TOPIC:

hello i have been trying to find some information for a friend of mine about his grandfather. he has always known that he served in the the Anglo boar war.
but many years ago his medals were thrown out. so i am trying to find out what medals he would have been awarded. he said he had two from that time..
what i have found out is that his name was William Alexander Ross. but may have drooped the john mason or mason from his name at that point. born Ballinasloe county Ireland
he enlisted in the British armed forces south Africa constabulary, and then cape field Artillery Tasmanian rangers. i think he was a Sargent. he also was wounded at this time. he stayed on in south Africa till about 1907 08 then immigrated to Australia. Tasmania. then to Albury were he served home front ww2 died 1951.
my friend just would like to get replica medals that shows his survives at that time. for his kids.
thankyou mark.

Mark
Welcome to the Forum. There is no entry in the Casualty roll which could appear to fit in with your "W.Ross" of the SAC or the "Cape Field Artillery" (more likely the Cape Garrison Artillery). This site frequently does get enquiries of this kind and sometimes it is hard to sift family memories from what seems to be reality. For example, there are at least two members of the South African Constabulary with names "W.Ross". There are no marginal roll details in either case.
Have you considered checking on one of the commercial sites for information? At this point, it seems like a good place to start.
If William Alexander Ross served in Australia for home service in WW2, he may have qualified for either the War Medal or the Aust. Service Medal - or perhaps both. The AWM site records may help there.
Good luck with your quest. You really do need more information to proceed.
Regards
IL.

thank you for the fast reply. i think you are right about family story's. i have come across this my self.
that is why i thought i would put something up on here. as i was hitting dead ends. cheers mark.

I have heard from older family members that our descendants of the last name Ross came from Scotland. Story has it that two wealthy Brothers with the last name Ross from Scotland fought in the Boer War. During the war, the bank with their riches was burned down and never recovered. The brothers migrated to Baraga, Michigan and Quebec Canada. Does any of this ring a bell to you?

Mark
No, it does not ring any bells. I am sure that many Scots with last name Ross served during the ABW (either enlisted in UniK, OZ or elsewhere in the Old Empire) and sifting the possibilities out will be a real task for you. Until you get some hard-and-fast leads, perhaps the whole thing is best left as a family anecdote?
In any case, good luck
Regards
IL.

Hi

A search of the SA National Archives (NAAIRS) under Ross, WA brings up a file on record of service of WA Ross ( will be with SAC). That might be him.
There is another link to. WA Ross in Ontario Vineland Station in 1918 making some other enquiry too.

Google NAAIRS, search under RSA , a researcher can retrieve copies of any of the files for you.
Regards
Adrian