Where would be best, to find the details of a regular soldier a sergeant, probably in a regiment associated with Leicester UK and who served in the Boer War. Brian Southwell

At 03:56 PM 22/02/03 +0000, Brian Southwell wrote: >Where would be best, to find the details of a regular soldier a sergeant, >probably in a regiment associated with Leicester UK and who served in the >Boer War. > >Brian Southwell Brian, The best place would be War Office Archives in the PRO The Public Record Office, Ruskin Avenue, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU, United Kingdom; (Telephone: General Enquiries, ++44 (020) 8876 3444; Records Information, ++44 (020) 8392 5200; Fax: ++44 (020) 8878 8905) hold the War Office archives which include many of the British Army's personnel records before 1914. The PRO is gradually taking on the records for those who served in World War I. Details of the PRO can be found at their web site URL: http://www.pro.gov.uk/ The PRO do not have an on-line searchable archive, but they do now have searchable indexes to the main archives. The PRO will not usually undertake research for personal or postal enquirers. However the PRO now offer a copying service and other elements of their Enquiry Service at URL: http://www.pro.gov.uk/contacts/enquiry.htm The survival and the quantity of documents that have been archived in the War Office (WO) series depend in part on the length of the soldier's service. There is more likely to be a surviving record if he completed pensionable service or otherwise gained a pension. The WO 97 Soldiers' Documents (Attestation and Discharge Papers) archive is the main series of personnel records for long service soldiers. These survive for most men who served between 1750 and 1882 and who did not die in service and were discharged to pension (that is to say either those who completed full service, say 20+ years, or were discharged medically). However, for those discharged between the years 1882-1913, the documents were listed alphabetically for all soldiers who had survived an Army career, and not just those discharged to pension. These documents are a wonderful supply of information about the soldier and contain a mass of detail on his career. This includes men of the volunteer and militia battalions of infantry regiments who additionally volunteered to serve outside the UK during the Second Boer War, although their records are shorter in nature. Medal Rolls - Campaign Medals Awards of campaign medals to British Army officers and soldiers between Waterloo and the Second Boer War (South African War) are recorded on the medal rolls in the PRO in archive WO 100. Campaign or war medals were awarded to members of the armed services for taking part in a campaign or for service in time of war. Particular medals or stars were awarded for a campaign or war (e.g. the Crimean War). Clasps were often added to the medal for taking part in particular battles within that campaign or war (e.g. Balaklava). General Service Medals are particular to an armed service and were awarded over a period of time covering several different operations in different parts of the world each being recorded by a clasp. The Campaign Medal and Award Rolls (General Series) in archive WO 100 was compiled by the War Department beginning in 1855-1857 but covering campaigns dating between 1793-1949. The WO 100 series comprises original lists submitted by regiments and units of officers and men entitled to campaign medals and clasps. The volumes are, with one or two exceptions, arranged under campaigns. The lists within them are usually arranged by regiment/battalion (for the Army) or by ship (for the Royal Navy), then by rank, then name. Medal rolls do not give detailed information about individuals: they record the recipients' regimental or service number and a note of the clasps to which he or she was entitled. Before 1914, there are no indexes to the Medal Rolls, so details about an individual can be difficult to find unless you know quite a lot about his service already. The WO 100 archive contains 410 files and volumes and is available for those visiting the PRO in person in microform only. For the Second Boer War, the records for the Queen's South Africa Medal (1899-1900) and the King's South Africa Medal (1900-1902) give more information about the service of the individual recipients. In addition the archives in WO 32/7960 and WO 108/136-717 contain information about recommendations for awards. Yours aye, Iain Kerr in Windsor, Berkshire, United Kingdom Web Page at: http://home.clara.net/iainkerr/index.htm RootsWeb Sponsor and Listowner for the WORLDWAR2 Mailing List.