TOPIC:

John Townsend 'lost an arm in the Boer War'.

His DOB is 1848/9 in Devon, and DOD is 1919 in Bristol. I have searched for records in FindMyPast, Ancestry, to a limited extent the National Archives and also this website, to no avail. The Census roll shows him located in Bristol in 1901 with his wife Mary Jane (nee Baskerville) and a family, occupation laundryman. Given the dates, is it possible he may have served in the First Anglo-Boer War rather than the Second?

If he was wounded, would there be a list somewhere recording his name? There is a John Townsend in a war against the Galekas and Ghaikas, and in Zululand. There is also one with that name in a war in Abyssinia. However, without service records, I cannot verify to which regiment he might have belonged and which conflict he took part in. Would anyone be able to help me where to find any relevant records for this elusive soldier, please? Failing all else, which are likely regiments to serve in South Africa in 1879 and 1899-1902, with origins in the vicinity of Devon and Bristol?

Hello,
Welcome here, could you start by telling us, where exactly, this particular information comes from and given that the records on fmp/ancestry are, for the most part, digital versions of the originals, most of which are at Kew, what exactly, have you looked at whilst at Kew?
As I am sure you will know, a great many British army service papers were lost during the blitz and to be quite honest, the territorial system of recruitment in the regular army counted for very little in the nineteenth century, you could, for example, be born in the East End and then join the Manchester Regiment in London.
This was rather less the case in the Militia, but then they did not fight in the Transvaal War.
Regards Frank Kelley

rainyland wrote: John Townsend 'lost an arm in the Boer War'.

Mr Kelly
Thank you for your reply.
The personal info comes from family memoirs and Ancestry records.
The info re conflicts pre-2nd Boer War are from WO100/43 AND WO100/46 but there is no way of finding out if this is the correct John Townsend (JT). It is such a common combination of names that it makes it difficult to verify the correct source.

If a soldier lost an arm, would this have reflected on his Medal Roll - a note: Invalided or Discharged? Would an injury such as this be termed a Slight Injury such as there is for a John Townsend injured at Colenso? There is a John Townsend in the 2nd Devonshire's on this website who received a DCM. Would it be possible that he received such a medal for a brave action resulting in his losing an arm? What about his age? Would this indicate he would have been a higher ranking soldier? Or would soldiers have volunteered in their fifties? I think this might be an impossible task, given the fact there are so many unknowns. Service records showing a home address in Bristol would help us along the way.
Rainyland

Good morning, please do call me Frank,
Could you expand on that point, which ancestry record?
I am a little surprised that you looked at WO100/43 given both it's content and the date that the Transvaal war was actually fought.
With the exception of a few individuals, RA and RE the only regt in WO100/46 to serve in the Transvaal War was the 21st who were dangerously involved from it's very begining.
The loss of an arm, actually on the battlefield, anywhere in nineteenth century Africa would have meant death for most, a survivor would have to be discharged, it was not a slight injury.
If you are saying that he was born in 1848, I would think it to be quite unlikely that he served in the Anglo Boer War, most of the rank and file were little more than boys in 1899.
A medal roll would only very seldom give an address after discharge.
Have you actually looked at the surviving rank and file WO97 service papers ( I took into acount your reference to the census) the published Army Lists and the London Gazette for the period in question?
Regards Frank

rainyland wrote: The personal info comes from family memoirs and Ancestry records.

Mr Kelley

The Ancestry records were Census Rolls and Military searches.

The family have provided me with new information that based on a new family photograph John Townsend must have sustained the injury before 1879. They also searched through the Zulu War & Second Boer War Casualty lists at the library without success.

This points to either the Cape Frontier Wars, or Abyssinia (the WO100/46 medal roll for John Townsend No. 422 shows a date 1868 when he would have been about 20 or 21), or possibly another conflict altogether such as Burma. However, since the family thought he was in the Boer War, I tend to favour an African war as the greater likelihood.

The Abyssinian record shows that a John Townsend belonged to the Royal Artillery 21st Brigade 5th Battery. I know very little about the structure of the army prior to the 2nd SA War and would be glad of any help to understand the movements of the 21st Brigade in the late 1860s and 1870s.

The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry regiment also served in SA in 1864-1877. Where would I access these records to look for his name?

I have not explored any of the National Archive resources you mention. I am only an amateur researcher and my first and only visit to the Archives was very much a case of trial and error. I am rather feeling 'out of my depth' with finding out about this soldier!

Thank you for your help.

Rainyland

Okay then,
This has now become all too vague I'm afraid so I would start again if I were you.
The first thing to do would be to look at the census and make sure you have the right man and place and date of birth, this later is very important.
You originally said that he was serving in the "Boer War" but now you are not, if you are now saying that he was "injured" and note there is a big differance between being wounded in battle and being injured, before 1879, we can dismiss the Zulu War, the Transvaal War and the Anglo Boer War because of the dates they were fought, so no point in looking at casualties for these campaign yet
I feel because you just don't know the regiment/corps in which he served, you should look at the photograph with forensic detail and see if there is anything in it that will help, before you start looking at individual units such as the RA, moreover, the Duke of Cornwalls Light Infantry did not exist before 1881.
A brief look in WO100 shows a number of men across the army with the name J Townsend serving throughout the period, including a member of the 1st 24th, so again, look at the photograph you mentioned
I took a very brief look at the available on line folio in WO97, there was only a single John Townsend that was born in 1849, a private in the 31st.
You must try and narrow the field otherwise, you will be just speculating and not really get anywhere, I also think you should post this in the Victorian Wars forum.
Also, if you know where he came from, I would look at the local newspaper for the period in question too.
Regards Frank