TOPIC:

Ryan,

I have just read through all 287 pages of the FID roll and failed to find a J H Newton - sorry.

There is one A Newton (p75) and one AG Newton (p94).

Thanks David. Maybe he never got to them. Given how early on in the war it was I suspect he went somewhere but who knows where.

Thanks for paging through all those pages!

Cheers
Ryan

I have looked at the other J H Newtons via Ancestry but none of them are applicable for the further service of your man.

Is/are the date clasp(s) a later addition or loose?

Hi Ryan
As underbidder on Newton I put in much time in trying to find the answer to your question : no result!
Henk

There are just the 8 clasps on the medal David. I am trying to see if there is a 9th, but mainly trying to find out what happened to him after 1900. I am sure a Sergeant with a DCM didn't just retire.

Thanks Henk. Sorry about being a bid up, I am very glad to have it. My one other 9 clasp Damants started as an 8 then I found a supplemental roll with the date clasp, so I was hopeful.

Hi Ryan
I have copied 2 articles from SA Military History Society about 8 to 10 clasp to Damant's Horse.
Though long, they are a good summary. Also note the examples at the end where Wilson is transferred to Rudepoort (Roodepoort) Police.
Regards
Adrian

Military History Journal
Vol 2 No 3 - June 1972
QUEEN'S SOUTH AFRICA MEDAL WITH 10 BARS
 (11th Oct., 1899 to 31st May 1902)
by G.R. Duxbury
It may interest readers to learn that in the Ronnie Hunt medal collection, on permanent loan to the S.A. National War Museum, is a Queen's South Africa Medal with ten bars.
As stated by Mr. K. R. Gibbs in the previous article, "Bars and Medals" and also according to several authorities on the subject the maximum number of bars to any one medal is nine (army) and eight (navy).
The medal in the Ronnie Hunt collection includes the two date bars, "South Africa 1901" and "South Africa 1902" which are normally found on the King's S.A. Medal but which sometimes appear on the Queen's S.A. Medal when the recipient was ineligible for the King's S.A. Medal but who had, however, qualified for the bars. To qualify for the King's S.A. Medal one had to be serving in South Africa on or after 1st January, 1902 and complete eighteen months service before 1st June, 1902. Those who had not completed eighteen months service but who had served at the 'front' between 1st January, 1901 and 31st December, 1901 were awarded the bar "South Africa 1901" with the Queen's S.A. Medal. Likewise those who served at the 'front' between 1st January, 1902 and 31st May, 1902 but who had not completed eighteen months service were awarded the bar, "South Africa 1902" with the Queen's S.A. Medal. Where awards were made in terms of the foregoing the Queen's S.A. Medal would have one or both the date bars but normally would not have bars for individual actions for, with the exception of the bars "Cape Colony","Orange Free State" and "Transvaal", the recipient would have had to serve prior to 1st January, 1901 to have qualified for any of the other bars and this would have given him more than 18 months service, thus qualifying him for the King's S.A. Medal.
It is only natural, therefore, that the authenticity of the two date bars on the medal at the Museum is often queried. Bars are often taken off the King's Medal and added to the Queen's Medal. The Queen's Medal has also been popular among fakers and many odd and often impossible combinations of bars are to be found but a close scrutiny usually reveals a fake. A very close examination of the medal at the Museum gives one the impression that it is normal in every way and that it has not been tampered with.
Twenty-one of the 26 bars issued for the South African War 1899-1902, were issued for actions fought up to 27th August, 1900. The medal in question, inscribed "Tpr. M. Wilson, Damant's Horse" has eight of these bars (excluding the two date bars). They are, Belmont, Modder River, Relief of Kimberley, Paardeberg, Driefontein, Johannesburg, Diamond Hill and Wittebergen. These bars cover actions fought between 23rd November, 1899 and 29th July, 1900 -- a period of eight-and-a-half months. Tpr. Wilson, it is assumed, then broke his service and only joined again late in 1901. On 31st May, 1902 he had not completed eighteen months service, despite his creditable number of actions in 1899 and 1900, and qualified for both the "South Africa 1901" and "South Africa 1902" bars on his Queen's S.A. Medal.




Dr. F. K. Mitchell, JCD, Honorary Curator of the Medals and Numismatics department at the Museum has provided the following information on this medal but has added a note:
 
"I'm sure this information will interest you but it doesn't quite dot the i's of the Museum's Queen's S.A. Medal with 10 bars. A perusal of the medal rolls at the Public Records Office, London (W.O. 100/244), revealed that the following officers and men of Damant's Horse, all of whom were previously members of Rimington's Guides (sometimes known as Rimington's Tigers from the leopard skin hatbands worn on their slouch hats), were entitled to the Queen's South Africa Medal with eight or nine bars.

