Dear All, This is my first message on this site, and I wondered if anyone can advise me. I have in my possession a group of medals belonging to my grandfather. One is the Queens Medal for 1901 with bars for the following engagements; Diamond Hill, Johannesburg, Driefontein, Paarderburg, Relief of Kimberley. I think that he was in the 2nd battalion, and was born in 1869, so he would have been about 31years old in S.A, I believe the Manchester's were previously in India, but I do not know which battalions. I have been informed by the Museum of the Manchester's that they did not serve at the battle sites on the medal bars -but that documentation is a bit thin on the ground. -so I suppose he may have been with another regiment for part of his service there in .S.A. He married in 1904 and gave his occupation as an engineers fitter, and does appear to have left the army at that date. He later served in the First World War in France.--when he would be about 45, ( with a different battalion). Is there anywhere I can track the history of the regiment, and the various battalions? Thank you M.J. Adderley (-Mrs) Cheshire

Hello June, The 1st Battalion Manchesters landed at Durban afew days before the start of the war and were prinicipally involved in the Defence of Ladysmith, with half of them having fought at the battle of Elandslaagte shortly before the siege started. They were later in the actions around Belfast before spending the second half of the war on more mundane service such as column work and garrison duty. The 2nd Battalion landed at Cape Town in April 1900. They didn't take part in any major actions as a unit and were involved only in minor skirmishes, column work, etc. They usually got the QSA with the clasps Cape Colony, Orange Free State (or Wittebergen) and Transvaal, denoting largely general service. However, a number of men in the 2nd Battalion were detached for duty in the Mounted Infantry and the clasps on your grandfather's medal indicate that he was one of these. The Manchesters are a particular interest of mine so if you advise the medals and naming details off line I will check my records in case I can add anything more specific to the above. Regards, David ----- Original Message ----- From: June Adderley <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, February 22, 2003 7:33 PM Subject: [BOER-WAR] Manchester regiment in SA 1901 > Dear All, > > This is my first message on this site, and I wondered if anyone can > advise me. > > I have in my possession a group of medals belonging to my grandfather. > > One is the Queens Medal for 1901 with bars for the following > engagements; > > Diamond Hill, Johannesburg, Driefontein, Paarderburg, Relief > of Kimberley. > > I think that he was in the 2nd battalion, and was born in 1869, so he > would have been about 31years old in S.A, > > I believe the Manchester's were previously in India, but I do not know > which battalions. > > I have been informed by the Museum of the Manchester's that they did > not serve at the battle sites on the medal bars > > -but that documentation is a bit thin on the ground. > > -so I suppose he may have been with another regiment for part of his > service there in .S.A. > > He married in 1904 and gave his occupation as an engineers fitter, and > does appear to have left the army at that date. > > He later served in the First World War in France.--when he would be > about 45, ( with a different battalion). > > Is there anywhere I can track the history of the regiment, and the > various battalions? > > Thank you > > M.J. Adderley (-Mrs) Cheshire