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This is one of 3 groups of medals to father and son in my collection. After checking the medal roll and casualty list it lay dormant till recently. The SA Field Force List confirmed all the casualties and the roll confirmed that 923 Cpl Allen was the father of Pte D Allen. I always wondered what exactly happened on that day and it was on a recent trip to Grahamstown that I found a letter in the local paper, The Journal dated November 1900 that clarified the incident :

....Two days after we arrived in Frederickstad and again camped there. On the 18th (the anniversary of our being called out) I had quite an adventure. About 100 of us set out looting, and when we got about 6 miles from camp 20 of us went down with a wagon to a farm, whilst the remainder went on another few miles. We reached the farm safe enough and sent out-posts out. Soon afterwards we saw the out-posts retiring, and the Boers appeared making for the farm. Of course we could not very well shift as we had to wait till the posts came in, but it so happened that they did not come toward us, but retired away towards the flank. Most of them got away and it was then too late for us to retire. Eventually they surrounded us and took us prisoners, 7 of us unwounded, 4 wounded and 1 killed (one of the wounded died shortly afterwards.) they got within 10 yards of us when they shot 3 of the chaps. There were four of us lying about 2 yards apart firing at them, and then they made a sudden rush and shouted “hands up.” The other three rose up at once and the Boers fired (possibly? Thinking they were escaping) and hit the three of them. It is a good thing I lay still till they were up to me, and then put my hands up or I should have been shot too. After giving up our arms one kind friend suggested shooting us. They altered their minds though, luckily for us, and started knocking the men’s hats off. I had already thrown mine away, when they shouted “hands up” because it had my name in it, and I did not want them to know that I was a sergeant. They made us go into a barn, and I asked if I could get our wounded across the sluit also. Just at this point our other men who had gone on turned up and opened fire on the Boers, so we were in danger of being hit by them too.

One little chap (whose father was with us and managed to escape with a slight wound) was wounded in three places, and when I got across the sluit to fetch him in he had a revolver up to his head, and was just going to shoot himself. I took the revolver away from him and threw it away. Poor little chap, he was only 18, he died about two hours afterwards.

I have enjoyed reading members contributions on this forum on the added research potential offered by newspaper extracts,and finally I have clarity on how a father lost his son on the same day and place.

Jon

Jon

Great story,it must have been rather trumatic for the father, thanks for posting.

Brian

Jon

I second Brian's reply.

Regards
Brett

Hello Jon,
I agree with Brian and Brett, that really is indeed a really good and rather rare pair of QSA's I very much like Marshall's Horse too, a very good unit, that never really sought, or got, the recognition it really perhaps deserved, but then, that was often the case with the Cape Colony Volunteers.
I think from memory, Major Marshall himself was wounded whilst leading his men from the front, he was stuck on the veldt for several hours under incessant fire from the enemy.
Have you actually looked at WO126/89-90 at Kew for their original attestation papers, I would hope that they may have survived and I suspect that they joined to together in December 1899
Regards Frank

Great post Jon, thanks.

This is now the second father/son casualty pair to the ABW that I know of.

In 1993, my early days of studying casualties, I did an article for the Victorian Military Society on multiple fatalities to the same family, there was only one father/son combination:

Colonel JG Wilson Yorks & Lancs and Lt RB Wilson IY.

Siblings being the commonest pairing and one husband and wife:

Colonel OG Wood RAMC and Mrs S Wood - both died at Kroonstad within four months of each other, leaving two sons. Mrs Wood had been an Army nurse in Egypt for which she was awarded the RRC. In South Africa she was a civilian volunteer nurse.

Regards
Meurig

Thanks Frank, these medals were purchased direct from the family who are friends of my wife, and as such were completely unresearched, so it was a great surprise when it turned out to be a father/son pair who were casualties on the same day and small action.
I was allowed to view Marshalls medals which are now in storage at the Albany Museum in Grahamstown, the medal display there being removed and placed in storage.
Are the attestation papers available on line? if so I will have a look.

Regards
Jon