The following are the bars concerned:
Usual eight:
Belmont
Modder River
Relief of Kimberley
Paardeberg
Driefontein
Johannesburg
Diamond Hill
Wittebergen (Replaced by "Belfast" in the two cases indicated).
South Africa 1901 (in the twenty-nine cases indicated.)
South Africa 1902 (in the case of Sgt. Berry only.)
 (NOTE: Where most or all of these bars are found on a medal named to a member of another South African colonial unit, as does occasionally occur, it is likely that the recipient concerned was a member of Rimington's Guides during the advance to the Relief of Kimberley, but transferred subsequently to the unit named on the medal.)

 Medal Roll:
R.S.M. 
Armstrong, A.W. 
Usual 8 bars
Lt. Col.
Rimington, M.F. 
Usual 8 bars (6 Innisk. D.G.)
Major 
Rankin, C.W. 
Usual 8 bars 7H
Capt 
Gale, Hy 
Usual 8 bars
Surgeon 
March-Phillips, L 
Usual 8 bars
Lieut. 
Bennett, E. Geoffrey 
Usual 8 Bars
Lieut. 
Drake, Wm. B 
Usual 8 bars
Lieut. 
Harvey, Thos. W. P. 
Usual 8 bars plus S.A. '01: Died of wounds 1.3.01
Lieut. 
Vaughan, A. O. 
Usual 8 bars
Lieut. 
Vice, Arthur 
Usual 8 bars plus S.A. '01.
Cpl. 
Huderson, Wm 
Usual 8 bars
Sgt. 
Berry, J. A. 
Usual 8 bars plus S.A. '02.
Tpr. 
Bettlinger, C. Hy 
Usual 8 bars
Tpr. 
Boden, Wm. Reginald 
Usual 8 bars
Pte. 
Brotherton, Geo. 
Usual 8 bars plus S.A. '01 (Gorringe's Flyg. Col.)
Cpl. 
Burn, C. Seton 
Usual 8 bars
Cpl. 
Burton, Fdk. 
Usual 8 bars
Conductor 
Camp, Hy. J. 
Usual 8 bars plus S.A. '01
Tpr. 
Carlisle, John 
Usual 8 bars
Sgt. 
Clements J. J. (VC) 
Usual 8 bars plus K.S.A. and 2 bars Coronation Contgt.
Tpr. 
D'Arcy, J. W. 
Usual 8 bars plus S.A. '01
Sgt. 
Davis, Isaac Hy. 
Usual 8 bars
Tpr. 
Dewden, Arthur 
Usual 8 bars
SQMS. 
De Landre, V. R. 
Usual 8 bars (Coronation Contgt.)
SM. 
De Laporte 
Usual 8 bars
Tpr. 
Dismore 
Usual 8 bars
Cpl. 
Dodd, H. E. 
Usual 8 bars plus S.A. '01
Sgt. 
Dodge, J. H. 
Usual 8 bars plus S.A. '01
Tpr. 
Dormer, A. E. 
Usual 8 bars
Sgt. 
Dowdle P. Morgan 
Usual 8 bars
Tpr. 
Duke, Thos 
Usual 8 bars plus S.A. '01
Cpl. 
Edy, H. John 
Usual 8 bars
Cpl. 
Eton, Chas. 
Usual 8 bars plus K.S.A.
Tpr. 
Evans, Wm. 
Usual 8 bars plus S.A. '01
Sgt. 
Frielick, Soln. 
Usual 8 bars
Tpr. 
Gamble, Thos. 
Usual 8 bars
Tpr. 
Garratt, Geo. 
Usual 8 bars
Tpr. 
Glanville, W. H. 
Usual 8 bars
Tpr. 
Gordon, Hugh 
Usual 8 bars plus S.A. '01
Tpr. 
Grant, G. W. 
Usual 8 bars plus S.A. '01
Tpr. 
Green, John 
Usual 8 bars
Cpl. 
Gumley, Algernon 
Usual 8 bars
Tpr. 
Hannaford, J.N. 
Usual 8 bars
Sgt. 
Heberden, H.V. 
Usual 8 bars plus S.A. '01
Tpr. 
Helps, Percy 
Usual 8 bars plus S.A. '01
Tpr. 
Helps, C. E. Hale 
Usual 8 bars
Tpr. 
Herschell, Allan 
Usual 8 bars plus S.A. '01
Tpr. 
Hicks, Wallace 
Usual 8 bars plus S.A. '01
Tpr. 
Inman, G. D. 
Usual 8 bars plus S.A. '01
Cpl. 
Isacke, N. N. 
Usual 8 bars
Tpr. 
Jackson, J. C. 
Usual 8 bars
Tpr. 
Jenking, W. R. 
Usual 8 bars (Died of wounds 8.7.00)
Sgt. 
Kirkman, W. R. 
Usual 8 bars
Tpr. 
Kruger, C. 
Usual 8 bars
Tpr. 
Lane, James 
Usual 8 bars plus S.A. '01
Tpr. 
Lofts, C. Temple 
Usual 8 bars
Tpr. 
Love, F. G. 
Usual 8 bars
Tpr. 
Lucas, P. W. 
Usual 8 bars but "Belfast" in place of "Wittebergen" (also K.S.A.)
Tpr. 
Ludlow, R. V. 
Usual 8 bars
Tpr. 
Macdonald, David 
Usual 8 bars plus S.A. '01
Cpl. 
MacLachlan, Lewis 
Usual 8 bars
Tpr. 
McWilliam, N. 
Usual 8 bars
Tpr. 
Mack, Robert 
Usual 8 bars plus S.A. '01
S.Q.M.S. 
May, Fredk. 
Usual 8 bars
Tpr. 
