Dear Andy, 'Compton's Horse' connection to C-in-C's Bodyguard........ if you read the quoted section of the Edwardian newspaper report carefully, you will see that the first group of hardened, rough, tough,"sudden-death" Troopers who formed the C-In-C's bodyguard were drawn from the 90-odd personnel which were all that remained of the original 290-strong volunteers of the 28th Company (Bedfordshire) Imperial Yeomanry, [aka 'Lord Compton's Horse' after their first C.O., and the man who raised the I.Y.Unit, Lord Alwyne Compton]. The Bodyguard was formed at a time when there were real concerns that a Boer Kommando might make an attempt to either kidnap or assassinate Lord Roberts.[ Think of the TV pictures of the US C-in-C going places including giving TV interviews, - closely accompanied by half-a-dozen big US soldiers with itchy trigger-fingers, during the Gulf War - and you've got the idea.! ] You wrote SNIP< How does Compton's horse fit in, Julien, does this mean that the Bodyguards were Compton's Horse?SNIP Yes, the original Bodyguard were drawn from the roughest, toughest Troopers of Compton's Horse - who would have been well known to Lord Roberts because the much-reduced Compton's Horse were doing Military Policing and counter- insurgency duties in the area of his HQ at the time concerns were raised about a possible plot to assassinate or kidnap Lord Roberts. SNIP<Was the bodyguard part of the Yeomanry or did he perhaps join the yeomanry after the bodyguard disbanded. >SNIP - After Lord Roberts went home, to be succeeded by Lord Kitchener, the "irregular" Bodyguard was expanded from a "close-protection Squad" into the equivalent of a full Cavalry Regiment - some 600 Riders. Since the Troop ID letters got as far as "G", it would seem that this "Irregular" Mounted Unit reverted to the old [pre-Carden reforms] cavalry organisation of 8 Squadrons. And no, the Bodyguard was not, to my knowledge, ever recognised as Imperial Yeomanry - since the Yeomanry were raised in the UK under Royal Warrant, and volunteered to serve overseas, - while the Bodyguard was an "irregular" Unit, created overseas, "in-Theatre", by the Commander on the spot, - to serve the needs of that conflict only. Your man's service in a Company of Imperial Yeomanry would be quite distinct from his Service with the C-in-C's Bodyguard. In trying to track your man's Boer War Service, you need to be aware that inter-Unit poaching between and from irregular Units was extremely common during the Boer War. The pressure on Unit commanders to fill empty Files or empty Saddles by any means was enormous. There were never enough Drafts coming out from the UK to replace casualites from enemy action or disease. A Volunteer could transfer "in-Theatre" to another Unit which offered either better conditions, or better promotion chances. A Regular Soldier in a Regular Unit did not have this option. Cordially, Julian Wilson