TOPIC:

Given that Booth states in WO126 that he had served in "Victorian Vol Regt" for 2 years (i.e. pre federation) and the "IB" (Imperial Bushmen) for 5 months (i.e. Anglo Boer War) the detail shown in WO100/289 that actually give his dates of service and the fact that it is also very clearly shown in both WO100/255 and WO100/250, in fact, twice in the former, all suggests to me that he did indeed serve in the Australian Army, as stated, actually in South Africa during the war.

BASearching wrote: No worries Frank: the post office quip was in jest.

The reference to service in the NSWIB is problematic: it is linked to Alfred Edward Booth. Having seen WO100 reference previously, I was initially certain that it was not him but am returning to that assumption. I would note that cross-referencing with other sources is difficult in Australia. I haven't been able to find attestion papers but at the same time Alfred Booth is not necessarily documented in the broader genealogy world.

Perhaps it would be more correct to say that Booth served in simply the 3NSWIB- as the "Australian Army" units i.e., the Australian Commonwealth Horse, did not commence arriving in SA until early 1902. Previous contingents were Colonial sourced; nominally, anyway. Once I did some research at AWM on a chap who was in 3NSWIB and discovered that that unit was actually formed in SA from drafts intended for the NSWIB and CB. The AWM told me that many men who served with the 3NSWIB were locally recruited and had no connection with Australia or any of the pre-Fed Colonies.
I had a long look at Booth's entries in the my CD of 3NSWIB and they certainly are a bit of a mess; hardly readable in some instances. However, the service dates for ILH/NSWIB/KH are clearly shown, as Frank says.
BASearching, what are your current thoughts on the difference in forenames? (AQUILA vs ALFRED).
IL.

LOL Ian,
I shall amend that to an Australian serving in a Contingent, which was, as far as the War Office was concerned, the 3rd New South Wales Imperial Bushmen!
WO126/74-75 very clearly shows that Booth had served in the Imperial Bushmen, obviously we know he joined the Kimberley Horse, so WO100/289 confirms this service in the 3rd NSWIB beyond all reasonable doubt and WO100/255 and WO100/250 just confirms that this man is one of the same and very clearly served in all three corps.
The 3rd NSWIB were not part of the SAMIF or the British Army no matter how the Australian War Memorial may wish to class them, however, any medal actually named as such would command a very high price which can be considered quite normal here for any Australian associated corps, even if the particular recipient was proven not to be an Australian, although, certainly not the case with the man in question here.

LinneyI wrote: Perhaps it would be more correct to say that Booth served in simply the 3NSWIB- as the "Australian Army" units i.e., the Australian Commonwealth Horse, did not commence arriving in SA until early 1902. Previous contingents were Colonial sourced; nominally, anyway. Once I did some research at AWM on a chap who was in 3NSWIB and discovered that that unit was actually formed in SA from drafts intended for the NSWIB and CB. The AWM told me that many men who served with the 3NSWIB were locally recruited and had no connection with Australia or any of the pre-Fed Colonies.
I had a long look at Booth's entries in the my CD of 3NSWIB and they certainly are a bit of a mess; hardly readable in some instances. However, the service dates for ILH/NSWIB/KH are clearly shown, as Frank says.
BASearching, what are your current thoughts on the difference in forenames? (AQUILA vs ALFRED).
IL.

In relation to the question:

what are your current thoughts on the difference in forenames? (AQUILA vs ALFRED).

I would say there is a reasonably good chance they are one in the same person. Aquila had an arrest warrant issued for embezlement for an employer in Victoria and was noted as having fled to NSW to join up for the Boer War. For a person called Alfred Edward to join the Imperial Bushmen at about the right time and for there to be no other genealogical record of an Alfred Edward Booth is indicative.

The fact that Aquila Edward's attestation for Kimberley Horse mentions IB 5 months (assuming this is NSWIB) as well as ILH (I had initially missed that bit) and the medal roll for Aquila refers back to 3NSWIB, its fairly convincing.

Further, it is often noted that people change as little as possible when hiding their identity (initials, date of birth), Alfred vide Aquila is entirely reasonable.

Aquila is clearly my relative: the references to the Victorian militia and his next of kin are spot on.

Given we are looking back at events 115 years ago, the only way to prove it would be to hope that the attestation papers for Alfred are in the NSW state archives and provide further links to Aquila and or his family.

I must say: a hearty thanks to the team for the advice and the collected references. It has given me a clearer picture of some family history. My next challenge is to track the units he belonged to around the theatre and possibly to find out how 3NSWIB contingent got to South Africa.

I would of course be interested in why he spent only 5 mths in each of NSWIB and ILH before moving on. Suspect we may never know. Similarly, where he went after the war is a great mystery and I don't think I will get to see Zimbabweyan records in a hurry.

BASearching
Yes, the trail does look convincing. Regarding attestation papers for 3NSWIB being in NSW State Archives; well I have been meaning to get out there to research a couple of my matters - however 3NSWIB certainly does not feature in their published list of archives and the place is not easy to get to.
My 25211 does give a clue as to how the 3NSWIB came to be, by the way. If you want to follow their trekking, Stirling's "The Colonials in South Africa" gives them a reasonable writeup.
Sometimes the past just remains hidden - for whatever reason. It seems to me that you have managed to fill in some blanks and that is more than a lot do!
Regards
IL.

You don't need to assume anything regarding this man and his service, the two entries in WO126, the two entries in WO127 and the four further entries in WO100 all prove his actual service, as already stated, is fact, rather than being merely convincing.
When you say "assuming this is NSWIB" and "the only way to prove it" and so on, are you seriously suggesting you actually believe that these eight entries were all some how made up by the War Office and if so, why exactly?
Booth appears to me, at least, to have been very typical, he certainly does not stand out in anyway regarding his wartime service, men who joined the SAMIF's Class C corps normally enlisted for either three months or six months, depending on which particular corps a fellow was looking at joining, the period for both the Imperial Light Horse and the Kimberley Horse was six months.
He actually did serve six months in the 1st Imperial Light Horse, but, because of his service in the 3rd New South Wales Bushmen, he was unable to serve out his six months in the Kimberley Horse because the war ended and the whole SAMIF was disbanded, with one very notable exception, which was for purely geographical reasons.

BASearching wrote:
The fact that Aquila Edward's attestation for Kimberley Horse mentions IB 5 months (assuming this is NSWIB) as well as ILH (I had initially missed that bit) and the medal roll for Aquila refers back to 3NSWIB, its fairly convincing.

Given we are looking back at events 115 years ago, the only way to prove it would be to hope that the attestation papers for Alfred are in the NSW state archives and provide further links to Aquila and or his family.

I would of course be interested in why he spent only 5 mths in each of NSWIB and ILH before moving on. Suspect we may never know. Similarly, where he went after the war is a great mystery and I don't think I will get to see Zimbabweyan records in a hurry.