TOPIC:

The Boer War DSO group to Lt B P Lefroy is here

Picture courtesy of Noonan's

QSA (1) Relief of Ladysmith (5153 Pte. J. Kelly, Rl. Dublin Fus:);
[ KSA (2) ]

QSA verified on WO100/209p31 and KSA on WO100/347p261.

Picture courtesy of Lockdales

QSA (1) Relief of Ladysmith (5389 Pte H B Scotchmer RL Dublin Fus,:

Herbert Barthorp Scotchmer succumbed to Enteric on campaign in South Africa 29th April 1900 at Mooi River, Natal a Postman from Framlingham, Born 1874, enlisted 1893, Court Martialled 1895 for disobeying an NCO. Transferred to Royal Dublin Fus 2nd Bn, on the Ipswich Boer War Memorial in Christchurch Park.

THE QUEEN'S SOUTH AFRICA MEDAL AWARDED TO PRIVATE J. BYRNE, 2ND BATTALION ROYAL DUBLIN FUSILIERS, WHO WAS TAKEN PRISONER OF WAR AT COLENSO ON 15/12/1899.

QSA & 6 clasps: Cape Colony, Talana, Tugela Heights, Orange Free State, Relief of Ladysmith, Transvaal officially impressed: 4505 PTE. J. BYRNE, RL. DUBLIN FUS:

QSA and KSA Medal rolls, confirm six clasp QSA and that Byrne was also entitled to the King's South Africa Medal. If anyone knows of the location of Byrne's KSA, please contact me as I would like very much to reunite them.

James Byrne was born in the parish of St Nicholas, Dublin, Ireland, and educated at the Royal Military Asylum and the Royal Hibernian Military School. He attested for the Royal Dublin Fusiliers at Dublin on 4 August 1892. At the time of enlistment, he was 18 years and 2 months of age and gave his trade as that of builder’s laborer. Attestation papers note previous service with the 4th Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers from October 1891, and that he previously volunteered for service, but had been rejected because he was under age and under the required chest measurement (at the time of enlistment Byrne's height was given as 5 feet 5.5 inches, and his weight as a mere 8 stone 4 pounds or 116 Lbs). Byrne was posted for service as a private with the 1st Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers on 16 October 1892. Within 2 years he had gone absent without leave, 15 September 1894, but returned to duty on 22 September of the same year, when he was transferred to the 2nd Battalion on 26 September 1894. Following his service during the Boer War, Byrne was posted back to the 1st Battalion, transferred to the Army Reserve on 14th March 1903, and discharged "time expired" on 3rd August 1904. In addition to service in South Africa for 5 years and 48 days, from 18th May 1897 to 12th October 1902, Byrne also saw service in India from September 1894 to May 1897. At the time of discharge, he gave his next of kin as his father, of 18 Bride St, Dublin.

Private Byrne was at Talana and was posted missing in action at the fiasco at Colenso on 15 December 1899. He was a prisoner of war and was later released. Medal and clasps confirmed on roll.

Byrne J 4505 Private 2nd Btn. Missing - released at Colenso on 15 Dec 1899. Source: Natal Field Force Casualty Roll, page 188-line 43 Royal Dublin Fusiliers

Byrne J 4505 Private QSA (6) QSA known to exist Source: List of QSAs with the clasp Talana from the Talana book

Luigi Gizzi was born in 1867 in San Giuseppe, Picinisco, Frosinone, Lazio, Italy to musicians Nunziato Marino Gizzi (1821-1902) and Maria Caterina Grilli (1840-1902).

The Gizzi family moved from Italy to Birmingham sometime between 1871 and 1877 when Luigi would have been between 5 and 11 years of age. He never enlisted in the military under his real name but provided a more English sounding name and stated that he was a British National.

1. Louis Gale - Royal Artillery (Cinqe Ports Division)

From the moment Louis Gale enlisted in the Royal Artillery in 1885 at the age of 19, his military career was defined not by heroism or discipline, but by defiance, punishment, and the perpetual attempt to escape his own past.

Louis was a soldier who seemed at war with himself as much as he was with the enemies of the British Empire. Repeated imprisonments, court-martials, and misconduct charges painted a portrait of a man unable or unwilling to conform to military discipline (or both).

Louis spent 8 years in India (1886 to 1895) and during this time was awarded the IGS 1854 medal with bars Burma 1885-7 / Burma 1887-9.

Whilst on duty was wounded on the 8th December 1890 on the front of his left leg; in addition whilst off duty in 1892 he also received a contusion to his right thumb and again the same year to his scalp. The signs of a troubled man.

Regrettably, during his time in India, he lost his IGS medal. A statement dated 23 January 1891 read as follows:

"...at 11am on the 18th of January 1891. I lost my medal and clasps for Burmah 1887 - 1889 and 1885 to 1887 from my tunic in the Subdivision Room..."

Louis was never issued a replacement medal and would not live to see it again. The earliest known appearance of the medal on the open market dates to a Glendinning's auction in 1910; see below for details.

Louis was finally discharged from the Royal Artillery in 1895, following multiple instances of disciplinary issues, including court-martial proceedings and imprisonments. His final assessment upon discharge recorded his character as "Very bad," and he was denied a pension.

His dismissal marked the end of his first military career, but instead of leaving soldiering behind, he re-enlisted under a false name.

2. Louis Gray – 2nd Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers

Louis reinvented himself as Louis Gray and re-enlisted in the 2nd Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers on 4 February 1896 and gave his age at 24 (he would have been about 31).

He altered his physical description, falsified enlistment details, and signed on to serve once again. But deception, like discipline, was not his strong suit and he was eventually found out in May 1899 whilst stationed in South Africa (Martizburg).

At the Battle of Talana (20 October 1899) he was wounded during the brutal uphill assault, a fight in which the Royal Dublin Fusiliers suffered heavy losses. Being left behind at the deserted camp by Colonel Yule must have been very demoralising for himself and the other wounded men.

Following his release from the Waterval POW camp in July 1900 he rejoined his regiment and resumed his military service in the Transvaal.

This time he was awarded the Queen South Africa medal with bars Talana / Transvaal as well as the King South Africa Medal with bars SA1901 / SA1902.

In Aden the troubled soldier’s journey came to an end. He passed away on 11 November 1902 from liver disease marking the final chapter in his turbulent life.





IGS Medal Provenance:
ia801500.us.archive.org/15/items/catalog...ofveryv00glen_55.pdf

Following his death Louis's India General Service Medal was sold at auction in January 1910 by Glendining's:

Over the years, Louis's QSA medal passed through various auctions and dealers. However, between 2014 and 2025, its previous custodian was fortunate enough to reunite it with Louis's IGS medal; all that remains now is to reunite the pair with his KSA medal; lets hope it doesn't require another 135 years!

I received a very nice surprise when I downloaded the record of Louis Gray from the "Register of the Second Anglo Boer War";
www.casus-belli.co.uk

The record revealed that Louis was left at Dundee with the wounded and subsequently taken to Pretoria with the other prisoners of war.

True enough when I looked at the Times List from 11 July 1900 his name appears on the list:


Unfortunately his attestation paperwork has been damaged (torn/burnt pages); however, both copies were digitised and under the entry for "5. Campaign", normally where "6. Wounded" is written is the word "Talana"; see below.

I have included both copies for completeness; based on this would it be fair to assume that he was both wounded and taken POW at Talana?



The Other Copy: