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About a week ago I bought a QSA with engraved naming to 4297 Pte S Beatty. It has bars : Tugela Heights, OFS, Relief of Ladysmith, Transvaal, Laings Nek, Cape Colony. The medal is reasonably toned with ghost dates. Unit Information on the ABW site confirms that he was issued a QSA with 6 bars. Given that the unit was in South Africa pretty much to the end of the War, was he issued a KSA ?
The 1st Royal Dragoons as a unit seem to have been all over the place without ever getting too heavily involved ( the brevity of the casualty list seems to confirm this ) I'm sure that this is not what they actually wanted, but it has been suggested that their big horses were not ideal for SA conditions.

Samuel Beatty, from Dungannon, county Tyrone, joined the "1st Royal's" in August 1898, aged 19 years old, at Hounslow Cavalry Depot, he served in South Africa from the 31st of October 1899 to the 25th of September 1902 and was entitled to the KSA.
A very fine regiment, they were often used as scouts in Natal.
Whilst the armies "big" horse was often found wanting in South Africa it was more than a match for the enemies little Cape ponies when it came down to a chase.

mike rowan wrote: About a week ago I bought a QSA with engraved naming to 4297 Pte S Beatty. It has bars : Tugela Heights, OFS, Relief of Ladysmith, Transvaal, Laings Nek, Cape Colony. The medal is reasonably toned with ghost dates. Unit Information on the ABW site confirms that he was issued a QSA with 6 bars. Given that the unit was in South Africa pretty much to the end of the War, was he issued a KSA ?
The 1st Royal Dragoons as a unit seem to have been all over the place without ever getting too heavily involved ( the brevity of the casualty list seems to confirm this ) I'm sure that this is not what they actually wanted, but it has been suggested that their big horses were not ideal for SA conditions.

Mike,

KSA--WO100/302 page 278. I will give you a copy of the page at the next meeting.

Regards
Adrian

Hi Mike - The medal rolls show the QSA clasps to be correct but, as you suspect, he was also awarded a KSA.

David

Hello Mike,
Samuel Beatty's entry in WO97 made me smile, it actually states Relief of Kimberley on his QSA, a scarce mistake, moreover, as you would expect WO100/114 does indeed show this to be an error.
Regards again Frank

Thanks, Frank, Adrian & David.
Its a pity that his KSA is missing, but nowadays when a decent looking QSA turns up one is inclined to go for it even if not your collecting line. Times have changed and those wonderful days when single QSAs were bought from a bucket off a dealers counter are long gone ( although I never experienced this, I have it on good authority from a usually relaible collector much older than me ). The 'pool 'of extant QSAs will remain the same ( todays silver price is $18.45 and dropping ) , and , if Economics 101 is to be believed, the rampant rise is the price is due to an increasing demand ( aided, in South Africa anyway, by an ever weakening currency). So I am very pleased with my acquisition.
Regards
Mike