TOPIC:

Lewis Dole Walsh

Trooper, No. 5 (Estcourt) Squadron, Natal Carbineers
Orderly Room Sergeant, Natal Voluntary Composite Regiment – Anglo Boer War

- Queens South Africa Medal with clasps Tugela Heights, Relief of Ladysmith, Transvaal and Laing’s Nek to Tpr. L.D. Walsh, Natal Carbineers
- Kings South Africa Medal with clasps South Africa 1901 & 1902 to O.R. Sjt. L.D. Walsh, Natal V.C.R.

Lewis Walsh was born in Richmond, just outside Pietermaritzburg, Natal in about 1876 the son of George William Welsh and his wife Catherine Thomas, born Dole. George passed away in Kokstad in 1877, a year after Lewis’ birth and his passing must have placed additional hardship on the shoulders of Lewis’ mother.

Little is known of his early years and the first official intimation we have of his doings came in the form of a letter he addressed to the Hon. S.O. Samuelson from Howick on 7 June 1893 when he was 19 years old and, presumably, had finished his schooling. The letter read as follows,

“Sir

In the Gazette I notice that there will be about seven vacancies for Interpreters and consequently conclude there will be an examination, would you kindly let me know of what the exam will consist and when same will take place and oblige.

Yours obediently

Lewis D. Walsh

(This was in respect of the Student Zulu Interpreters Examination)

On 16 November 1893 he followed this up with a letter, again from Howick, and this time addressed to the Secretary for Native Affairs in Pietermaritzburg as follows,

“Sir

Having noticed your advertisement for applications for the vacancy in the S.N.A. Office, and wishing to enter I would be highly esteemed if you would send me the necessary particulars of examinations.

I have the honour to be Sir yours obediently.

Lewis D. Walsh

The authorities, no doubt impressed by his persistence must have asked Walsh to forward his certificates and any testimonials as, on December 1st he wrote again,

“Dear Sir

I herewith enclose as follows Certificate of Birth, Certificate of Education and Character from “Mr. R. Jones” of Howick.

My Schoolmaster being dead I am unable to obtain Certificate as stated in your advertisement but trust that the Govt. one will suffice.

Kindly let me know when the Examination will take place and also if the enclosed Certificates are sufficient for my competing for the Student Interpretership.
I have the honour etc. etc.

That his efforts must have come to nought is illustrated by the fact that he was obliged to write again, on 4 April 1894, as follows,

“Dear Sir

According to Reports there will soon be a vacancy in the “S.N.A. Office” could you let me know, please, if this is correct, as I am anxious to again compete, and would like to have a little time to study.

Would it be any use my applying for a Certificate as Interpreter, and enrolling on the list for a vacancy that might occur in some future period, trusting to have a favourable reply?

I beg to remain etc. etc.

The following year, 1895, proved to be a strange one for Walsh – on Friday, 1st February his mother, who had remarried and was now Catherine Thomas Logan, appeared in the Supreme Court of Natal, Upper Umkomanzi Division, and submitted an application for an order authorising the Registrar of Births and Deaths to amend the entry of the birth of Lewis Dole Walsh. The matter was duly heard and it was ordered that the name “Lewis” be substituted for “Louis”. Why on earth this was necessary is a mystery as “Lewis” continued to be known by that name and “Louis” was never used.

The 22nd July 1896 saw the marriage of Walsh to a Daisy Elizabeth Anne Day, a slip of a girl at 17, in St. Luke’s Church, Howick. Daisy hailed from the farm “Singletree”, Lions River and Walsh whose occupation was given as Bookkeeper, hailed from Howick.

War clouds which had been gathering between the two Boer Republics in South Africa and Great Britain finally erupted into full scale conflict in October of 1899 and Walsh was not slow in volunteering his services. On 9 November 1899 he enlisted with the Natal Carbineers with no. 898 and the rank of Trooper. Unlike the vast majority of the Carbineer chaps who were caught up in the Defence of Ladysmith having retired on that town, Walsh was “outside” and consequently fought in the various actions required for the award of the Tugela Heights clasp to his medal as well as, on 28 February 1900, taking part in the Relief of Ladysmith. He later went on to fight in the Laing’s Nek area towards Newcastle in June of that year. He was part of the famous No. 5 (Estcourt) Squadron of the Natal Carbineers who saw action at Willow Grange and Colenso to name a few and would have been a brother in arms to the cousins Gray (William Park Gray and David Moreland Gray the latter of which was Killed in Action at Colenso on 15 December 1899)

The Imperial forces, having expelled the last of the Boers from Natal, carried the fight to the eastern part of the Transvaal which is where Walsh earned the last of his QSA clasps. He took his leave of the Carbineers on 1 October 1900, the date the Colonial Units were disbanded in Natal and, instead of going home, decided to join or was chosen for the Natal Voluntary Composite Regiment with no. 351.

