TOPIC:

Hello,
I wondered whether someone very knowledgeable and helpful could shed some light on Sergeant William Thomas Lovell (army number 95164) who received the Queen's South Africa Medal with 5 clasps - Orange free State, Transvaal, Tugela Heights, Relief of Ladysmith and Laing's Nek, plus the King's South Africa Medal with 2 clasps 1901 & 1902.

It appears from his service papers that he spent the duration of 1900 in Depot Battery RFA, No.5.
I wondered what that means, and whether he actually fought or whether he was Admin behind the lines?

On 12th July 1900 he was promoted from sergeant to a Battery Sergeant Major but reverted to sergeant again at his own request in the November, when he was posted to the 119th Battery.

It seems his posting to the 119th meant a return to England, as he's on the 1901 Census as a 27-year-old sergeant with the 119th at Topsham Artillery Barracks, in Exeter. (But must have returned to South Africa in order to get the King's South Africa Medal with the 1901 and 1902 clasps). I know he was posted to the 130th Battery in July 1901 and then the 106th Battery in November 1901, but I have no idea if they were back in South Africa or what they did. Can anyone enlighten me to what these battalions did during the war?

So I was also wondering if it was normal for soldiers in the Boer to get posted home for 6 months mid-service like he was in 1901? It struck me as odd to find him on the Census.
And why, if he was only 27 in 1901, would he have received the Laing's Nek clasp, as The Battle of Laing's Nek was on 28th January 1881, when he would have been 7 years old?

Any illumination about any of this would be hugely appreciated!

Thank you all.

Another mystery I'd love solved is whether he was actually in South Africa or not? This must seem like a ridiclous question, but I'm genuinely confused....

There appears to be numerous pages missing from his service record. It details all his postings & promotions from 4th January 1893 through to 13th April 1902, showing he was in the RFA, but his discharge date is stamped on the back as 7th August 1908, so I'm missing six years of his army life.

My issue is with page 4 of his service record (image attached below) says he was stationed at Home from Jan 1893 to Jan 1905, a period of 12 years. So if he was stationed at home, were the depots he was posted to actually here in the UK? Did he ever get stationed in South Africa? It seems very contradictory - I wouldn't have thought he'd be awarded all his medal clasps if he wasn't actually there, so why would the service record say he was Home?

I need someone to take this by the scruff of the neck and sort out the mess! I'm really not understanding what I'm reading.

Thank you.

The papers of 95164 Lovell show no service in South Africa and relevant section on page 4 is blank where award of medals is usually noted.
So far as I could see, 95164 Lovell does not appear on the medal roll for either Queen's or King's South Africa medals on Ancestry.
On the face of it, he is not entitled to medals.
If you have the medals you describe in your OP can you get an image of the naming on the edge of the medals and post on here ? They are either good or not. If good we need to find why how they came to issued.
Best
Peter

Hello Peter,

I downloaded William Lovell's army service records from FindmyPast and page 9 gives his medal details which I quoted. An image of the page is attached below

Thanks for that.

My reference for information I quoted is
search.findmypast.co.uk/record?id=GBM/WO...GBM/WO97/5364/939304
On my PC I get 8 pages. Your 1st image on your OP is my page 8.
The relevant section of my page 4 is below.

There are more papers from WW1 at
search.findmypast.co.uk/record?id=GBM/WO...363-4/7271912/74/668
but they have no relevant information, except that there is absence of any medallic award.

I’m not finding the image that you show in your last post. What is the reference for it ?



Peter

Hello - I got 9 pages in the order shown in the attached image below.