TOPIC:

David,

I would suggest that this is the same man as the roll for the award of the DTD,ABO and LVW has only one man with the initials C.S.Luyt of the Heilbron Commando.

Note the different middle name,my roll has him as Carl Schubert Luyt.

Regards

Adrian

The fact that he was captured at Acton Homes is of particular interest to me. The action was a small victory by Colonial mounted infantry over a Boer patrol in the lead up to the Battle of Spioenkop, which was devasting defeat for the British.

There is an opinion shared by me that the significance of the Acton Homes skirmish was lost on the senior British commanders, including Buller and Warren. Had it been exploited, a way through to Ladysmith from the west could have been opened and the Battles of Spioenkop. Vaalkrans and Tugela Heights would have been avoided. It took the British commanders a long time to realise the value of mounted infantry, rather than cavalry, in the war against the Boers.

Brett

I got copy of both VORM B" for the ABO and "VORM C . Can somebody help me with translation.
Regards, Oleg

Here are probably imperfect translations of Luyt's Form B and Form C:

Form B - Application for South African Republic and Orange Free State War Medal 1899 - 1902

Column 1 - Full name and current address
C S Luyt Rietpoort P O Parys O F S

Column 2 - Rank in Republican Military Force
Burger

Column 3 - Force or Commando in which applicant served
Heilbron Commando O F S

Column 4 - Date and place or district of service
5 Oct 1899 Natal district Ladysmith
(??) Prisoner of War to Ceylon
Until after peace

Written vertically on right margin:
Until battle at Elandslaagte
(The Heilbron Commando was not present at Elandslaagte, so I do not know what Luyt meant by this entry.)

Column 5 - Name and present address of officer under whom the applicant served
The late Field Cornet N J Mentz of Heilbron.
'Elandslaagte' is written on the last line of this column. It probably refers to the entry in Column 4.

Column 6 - Battles and fights in which participated
Acton Homes Natal 18 January 1900

Signed by: Carl Schubert Luyt


Form C - Application for Wound Ribbon Anglo-Boer War 1899 - 1902

Column 1 to 5 repeat the information given in Form B

Column 6 - Nature of wound
Through(?) right arm

Column 7 - The date and place where wound occurred
Acton Homes Natal 18 January 1900

Inserted above Luyt's signature is a repeat of the information about being a PoW in Ceylon until after the peace.


The ribbon on the ABO in the avatar is the Wound Ribbon, which is worn without any medal attached after the ABO. The ABO and ribbon is the same for both South African Republic (Transvaal) and Orange Free State recipients. The two sides of the medal carry the arms of the two republics and the obverse becomes the arms of republic of the wearer. Transvaal recipients wore the ribbon with the green to the centre of the chest, while OFS recipients wore it with the yellow to the centre.

Brett

Thank you Brett.
I got it translated by Dewald Nel.
Burger Luyt’s commanding officer was killed in action in the same battle as he
was wounded in his right arm. 13 Boers lost there life in Acton Homes battle and 25 prisoners were taken.