TOPIC:

Francis Quier

3rd Class Trooper, South African Constabulary – Anglo Boer War
1st Class Sergeant, Transvaal Police – post Boer War
Staff Sergeant (Armourer) 2nd South Africa Infantry – WWI
Armoury Staff Sergeant, Technical services Corps – WWII

- Queens South Africa Medal with clasps Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal and South Africa 1902 to 2476 3rd Class Tpr. F. Quier, S.A.C.
- 1914/15 Star to Arm. S/Sgt. F. Quier, P.F. (Staff) – self awarded and not entitled to
- British War Medal to S/Sgt. F. Quier, 2nd S.A.I.
- Victory Medal to S/Sgt. F. Quier, 2nd S.A.I.

Francis Quier was, for the most part, a career soldier. Starting out in the South African Constabulary he moved on to the Transvaal Police after the Boer War was over and then saw service with the Permanent Force as an Armourer attached to the 2nd South African Infantry in France and Flanders during WWI. As if that wasn’t enough he enlisted for service in the Technical Services Corps for WWII at the age of 60 only to succumb to Carcinoma of the Stomach in 1941 for which service no medals were ever claimed or despatched. All in all he spent some 40 years in and out of uniform – quite an achievement.

Born in Criftins near Ellesmere in the county of Shropshire on 16 June 1881 he was the son of Henry John Quier, a Schoolmaster by profession, and his wife Ellen. Too late to be enumerated in the 1881 England census we had to wait until that for 1901 rolled around to get our next glimpse of him. On this occasion now aged 21 he was a Boarder in the house of Charlotte Hollis of 21 Talbot Road, Whitechurch in Salop. By trade he was a Steam Engine Fitter.

The Anglo Boer War between the might of the British Empire on the one hand and two obscure little Boer Republics, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, on the other had been raging since October of 1899 and there didn’t appear to be an end in sight. The conventional aspect of the war was long over in that both territories capitals had been occupied and the sovereign land they comprised of had been subjugated to British rule but still the Boers wouldn’t surrender. Instead they adopted hit and run guerrilla tactics where, with their highly mobile Commando squads, they could prey upon isolated British troops and lines of communication; raid them and make a run for it before reinforcements could be brought up.

Enter the stage then the South African Constabulary, reputedly the brainchild of the Hero of Mafeking, General Baden-Powell, a body eventually comprising 10 000 men would be recruited across the length and breadth of the Empire to form a police force which, aside from normal policing duties in the occupied territories, would fight alongside the regular army men in order to bring the Boers to heel and the war to an end. They thus had a dual role to fulfill and it was into their midst that Quier threw himself on 10 May 1902, less than a month before the peace was declared.

Quier’s ability was soon obvious to his superiors and his promotion was swift – on 27 November 1902 he was promoted to 2nd Class Trooper followed by elevation to the rank of 2nd Class Sergeant on 7 July 1904. From there it was to Staff Sergeant Armourer on 15 December 1904 and then to 1st Class Sergeant on 1 July 1906. After 6 years, 1 month and 22 days with the S.A.C. the organisation was disbanded and those among its ranks dispersed between the newly formed Transvaal Police and other Police Forces on 1 July 1908.

At some stage Quier left the Transvaal Police and joined the ranks of the very small Permanent Force which came into being in 1912/1913 after the amalgamation of all the provinces of South Africa into Union in 1910 had bought about a need for one united armed force. Thus it was that in August 1914 when the Great War exploded onto the world stage that Quier was still in uniform.

By this time he was a 2nd Class Armourer Staff Sergeant attached to the Ordnance Depot at Auckland Park in Johannesburg and, on 19 September 1915 was attached to the 2nd South African Infantry Battalion (The Natal chaps) and posted to the Overseas Expeditionary Force with them. Despite being a Permanent Force man Quier was required to complete the Attestation papers for the Expeditionary Force at Potchefstroom on 20 September 1915. Assigned no. 6105 he provided his British address as that of his home.

Claiming to be 34 years old he gave his trade as Armourer and confirmed that he was still unmarried. In answer to the question as to whether he was “still serving” he answered in the affirmative and provided a brief breakdown of the service we know him to have had i.e. 6 years and 2 months with the S.A.C.; 4 years 8 months with the Transvaal Police and then 2 years, 5 months and 19 days with the Union Defence Force.

