TOPIC:

Hi everyone
I am trying to gather more information on my grandfather William Samuel Finch, 16th Lancers, who was taken prisoner in Fredericksdal, Eastern Cape Colony.
The official records only give a date of 02/12/1901 but don't say if this was date of capture or release. I cannot find any details of an action either on this date.
I am pretty sure that the Fredericksdal in his official records is in the Cape Colony as he has campaign bars on his KSA for Orange free state and Cape Colony.
His QSA medal has SA 1901 and 1902 clasps.
Any help would be gratefully received

Tilehurst, welcome to the Forum.

A syndicated report appeared in the British Newspapers of December 1901. This example is from the Liverpool Daily Post of Friday, 6 December 1901:



As you can see the report was actually issued from Clanwilliam on the previous Tuesday which would have been the 3 December 1901, thus “yesterday” when the reported engagement in which three 16th Lancers were wounded would have been 2 December 1901.

Clanwilliam is in the Western Cape and 2016 sales literature (still findable on line) shows there is a Fredericks Dal Farm situated near the Cederburg Mountains and about 25-30 km north of Clanwilliam. In the Cederburg Mountains I think can be found a Pakhuis Pass.

A transcribed South African Field Force record, findable on Find My Past, reports 4612 Shoeing-Smith W S Finch of the 16th (Queen’s) Lancers was a “Prisoner of War – Released on 02/12/1901 at Fredericks Dal”.

By December 1901 the Boers more often than not released any prisoners they took on the same day. They first stripped them of their weapons, ammunition and personal belongings plus, if they were worth having, their clothes and footwear. If they were lucky they were given some Boer cast offs to cover their dignity. They then had to face the difficult task of finding friendly faces.

Thanks Smethwick
Your reply helps a lot in understanding what might have happened to my grandfather.
The Boers had no facilities to hold prisoners, in the true sense of the word, which is what has always intrigued me and, knowing my grandfather, the loss of his kit would have been as humiliating as any prison.