> Why would a Royal Engineers Sapper, George Assiter No 27382 who joined the > Army on 9.3.1893 in Chatham UK, end up discharged in Pretoria, S.Africa in > 1905? Wouldn't he have had to return to England for discharge? Usually he would but since he had chosen to stay in South Africa he could have applied for special treatment. South Africa was of course a British colony at that time so he would have had no trouble staying on. > His Army record states that he passed classes of instruction in Photography > "skilled" in 1894 and Swimming at Cape Town inn 1899. An unusual > combination for the army? Not necessarily for a Engineer. Engineers often are asked to build bridges etc. so by being around water much of the time swimming ability would have been a pre-requisite for a sapper. Engineers were also educated men with good mechanical skills so a man would have loved to take a course in something that was "Modern High Tech" like photography. Map making and road building etc would all have needed photography by that time to speed things up. A natural thing for engineers to get involved with. Nelson Denton --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.522 / Virus Database: 320 - Release Date: 29-Sep-03

Thanks Nelson........all information gratefully received and adds to the story. George probably stayed on in Cape Town because he had met a woman he wanted to marry and with whom he had two children. He didn't tell her that he had two children back in the UK, one of them my grandmother who always said that her father "went to Africa and was never heard of again!" I found him though...........! Cheers!...........Judy on 19/10/03 1:02 PM, Nelson Denton at [email protected] wrote: >> Why would a Royal Engineers Sapper, George Assiter No 27382 who joined the >> Army on 9.3.1893 in Chatham UK, end up discharged in Pretoria, S.Africa in >> 1905? Wouldn't he have had to return to England for discharge? > > Usually he would but since he had chosen to stay in South Africa he could > have applied for special treatment. South Africa was of course a British > colony at that time so he would have had no trouble staying on. > >> His Army record states that he passed classes of instruction in > Photography >> "skilled" in 1894 and Swimming at Cape Town inn 1899. An unusual >> combination for the army? > > Not necessarily for a Engineer. Engineers often are asked to build bridges > etc. so by being around water much of the time swimming ability would have > been a pre-requisite for a sapper. > Engineers were also educated men with good mechanical skills so a man would > have loved to take a course in something that was "Modern High Tech" like > photography. Map making and road building etc would all have needed > photography by that time to speed things up. A natural thing for engineers > to get involved with. > > Nelson Denton > > > > > --- > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.522 / Virus Database: 320 - Release Date: 29-Sep-03 > > > ==== BOER-WAR Mailing List ==== > Getting Started on Boer War Research? > http://freespace.virgin.net/anglers.rest/BWInfo.htm > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go > to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > >