Thanks again.
The information on his Boer War documents correlates nicely with 1911 Census details to satisfactorily establish that 23289 was definitely the man from Fittleton (next to Netheravon). Additional confirmatory evidence lies in the fact that the family tomb in Netheravon churchyard memorialises him and his two brothers who died in the Great War, and Harry's name is embellished with the post nominal letters for DCM.
Now I have to convince the Commonwealth War Graves Commission that the man buried in Alexandria on 20 August 1915 is one and the same, and is entitled to proper recognition of his gallantry award on his commemoration and headstone.
I have not been able to find WW1 service papers, so I am guessing that his were amongst those burned in the Blitz, but information in "Soldiers Died in the Great War" provides decent corroboration.
There is no doubt about it, really, but it is only right that CWGC should require evidence of an irreproachable standard. We'll have to wait and see what they say when (eventually) they reply to my email.
I was interested to read in the "Imperial Units" section of this site that 7 Bty were heavily involved at Colenso. As I may have stated in an earlier post, Harry was remembered in the village for re-enacting the attempts to save Long's guns. Post ABW Harry was a groom for a local farmer, a man called Notley, and apparently staged the re-enactments in a meadow (still unchanged) between Notley's farm and Fittleton church, so he had access to the nags and the land. I wonder whether Harry, as a Driver, had actually taken an active, up front part in the incident.
One has to assume that he did not mention his prior service when he signed up again in 1914 as a 35 year old married man.
