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Hello Jim
I found the cause of death certification on find my grave, it was attached to the Deelfontein casualty information. However, I believe it to be a UK document requirement. The info below is pertaining to births and death. The 1894 medical document I found may have been used by the I Y hospital for their records, or a standard form required by the military? To be honest Jim I'm not really sure.



Certificates of Cause of Death

With respect to certificates of the cause of death, the following provisions shall have effect:

(1)The Registrar General shall from time to time furnish to every registrar printed forms of certificates of cause of death by registered medical practitioners, and every registrar shall furnish such forms gratis to any registered medical practitioner residing or practising in such registrar's sub-district:

(2)In case of the death of any -person who has been attended during his last illness by a registered medical practitioner, that practitioner shall sign and give to some person required by this Act to give information concerning the death a certificate stating to the best of his knowledge and belief the cause of death, and such person shall, upon giving information concerning the death, or giving notice of the death, deliver that certificate to the registrar, and the cause of death as stated in that certificate shall be entered in the register, together with the name of the certifying medical practitioner :

(3)Where an inquest is held on the body of any deceased person a medical certificate of the cause of death need not be given to the registrar, but the certificate of the finding of the jury furnished by the coroner shall be sufficient.

If any person to whom a medical certificate is given by a registered medical practitioner in pursuance of this section fails to deliver that certificate to the registrar, he shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding forty shillings.

Best wishes

Dave.....

Hi Steve,

I have found the two that I assume are brothers.
1. Ralph Mostyn Owen, 3679 Kitchener’s Horse & 412 Western Pro. M.R.
Suicide 30 March 1901. This is the QSA that I have.

2. Henry Mostyn Owen, 3320, Kitchener’s Horse & 424 Western Prov. M.R.
Wounded 20 June 1901, Died injuries? 5 August 1901..
Another entry on the SOTQ site ‘ dangerously wounded not in action’.
I don’t have this medal. The details of death are confusing, wounded and died injuries? Usually it would be noted ‘died of wounds/ injuries accidentally received’.

So it may be my suspicious nature but there may be more to Henry’s death.
I have a photo of Ralph’s grave.

Cheers,

Jim

Hi Jim,
I am sure that your hunch is correct with the surname Mostyn Owen.
Cheers Steve

MULTIPLE CASUALTIES OF LIGHTNING STRIKES

During lockdown in 2020 whilst compiling the list of causes of death during the Boer War, I noticed that there were several instances of multiple casualties from lightning strikes at the same location.
My first thoughts were that as men were marching in column or were encamped/outspanned out on the veldt, they were caught out in the open on a flat landscape and could have been struck by lightning in either of these situations resulting in groups of men being knocked over.

On 29th November 1900 1 man was killed and 5 injured of the 1st Battalion Manchester Regiment at Schoeman's Nek by a lightning strike.
On 31st October 1900 1 man was killed and 4 injured of Bethune's Mounted Infantry at Blood River.
31st January 1901 saw 15 men injured, the majority severely at Belfast. All were soldiers of the 1st Battalion Gordon Highlanders.
The 6th Inniskilling Dragoons suffered 1 man killed and 3 injured on 20th December 1901.
The 1st Battalion Worcesters had 1 man killed at Ficksburg on 9th November 1901 and another on Christmas Day 1901.
Prince of Wales Volunteers suffered heavily on 10th November 1901 at Vryburg with 1 man killed and 7 injured.
The Highland Light Infantry had 1 killed and 3 slightly injured at Jammersburg on 19th November 1901.
2nd King's Own Yorkshires had 1 man killed, 1 man severely injured and 1 man severely shaken at Dieplaagte on 7th February 1902.

I have just finished reading the excellent book by Simon C. Green (2020) entitled 'Anglo-boer War Blockhouses: a Military Engineer's Perspective' and found a very likely hypothesis as to why groups of men could be struck down at the same time.

Page 204 of the book states that 86 men died from being struck by lightning during the conflict and one of the causes could have been the fact that during the blockhouse, wire and drives phase of the war, the Imperial forces built blockhouses of different designs along strategic lines of communication in order to corral the roving commandos. The Rice Blockhouse was of a corrugated tin construction and many would have been sited on a vantage point that would have been higher than the surrounding land in order to gain the best view of the approaching enemy. These tin blockhouses would have acted as a perfect lightning conductor out on the vastness of the veldt. These blockhouses were garrisoned by one officer and 6 to 8 men and I reckon that this is why the above mentioned multiple casualty incidents would have occurred. Also, with the exception of the Bethune's men, the other groups were all imperial units who would have manned the blockhouse lines.

Maybe I have just stated the obvious, but it is only when you study these blocks of data that you see patterns begin to emerge. October to January appears to be the main storm season.

Maybe another forummer has an account to hand of a witness to a lightning strike.