Physically he was described as being 5 feet 9 ½ inches in height with a fresh complexion, brown eyes and dark hair. By way of distinguishing marks about his person he had a scar from a “left inguinal hernia operation”.

Quier was attached to “B” Company, 2nd S.A.I. Headquarters Staff and embarked with them on 3 October 1915 for Europe. On 27 November 1915 he was transferred to “C” Company. Arriving in England on 20 October 1915 the regiment was put into barracks and underwent a period of training and assimilation preparatory to being transferred to the Front. The Senussi, an Arab tribe aligned with the Sultan of Turkey, himself a German ally, was causing upheaval in North Africa and the Middle East at this time and it was thought prudent that, before they were blooded in battle on the Western Front, the South African Brigade should be sent to Egypt to quell the trouble. On 29 December 1915 they sailed for Alexandria in Egypt aboard H.M.T. “Saxonia” disembarking at Alexandria on 12 January 1916 and embarking the same day for Mersa Matruh aboard H.M.T. “Moniem” from where they were soon involved in the numerous skirmishes required to rid the region of the Arab menace.

The hardships endured in the arid and waterless desert sands were to take their toll on the men but they were able to triumph and, with the threat removed, were sent back disembarking at Alexandria once more (ex Thunderstone) from where they sailed to Sollum on 6 April 1916 and then on to Marseilles in France aboard the “Megantic”. From there it was into the thick of things and, with the odd spot of leave aside, Quier was to remain in Europe until he was repatriated to England on 7 March 1919. On 18 July 1919 he disembarked at Cape Town ex “Cap Polonia” and was discharged at Maitland on demobilisation on 18 August 1919.

His Proceedings on Discharge papers confirmed that he had three years and 364 days (missed 4 years by one day) service and that his Military Character had been “Very Good”. His home address on discharge was provided as the Drill Hall. Johannesburg. For his efforts Quier was awarded the British War and Victory Medals. He must have felt that he had done enough to qualify for the 1914/15 Star but, despite being in the United Kingdom since October 1915 until the end of that year, service didn’t count for the award of the Star.

The war over Quier settled down to following other pursuits. He doesn’t appear to have remained with the army but, when the world was once more at war, he put his hand up yet again. In September 1939 the old foes were at it again – Germany and Great Britain had taken up the cudgels yet again and South Africa, under Jannie Smuts, came out in support of the Empire just as she had done 25 years before. The drama of the opening act had been, in many respects similar, with Smuts having to delay South Africa’s entry to the war because of a hardened Afrikaner faction whose sympathies lay more with Germany than with the “old enemy” Britain.

Quier now at the age of 59; attested for service with the Technical Services Corps. He was seasoned Armourer and just what an army starved of competent staff needed most. Stationed in Pretoria he was soon promoted from Armoury Sergeant to Armoury Staff Sergeant and all was going well until, on 25 January 1941 he was admitted to the Military Section of the Johannesburg Hospital. What was the nature of the complaint? Quier had Carcinoma of the Stomach and was placed on the Dangerously Ill list. On 31 January he had Cardiac Failure and the records indicate that he wife as next of kin was notified. He died at 10h00 on the same day and is interred in Johannesburg’s Braamfontein Cemetery.



Despite having qualified for the British War Medal 1939/45 and the Africa Service Medal neither of these were ever claimed and were thus never issued.

His Estate File states that at the time of his death (and prior to joining up) he had been employed as a Lorry Driver at the Power Station at Redan in the district of Vereeniging and that he had been living at Henley-on-Klip. He was survived by his wife Rosie Ellen Quier, born Butt and there had been no children of the marriage. There wasn’t much money in the estate and his wife wrote, on 22 March 1941, to the Magistrate at Vereeniging thus:

“Sir

I have to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 21 March 1941. I beg to state in answer to your questions that my late husband rented a furnished house and he disposed of his personal effects on joining the Army. My personal effects are the clothes I wear and a few framed photographs. I remain liable for debts in the estate up to the value of the assets taken over by you.

Yours obediently”
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Good Morning Rory......

Again a great piece of research and a fascinating morning read.......

Mike