This outfit came into being with the concurrence of the Commander-in-Chief of the British forces. Lord Roberts, who agreed that one mounted regiment could be left in the field till the end of the war. This unit was formed from volunteers from all the Natal regiments, and was called the Natal Volunteer Composite Regiment. It came into being in October, 1900, the units furnishing the volunteer personnel being the Natal Carbineers, Natal Mounted Rifles, Umvoti Mounted Rifles, Border Mounted Rifles, Durban Light Infantry, Natal Royal Rifles and Natal Field Artillery, with necessary detachments from the Natal Volunteer Staff, Medical, Veterinary, Transport and Supply Departments. The strength was 505, in four squadrons. Lieut-Colonel Robert Winter Evans, of the Natal Mounted Rifles, was appointed to the command, and the new regiment at once settled down to its work, forming a unit of the Dundee-Ladysmith-Newcastle sub-district Imperial Command.

During its 21 months of existence, the unit, or portions of it, at various times formed part of many different field commands in the southern and eastern Transvaal, Orange River Colony and Zululand, as well as in northern Natal, and took part in much fighting. Other activities were patrolling the Natal borders, holding isolated key points, escorting convoys, patrolling block-house lines, cleaning up the districts of rebels, chasing raiding parties and the like. The work of the regiment was never monotonous, and at times was exciting.

The unit gained an enviable reputation for its work and many were the encomiums received from high Imperial Army commanders, under whom the regiment or detachments served.

Scouting was highly developed, and soon the Natal Volunteer Composite Regiment was famed for this type of work. Amongst its personnel were many men hailing from the districts in which it operated, and consequently they possessed valuable local knowledge and many were linguists in Dutch and Zulu, Men and horses were hardened by a year of previous service and training. Every member owned his own horse, saddlery, equipment and uniforms.

It was whilst stationed at Dundee, as part of the N.V.C.R. that Walsh succumbed to that great decimator of life in the Boer War, Enteric Fever. This fever, also known as Typhoid, was in many cases contracted by the sufferers from the dirty water, contaminated with bacteria, which the troops were required to drink from. Hygiene was not of the standard we know today and lack of it proved costly to many. Walsh passed away on 16 January 1902, four months before the end of the Boer War. He was one of three Orderly Room Sergeants at the time.







On 19 September 1902 his widow, Daisy, received a cheque in an amount of £12 being the special allowance from the Military Authorities for lost kit etc. On 24 October from her home, Hill Top in Howick, Daisy confirmed receipt of a further £10 being the horse allowance payable to her late husband. Walsh was survived by his wife and two children, Cyril James Lewis Walsh (aged 4) and Leonard Walsh (2 ½)

According to son Cyril’s WWI service card Daisy Walsh was living in Bergville, Natal in 1916. Cyril fought at and survived Delville Wood but his father hadn’t lived to see it.

Hello Rory,
Just a superb pair (except the ribbons! ) do you have or at least know if his sons medals are extant, I note he served in the 2nd SAI, that would be a wonderful family group.
I've been to Delville and often wondered how it was possible for so many men to lose their life in such a small area in that time space, again, small.
I very much like the composite regiment and any medals named to them are always worth buying.
Regards Frank

Thank you Frank

Yes the son's medals are extant and are with a Delville Wood specialist collector not far from me.

I quite agree with your view on the ribbons and am, frankly, anything but happy with the court mounting style employed as well. I will get round to redoing them at some point.

Regards

Rory

Hello Rory,
Right then, you need to do a deal with the specialist and get them off him!
There was a Kimberley collector in Johannesburg who mounted his entire collection like that, I don't like it, simply because the colours are not correct, but, I think that people who have mounted all their collection like that will have ended up removing original ribbon and perhaps brooches too, which is a great shame.
Notwithstanding, still a great pair of medals, you can always replace the ribbon, but, not the actual medals themselves!
Kind regards Frank

Hello Rory

What a well presented pair of medals, your in depth research makes for interesting reading. Do you use a researcher in Natal that you can recommend?

I have the QSA named to J.W.Booth D.L.I (noted as Wood Booth J on the tablet), who was killed in action at De Jagers Drift. Watt lists him as being buried in Dundee and I was unable to find this memorial, is it in the main graveyard?

Jon

Hi Jon

And thanks for the comments around the group. They are a nice pair of medals (more so especially after I have remounted them )

In answer to your question - I conduct my own research as I live in Pietermaritzburg, the seat of the Natal Archives. Any other research is done by me on line or via reference books I have in my library.

You have a very nice medal there! Adrian Ellard took the photos of Walsh's memorial for me as he sometimes travels to Dundee etc. Perhaps he can shed light on where your chap is buried.

Your man's Estate file reference is as follows:

DEPOT NAB SOURCE MSCE TYPE LEER VOLUME_NO 0 SYSTEM 01 REFERENCE 10/302 PART 1 DESCRIPTION BOOTH, JAMES WOOD. STARTING 19000000 ENDING 19030000 REMARKS MSC2420/1900.

Regards

Rory