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Driver Wallace of the Natal Field Artillery 7 years 6 months ago #48939
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Alexander Wallace
Driver, Natal Field Artillery - Queens South Africa Medal with clasp South Africa 1901 to 218 Dvr. A. Wallace, Natal F.A. Alex Wallace was a Colonial man born and bred. On 23 July 1879, several months after the disaster at Isandhlwana, he saw the light of day for the first time. His parents were Arthur Wallace, a Blacksmith and his wife Jane. Where they lived was in the appropriately named Wallacetown in Inchanga, a tranquil rural spot some half-way between Durban and Pietermaritzburg. An Iron Turner by trade, following roughly in his father’s footsteps, he was 20 years old when the Boer War erupted onto the world stage. Biding his time he enlisted with “A” Battery of the Natal Field Artillery on 19 April 1901 and was operational on the Zululand frontier later that year in the push to keep General Botha at bay when that wily strategist was trying to invade Natal for the second time. The N.F.A. had its origins, partially, in the Durban Volunteer Artillery. In April, 1892, the name was changed to Natal Field Artillery. The guns used were 15-pounder B.L. – In 1901 these out-of-date guns — pop-guns as they were termed — were withdrawn and the battery was armed with 15-pounder modern field guns mounted on Indian pattern carriage. Owing to the size and age of the guns they were never perceived to be a threat to the enemy and were, when deployed at Elandslaagte, so ineffective that they were withdrawn. Wallace spent about 6 months with the Natal Field Artillery before taking his discharge. Six years later, on 11 February 1907 he wed Catherine Blenkinsop a 23 year old spinster born in New Zealand at 64 Mill's Lane in Durban (this must have been a private residence) In later life he became a reasonably successful engineer. He passed away at the Entabeni Nursing Home on 9 November 1952 at the age of 73 years and 3 months and was resident at 34 Clyde Road in Durban North at the time of his death. He was survived by his wife and only child, Arthur John Alexander Wallace, a Chemist in Dundee, Natal. The valuation of his property in his estate file makes for interesting reading – reference is made to “A very old single story wood and iron dwelling (well-kept and in a good state of repair) contain” – a far cry from the luxurious accommodation we are accustomed to in this day and age. 
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