillery Troop of the Mashonaland Mounted Police, in which capacity he accompanied the famous Jameson Raid - captured by the Boers at Doornkop in the Transvaal in January 1896, he was repatriated to England from Durban aboard the Harlech Castle (list of ex-raiders as passengers in The Times of 22 February 1896 refers). Shortly thereafter, Bernstein joined the Maxim Company at Dartford, and it was in this capacity, as a civilian Armourer, that he accompanied the 1897-98 expeditions in the hinterland of Lagos and the northern territories of the Gold Coast. In fact, according to accompanying research, he 'found fame as a machine-gun expert and, later, as an explorer in South America', and served again as a civilian Armourer for the West African Frontier Force during the Great War. BSACM Matabeleland 1893, no clasp (Lieut. H. Bernstein, Raaf's Column); East and West Africa 1887-1900, 1 clasp, 1897-98 (Mr. H. L. Bernstein, W. A. F. F. ) Ex A. A. Upfill-Brown Collection, BDW 4 December 1991 (Lot 299). DNW September 2008 £1500. DNW June 2009 £3500.
Source: BSACM rolls | Raaff's Column |
