My grandfather, William Wainwright, served in South Africa. By the end of the war he was a corporal in the Yorkshire Dragoons, Imperial Yeomanry. His civilian trade was a blacksmith. I wonder if someone could advise me, please? 1. Am I right in the assumption that the Dragoons would have been a typical cavalry regiment. 2. Would he have been likely to have served as a blacksmith? If so would this square, with presumably two promotions? I do not know whether he was trained to ride - as he lived in central Leeds I assume he had no riding experience before joining up. 3. Where can I find information about the campaigns of the Yorkshire Dragoons. Any help would be gratefully received. Robin Wainwright - Bristol UK

Hi Robin, 1. The Yorkshire Dragoons weren't a 'typical' cavalry regiment in that they weren't a regular regiment. They were the 111th Company Imperial Yeomanry, the IY being volunteer units used extensively in the Boer War with men generally signing up for the duration of the war or even a shorter period of time. 2. He is shown on the IY roll as 32481 Corporal William Wainwright entitled to the Queen's South Africa Medal with clasps Cape Colony, Orange Free State, South Africa 1901 & South Africa 1902. Interestingly the roll also shows 32486 Trooper Smith Wainwright with the same entitlement. This, especially with the proximity of their numbers, indicates they were related. Perhaps brothers? He could have served as a blacksmith or farrier as such trades were used in mounted and artillery units of that era. 3. There might be a contemporary regimental history but copies of such histories tend to be scarce and expensive. Judging by the clasp combination on his QSA he would have arrived in South Africa during mid or late 1901 and did not take part in any major battles. (He would probably have taken part in several minor actions though). However, the attestation and service papers of both William and Smith Wainwright survive in series WO 128 at the National Archives at Kew and these will provide some of the details you're looking for. Cheers, David Robin Wainwright <robin.wainwright@btopenworld.com> wrote: My grandfather, William Wainwright, served in South Africa. By the end of the war he was a corporal in the Yorkshire Dragoons, Imperial Yeomanry. His civilian trade was a blacksmith. I wonder if someone could advise me, please? 1. Am I right in the assumption that the Dragoons would have been a typical cavalry regiment. 2. Would he have been likely to have served as a blacksmith? If so would this square, with presumably two promotions? I do not know whether he was trained to ride - as he lived in central Leeds I assume he had no riding experience before joining up. 3. Where can I find information about the campaigns of the Yorkshire Dragoons. Any help would be gratefully received. Robin Wainwright - Bristol UK --------------------------------- Yahoo! Messenger NEW - crystal clear PC to PCcalling worldwide with voicemail

Robin - I just noticed that I inadvertently omitted Transvaal from the list of clasps on his QSA. David --------------------------------- How much free photo storage do you get? Store your holiday snaps for FREE with Yahoo! Photos. Get Yahoo! Photos