BOER-WAR-L Archives

Archiver > BOER-WAR > 2002-02 > 1013143129


From: Iain Kerr <>
Subject: Re: [BOER-WAR] Finding a soldier
Date: Fri, 08 Feb 2002 04:38:49 +0000
In-Reply-To: <c8.2205e258.29945291@aol.com>


At 04:58 PM 07/02/02 -0500, wrote:
>Hello everyone!
>
>My grandfather who was living in Stirlingshire, Scotland at the time, was
>involved in the Boer War. I have a picture of him ,in uniform, and on a
>horse, but that is all I have on the subject. How do I go about finding what
>regiment he was in, for how long, and what service he saw?
>
>Elizabeth.

Elizabeth,

If you have been a subscriber to this list for any time, you will have
noticed that questions such as yours are very frequent. he latest, that I
answered in details, was only a day ago!

But, on the assumption that you are interested in the British Army in the
Second Boer war (South African War) of 1899 - 1902, then the answer is You
will have to do some research, or have some research done for you, at the
Public Record Office, Kew.

British Army pre-1914 Soldiers Records - War Office Archives in the PRO

The Public Record Office, Ruskin Avenue, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU,
United Kingdom; (Telephone: General Enquiries, ++44 (020) 8876 3444;
Records Information, ++44 (020) 8392 5200; Fax: ++44 (020) 8878 8905) hold
the War Office archives which include many of the British Army's personnel
records before 1914. The PRO is gradually taking on the records for those
who served in World War I. Details of the PRO can be found at their web
site URL: http://www.pro.gov.uk/

The PRO do not have an on-line searchable archive, but they do now have
searchable indexes to the main archives. The PRO will not usually
undertake research for personal or postal enquirers. However the PRO now
offer a copying service and other elements of their Enquiry Service at URL:
http://www.pro.gov.uk/contacts/enquiry.htm

The survival and the quantity of documents that have been archived in the
War Office (WO) series depend in part on the length of the soldier's
service. There is more likely to be a surviving record if he completed
pensionable service or otherwise gained a pension.

The WO 97 Soldiers' Documents (Attestation and Discharge Papers) archive is
the main series of personnel records for long service soldiers. These
survive for most men who served between 1750 and 1882 and who did not die
in service and were discharged to pension (that is to say either those who
completed full service, say 20+ years, or were discharged
medically). However, for those discharged between the years 1882-1913, the
documents were listed alphabetically for all soldiers who had survived an
Army career, and not just those discharged to pension. These documents are
a wonderful supply of information about the soldier and contain a mass of
detail on his career. This includes men of the volunteer and militia
battalions of infantry regiments who additionally volunteered to serve
outside the UK during the Second Boer War, although their records are
shorter in nature.

These records are held at the PRO under the Group letters WO 97 arranged by
discharge date as follows:

1883 - 1913 alphabetically by name for the whole army.

In addition you will need to search the South African War Medal Rolls.

Medal Rolls - Campaign Medals

Awards of campaign medals to British Army officers and soldiers between
Waterloo and the Second Boer War (South African War) are recorded on the
medal rolls in the PRO in archive WO 100. Campaign or war medals were
awarded to members of the armed services for taking part in a campaign or
for service in time of war. Particular medals or stars were awarded for a
campaign or war (e.g. the Crimean War). Clasps were often added to the
medal for taking part in particular battles within that campaign or war
(e.g. Balaklava). General Service Medals are particular to an armed service
and were awarded over a period of time covering several different
operations in different parts of the world each being recorded by a clasp.

The Campaign Medal and Award Rolls (General Series) in archive WO 100 was
compiled by the War Department beginning in 1855-1857 but covering
campaigns dating between 1793-1949. The WO 100 series comprises original
lists submitted by regiments and units of officers and men entitled to
campaign medals and clasps. The volumes are, with one or two exceptions,
arranged under campaigns. The lists within them are usually arranged by
regiment/battalion (for the Army) or by ship (for the Royal Navy), then by
rank, then name. Medal rolls do not give detailed information about
individuals: they record the recipients' regimental or service number and a
note of the clasps to which he or she was entitled. Before 1914, there are
no indexes to the Medal Rolls, so details about an individual can be
difficult to find unless you know quite a lot about his service already.
The WO 100 archive contains 410 files and volumes and is available for
those visiting the PRO in person in microform only.

For the Second Boer War, the records for the Queen's South Africa Medal
(1899-1900) and the King's South Africa Medal (1900-1902) give more
information about the service of the individual recipients. In addition
the archives in WO 32/7960 and WO 108/136-717 contain information about
recommendations for awards.

Details of the PRO can be found at their web site URL:
http://www.pro.gov.uk/ The PRO do not have an on-line searchable archive,
but they do now have searchable indexes to the main archives. The PRO will
not usually undertake research for personal or postal enquirers. However
the PRO now offer a copying service and other elements of their Enquiry
Service at URL: http://www.pro.gov.uk/contacts/enquiry.htm




Yours aye,

Iain Kerr in Windsor, Berkshire, United Kingdom
Web Page at: http://home.clara.net/iainkerr/index.htm
RootsWeb Sponsor and Listowner for the WORLDWAR2 Mailing List.

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