Good day Barbara, Thank you for your kind reply to my request, I do appreciate you taking the time in helping me. You say the Boer War records are a bit sketchy, I think most of the records are? There were a number of Fred/Fredericks F and FE Smiths who served in the Boer War but the information are very limited. I do have a Frederick Smith's enlistment form for the BW, he was with the Cattle Rangers, service number 15. I believe the Cattle Rangers were from Australia? Unfortunately once again the information are very vague. The BW signature are very similar (even though thirteen years passed) to his WW1 enrolment form, complexion on both - 'fresh' Frederick's father was Alfred and on The Cattle Rangers form the father is mentioned as ?A Smith. I do have all Frederick's information regarding WW1, it is the Boer War and prior to that I am looking for. Hopefully I will find my needle in the haystack. Once again thank you for your help as well as the links, will see if I can find anything. Have a great day, Regards from SA, Karin. The Australian War Memorial - www.awm.gov.au - lists 6 x Frederick (various middle names) Smith, but no Ernest 3 x Ernest Smith; 1 x Ernest Edward Smith The Qld State Library of Qld has compiled a database of soldiers whose names appeared in the Queenslander newspaper, and there is a Frederick Edward Smith - http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/find/online/boerwar/database - but this soldier was invalided back to Australia. Unfortunately Boer War records here are a bit sketchy. Taking place before Federation and, therefore, centralised record keeping, State records must be used, and these also are somewhat sketchy. The AWM database has been compiled from state records, diaries, anything that can be found which has names in it. You might also have a look at http://members.pcug.org.au/~croe/ozb/oz_boer0.htm But, after 15 years, you have probably been there, done that. It is possible that Frederick Ernest Smith made his own way to South Africa and enlisted there and, since he didn't return here, might not show up on any Australia records. During WW1, the AIF didn't seemed too concerned about what name a soldier chose at enlistment. I imagine that it was no different during the Boer War, so you may not even be looking for a Mr Smith. Good luck finding your needle. Cheers Barbara. Please remember to snip most of the earlier message before you post any reply...... Thank you! __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6900 (20120220) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com

Hi Karin, http://mostlyunsung.alphalink.com.au/mubooks.htm lists The Corps of Cattle Rangers : Boer War 1899-1902. Outline history and detailed alphabetical nominal roll of this highly irregular unit in the Boer War. Many Australians identified especially from Queensland. Neil Smith 2007. Card cover. *AUD 18. Could be worthwhile, if you haven't already seen it. Cheers

Hi again, Have you seen http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=MS19011130.2.41&l=mi&e=-------10--1----0-- It might give you an idea of how Fred spent his time.