Boer War Bandsman
qCan you please help identify this soldier’s regiment and, if possible, the man himself, a military musician (see photograph below). As a child I remember the photo in my grandmother’s picture tin, who said it was her mother’s biological father and that his surname might be ‘Robinson’. My great grandmother was born Elsie James in Lichfield Staffs on 7 June 1903 without her father’s name entered on her birth certificate and adopted by the Beddow family. Whittington Barracks is only three miles from Lichfield, the home of the North Staffordshire Regiment, but I’ve been told the uniform does not belong to that regiment; however he must have served in the Boer War, because he’s wearing the Queens and Kings South Africa Medals.
Lawrence Peet
Gleaning civilian costume clues
ACostume expert Jayne Shrimpton has kindly studied the photograph of the soldier and seated lady in its original mount on dark card (not illustrated) a photographic trend rarely used after 1903-04. This presents as a typical wedding photograph taken in a professional photographic studio; the soldier’s Anglo-boer War medals already dating it to post 1902.
Jayne is of the opinion that the bride’s plain tailored skirt and coordinating bodice, with its distinctive open-fronted ‘jacket’ layered over a high-necked Edwardian blouse with caped collar and loose sleeves, plus her wide brimmed hat with white bow below her chin ornamented with an ostrich feather, precisely dates the occasion to c1902-1905. The lady’s white accessories being typical of Edwardian brides wearing pale-coloured ‘Sunday best’ clothes when they married. Grooms in the armed services usually wore their service uniform to their wedding and this soldier has returned safely from the war and is free to now marry his betrothed.
Evaluating the uniform
In my evaluation of the uniform, this soldier is an army Bandsman, denoted by his new style shoulder-wings that were only introduced in 1902 and his musician’s proficiency badge worn on his left arm.
He proudly wears the Queens South Africa and Kings South Africa Medals over his left chest with five and two campaign clasps respectively, which were awarded for service in the Angloboer War from 11 October 1899 to 31 May 1902.
The two inverted chevrons above the cuff of his left arm denote a minimum of five years unblemished service, officially referred to as Long Service and Good Conduct stripes.
His red tunic, with blue collar and cuff facings, worn with blue trousers that have a thin red stripe down the seam, is the full dress uniform of a Fusilier regiment, identified by the ‘flaming grenade’ badges on his collar, an excellent clue in the absence of his headgear and cap badge.
Identifying Fusilier regiments
The Bandsman belongs to one the six Fusilier regiments that use the prefix ‘Royal’ in the regimental name (there were two other non-‘royal’ prefixed fusilier regiments at that time, but they can be eliminated because they did not have white piping to trace the colour of their cuffs). Of the six remaining, three more can also be eliminated, because they either displayed a second badge on the collar, or the shape and size of their grenade collar badges were much larger. This leaves the Royal Welsh, Royal Munster and Royal Dublin Fusiliers, which all used the much smaller flaming grenade collar badge.
Online expert sharing offline leads
I’m indebted to British Army expert, username ‘Frogsmile’, who frequently responds to military enquiries on one of the specialist online forums, who unselfishly provided additional information for Lawrence that cannot be found online. Of the three probable fusilier regiments for this soldier, only the Royal Welsh Fusiliers have a direct connection to Whittington Barracks in Lichfield. Whilst the bulk of the 1st Battalion RWF did not arrive back to Lichfield until 4 February 1903, four months prior to Edith’s birth in June that year, any wounded or sick members would have been sent home earlier, plus an order of 2 June 1902 sent out an officer and ten other-ranks to England to represent the battalion at King Edward VII’S coronation. Additionally, between 13 June and 16 August 1902, no less than 405 regular reservists returned to England for discharge back to civilian life (whilst still remaining on the Reserve). One way or another, Edith’s natural father was home by September 1902, the approximate period of Edith’s conception. ‘Frogsmile’ also uncovered that the whole battalion received their campaign medals in the presence
of HRH Prince of Wales at Wrexham on 8 May 1903, further drilling down the date of Edith’s soldier photograph to between May 1903 and 1904. Finally, I scrutinised the 1st Battalion RWF Anglo-boer War medal rolls found on ancestry.co.au for the surname ‘Robinson,’ hoping to find a recipient with the requisite number of clasps, but there were only three men of that surname and none qualified for the Kings South African Medal. The conclusion therefore is that Edith’s natural father was a Bandsman in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, but his surname could not have been Robinson. GC