TOPIC:

Hi everybody (especially Ladysmith fundi's)

I obtained the QSA to Lt Henry St John Tugman, Vallentin's Heidelberg Vols. as worn with the correctly fitted and entitled Transvaal bar, but with a loose Defence of Ladysmith bar on the ribbon.

Tugman is basically remembered for his part in the first publication dealing with the Siege of Ladysmith.

His entry from the Anglo-African Who's Who 1907:

"Tugman, Herbert St. John, F.R.C.I., of the New Club, Johannesburg, was born at Birkenhead, June 24, 1860, and is the son of the late J.E. Tugman, merchant, of Lisbon and London. He was a civilian combatant in Ladysmith during the siege, being present at Lombard's Kop, Bester's Farm, and Caesar's Camp engagements; Lieut. in Valentine's Heidelberg Horse (1901). He is author of 'Siege of Ladysmith' (Newnes). Unmarried."

His entry from the 1909 SA Who's Who:



He does not feature on the QSA roll of the Town Guard and I cannot find any reference to him in my copy of Lines. He is also not on the QSA roll for War Correspondents.

Can any of you shed further light on this man who felt so strongly about his active part in the Defence of Ladysmith that he added the corresponding bar to his QSA? I also wish I could trace a photo of him!

Henk

Henk

Thank you for showing a remarkable medal. The QSA to an officer in Vallentin's Heidelberg Volunteers is significant enough, but the link to the Ladysmith Siege pictorial history makes it exceptional. That book may be the best of its kind to come out of the Boer War.

I wonder if Tugman was a correspondent for a local newspaper and, consequently, was not officially accredited? The Natal Witness and Natal Mercury acknowledge military communiques and Reuter in some Ladysmith reports that I have seen, but in others there is no such reference, so perhaps they also used a local source or sources.

Regards
Brett

Henk

How do you produce the 'labels'(for want of a better word) giving the medal details?

Patrick

Hi Patrick

Re your query about my medal labels.

See above scan.

I set up a 5-column table, with column width equal to that of an average QSA/ABO ribbon. Except for the top and bottom rows, all column lines were erased. I saved that as a "master"
I now type in the relevant data for each medal and print on a 110gm/m² slightly tinted paper.
I then very lightly score along the column lines (as per dotted lines shown) with the blunt edge of a cutting knife to facilitate folding, cut out individual "labels" and fit onto ribbon

Henk

Henk,

Thanks very much for this. I'll try it, but I suspect this will stretch the limits of my technical abilities!

Patrick

Henk,

I adapted your method a bit and am really pleased with the results.Thanks again

Regards

Patrick