TOPIC:

My Great Grandfather was rumoured to have died in the Boer War. I found the following on "Find My Past" which may be him. His name was Henry Archer from England. Where do I go to find more information such as family names, date of birth etc. so I can be sure it is him? Thanks!


Boer War 1899-1902 - Soldier details
Name: Archer, H
Rank: Private
Soldier number: 2239
Unit: 3 Battalion The King's Royal Rifle Corps
Notes:
Age:
Literary references:
Memorial:
Disappeared. Cathedral. Plaques. King's Royal Rifle Corps Winchester Hampshire England
Guildhall. One of a pair of wooden plaques. CTV Andover Hampshire England
Casualty:
Casualty details: Killed on 17 Sep 1901 at Blood River Poort (Official casualty roll location: Blood River Poort)
Source: South African Field Force. JB Hayward & Sons
Gazetteer:
[2730: 2746-3032] a poort through which the Blood River runs southwards to the west of the Schurweberg in Natal Colony (Utrecht district; KwaZulu-Natal), 25 km west of Vryheid. On 17 September 1901, Cmdt-Genl. L. Botha, on his second advance into Natal, defeated a British force, Gough's Mounted Infantry led by Lt-Col H. de la P. Gough, in the poort. During the action, Lt L.A.E. Price-Davies, The King's Royal Rifle Corps, was awarded the Victoria Cross for charging into a force of some 400 Boers attempting to seize the British guns. In HMG the action is mistakenly referred to as that at Scheepers' Nek* whilst that at Scheepers' Nek on 20 May 1900 is called the 'Affair at Vryheid'. HMG IV pp.217-218 and 703 (not marked on map no.56); Times V p.339 (map facing p.358); Doyle p.663; Wilson IV p.651 (map on p.650 but not named); Moore cap.3 (with maps); Pakenham p.562.
Units:
Rank: Private
Number: 2239
Unit: 24 Battalion Mounted Infantry; served with
© Jones (UK) Ltd

Hi, welcome aboard. I've not been able to turn up any more than you have. The casualty lists only list one H Archer which is the same man as you have. There are 23 Archers on the lists; not all killed but also wounded and POW. The roster for the Queen's South Africa Medal lists 2239 Rifn. H. Archer,3 Bn, King's Royal Rifle Corps as QSA with OFS and South Africa 1901 clasps. Under remarks it shows "Killed in Action 17-9-01." I've not been able to find any records that seem to match in the WO 97 records on Find My Past but I didn't go through all the individual records so it might be worth it to go through the lot. There's a bit on the forum on the 3rd Bn. KRRC:
www.angloboerwar.com/imperial-units/566-...-rifle-corps?start=1

Regards,

Mark

Hello pamt1953

The casualty roll on FindmyPast is the most comprehensive one there is, so it would appear this is your 'H Archer'.

Service papers for soldiers who died on service were usually destroyed, however some survive. As Mark as checked FmP, your next port of call is Ancestry's so called WWI Service and Pension papers. There are service papers in there for men killed in the Anglo-Boer War.

From FmP you know H Archer came from Andover or thereabouts. Does this fit with your family tree at all?

It may be possible to estimate this H Archer's date of enlistment from his service number, from which one can hazard a guess at a date of birth which may coincide with the DoB for your Henry Archer.

I would also check with the regimental museum to see if they have any other records.

Regards
Meurig

Hi,

Thanks very much for your reply. I am a member of Ancestry so will check this out. Henry was from Rotherhithe, London England and he was born in October 1870. How does the service number relate to the date of enlistment? What does QSA and OFS stand for? Does the Regimental Museum have a website and where is it located? Sorry to ask so many questions.

Thanks again,
Pam

Hello Pam,

QSA = Queen's South Africa Medal
OFS = Orange Free State
For more on the QSA see:
www.angloboerwar.com/boer-war-period/187...s-south-africa-medal

As I said in my previous post I've by no means done an exhaustive search on Find My Past so it may be well worth it to go through the 'British Army Service Records 1760-1915.' Especially as year and place of birth are usually indexed in the service records.

On Ancestry you'll be able to find the details of his Queen's South Africa Medal (QSA), the campaign medal for the Boer War if you search the Military Section under 'Awards & Decorations of Honour' and check the UK Military Campaign Medal Rolls 1793-1949. Enter his regiment and number in the search as there are several pages of H. Archers. You'll find his casualty listing under Casualties in the UK Boer War Casualties 1899-1902 section. You might be able to find his service record under British Army WWI Service Records in the Draft, Enlistment & Service section under Military. As Meurig says there are some service records to Boer War casualties amongst those records.

Also when you do searches vary the category. Sometimes names etc are misspelled in transcription so do searches with just service number and regiment for example or leave out the first name and search surname and regiment etc if you don't turn up anything in the initial searches using "correct" info. You can try the Royal Green Jackets (Rifles) Museum. The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry; The King’s Royal Rifle Corps; & The Rifle Brigade were merged on 1 January 1966 to form The Royal Green Jackets so they are the museum that hosts The King’s Royal Rifle Corps collection:
www.rgjmuseum.co.uk/home.asp

Cheers,

Mark

"How does the service number relate to the date of enlistment? "

Infantry regiments post 1881 assigned service numbers in numerical order.

Regards
Meurig