Lieutenant Norman McLean / Maclean was another casualty pertaining to being poisoned. He died on the 23rd of June 1900 at Volksrust.

Norman McLean was born on the 22nd of February 1860 at Southsea Hampshire England. He lived with his family near Portsmouth where his father William worked for Her majesty's customs. He was the youngest of 6 children. The 1881 census have the family moving from Hampshire up to Leith in Scotland, Norman was aged 21 and was a medical student at Edinburgh. By 1899 Norman must have succeeded in his medical profession as he was employed as a doctor in Johannesburg.

During the ABW Norman McLean served as 4567 Surgeon Captain MD  with Thornycrofts Mounted Infantry. He resigned on the 29th of March 1900. Three months later he was dead. Before his death at Volksrust, it is believed he served as a Lieutenant / Lieutenant Surgeon with the Imperial Light Horse and Imperial Light Infantry.
However in June 1900 he died of poisoning. On further research exact cause of death was recorded as Ptomaine poisoning.


 Four main sources of Ptomaine or food poisoning are as follows:-

Bacteria – By far the most common source.

Viruses – These do not actually grow on food but may be carried in food.

Chemicals and Metals – Food poisoning caused by chemicals is rare and is most likely to be caused through carelessness, for example allowing cleaning chemicals to contaminate food.

Poisonous Plants – Food poisoning caused by eating or handling poisonous plants, for example deadly nightshade or some fungi; however, this cause of illness is rare.

Lieutenant McLean's medal roll records his QSA with clasps for Transvaal, Tugela Heights,  Relief of Ladysmith and Laings Nek.

I'm not sure if Norman married whilst in Johannesburg,  I hope my Forum colleagues in South Africa may be able to help regarding any additional information as I cannot access the S A archives. But there may be a will or a wife I may have missed. As ever your help will be most invaluable.

Hi all,

It has been awhile since I have contributed on this subject and I'm glad we are starting to gain some momentum with some really great stories. I have been doing some searching online and digging for information where I can find it.



I came across the above article and decided to research some more information about lightning strikes during the Boer War and in particular with regards to the story above of the supposed death of four soldiers and the serious injuries of others. Armed with the "South African Field Force Casualty List 1899-1902" which is a must-have book for any collector, I worked backwards and documented entries relatable to lightning strikes. I must also admit, thanks to Steve's research and dates provided it has made my job a little easier.

I believe that this event on the 10th November 1901 was one of the worst 24 hours in the cost of deaths and injuries in a single given period of lightning strikes during the Boer War period. See below -

The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders -1st Battalion
3409 Col-Sergt. WALSH, W. Killed Groot Oliphants Station, 12 Batt. MI
3163 Private TEARNEY, J. M. Killed Groot Oliphants Station, 12 Batt. MI
3557 Private WILSON, H. Killed Groot Oliphants Station, 12 Batt. MI

Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment)
5284 Private DOE, W. H. Killed Woolfeshu Drift

The Suffolk Regiment - 1st Battalion
5244 Private TAYLOR, R. Killed Near Senekal

The Prince of Wales Volunteers (South Lancashire) Regiment - 1st Battalion
3338 Private CANNING, J. Killed Vryheid
5264 Lce-Corpl KELLY, J. Injured Vryheid
3537 Private HUGHES, P. Injured Vryheid
3346 Private BUCKLEY, T. Injured Vryheid
1723 Private PATIENCE, D. Injured Vryheid
3080 Private MAYPOTHER, E. Injured Vryheid
3335 Private HORTON, J. Injured Vryheid
3887 Private KENNEDY, R. Injured Vryheid
4133 Private ROACH, J. Injured Vryheid

As you can see, the story undersold the real facts, that during this period in different districts at least 6 soldiers lost their lives and at least another 8 soldiers would have received various forms of injuries. During this time some of the locations mentioned above which have received lightning, causing both loss and injury were anywhere between 250-300km from one another. The only location that I wasn't able to find on a map was Woolfeshu Drift, if somebody can steer me in the right direction it would be much appreciated.

Below are some images that I was able to locate online of the final resting places for some of the above mentioned soldiers. The first three images are for Col-Sgt. W. Walsh and Privates J. M. Tearney, H. Wilson of the The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders who were all interred at the now renamed, Old Middelburg Municipal Cemetery, South Africa.






The first thing that I noticed about these metal crosses is that they have either been reused, refurbished maybe with the correct information or both. The added plate on all three crosses made it quite clear that there have been some sought of disturbance to them over the years.

The only family memorial that I was able to locate for all the deceased soldiers who were killed in this lightning strike was for 5244 Private Robert Taylor of The Suffolk Regiment which is located at St. Peter's Churchyard West Row, Forest Heath District, Suffolk, England.



Image is courtesy of Find a Grave

Trev