Milue, J. S. D. 
Usual 8 bars
Tpr. 
Mullins, Steve 
Usual 8 bars plus S.A. '01
Tpr. 
Mullins, Patrick 
Usual 8 bars
Tpr. 
Murchie, A. (D.C.M.) 
Usual 8 bars
Tpr. 
Murnison, L. 
Usual 8 bars
Sgt. 
Newton, J. H. (D.C.M.) 
Usual 8 bars
Tpr. 
Nolan, P. C. 
Usual 8 bars
Tpr. 
Norval, J. E. 
Usual 8 bars plus S.A. '01
Cpl. 
Patten, E. 
Usual 8 bars plus S.A. '01
Rectg. Cpl. 
Poole, P. Gower
Usual 8 bars plus S.A. '01
Tpr. 
Prosser, E. 
Usual 8 bars plus S.A. '01
Sgt. 
Rawstorne, J. G. 
Usual 8 bars
Sgt. 
Remington, Wm. 
Usual 8 bars plus S.A. '01
Tpr. 
Sangster, A. G. 
Usual 8 bars plus S.A. '01
Cpl. 
Smith, F. W. B. 
Usual 8 bars
Cpl. 
Somerset, W. G. 
Usual 8 bars
Tpr. 
Soundy, R. H. 
Usual 8 bars
Tpr. 
Springhill, C. J. 
Usual 8 bars (Died)
Tpr. 
Spurr, W. H. 
Usual 8 bars
Sgt. 
Stewart, Wm. 
Usual 8 bars plus S.A. '01
Sgt. 
Stewart, R. B. 
Usual 8 bars
Tpr. 
Taylor, Fred 
Usual 8 bars
S.S.S. 
Thesen, H. O. 
Usual 8 bars but "Belfast" in place of "Wittebergen"
Tpr. 
Thistlewhite 
Usual 8 bars plus S.A. '01
Tpr. 
Thompson, Jas. 
Usual 8 bars plus S.A. '01
S.Q.M.S. 
Townsend, S. R. 
Usual 8 bars
Tpr. 
Van Wyk, H.J. 
Usual 8 bars and K.S.A.
Pay Sgt. 
Walker, F. L. 
Usual 8 bars
Intell. Guide 
Weakley, F. A. 
Usual 8 bars
Cpl. 
Webb, H. S. 
Usual 8 bars
Sgt. 
Webber, B. J. 
Usual 8 bars killed 25.11.00
Tpr. 
Whelan, John P. 
Usual 8 bars
Cpl. 
Wiener, Leopold 
Usual 8 bars
Tpr. 
Wilson, Moses 
Usual 8 bars "
It is interesting to note that the two date bars are not shown against Wilson's name. There are, however, 29 medals with 8 bars all of which include the "S.A. 1901" bar and one only with 8 bars and the "S.A. 1902" bar. It is well known that the medal rolls are not always accurate and often have omissions. It is possible that Wilson's subsequent service was with a unit other than Damant's Horse which might account for the fact that the Medal Roll of Damant's Horse does not show these two bars.
EDITOR'S NOTE: It would be interesting if readers could throw new light on this very interesting medal.


Military History Journal
Vol 15 No 5 - June 2012
THE TEN-CLASP QSA MYSTERY RESOLVED
By Meurig G M Jones, MA
About the author
Meurig Jones studied African History at Sussex University and the University of London. He has been researching the Anglo-Boer War, 1899-1902, for over twenty-five years and is also an avid medal collector. For many years, he ran the Anglo-Boer War Memorials Project. Working in IT, he is passionate about the use of databases to collate and disseminate information for medal collectors, military historians and geneologists. Meurig runs the Register of the Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902 website, www.boerwarregister.com . He can be contacted by email at [email protected]
Introduction
In the June 1972 issue of the Military History Journal an article was published entitled 'Queen's South Africa Medal with ten bars' by G R Duxbury. Regrettably, Colonel Duxbury JCD FSAMA died in June 2011 (see Military History Journal, Vol 15 No 3, June 2011), so he will not see the answer to the question that he posed in that article.
The medal in question, with ten clasps, is named to Trooper M(oses) Wilson, Damant's Horse. The medal was part of the Ronnie Hunt collection on permanent loan to the South African National War Museum, which is now the Ditsong National Museum of Military History. Ten-clasp Queen South Africa (QSA) medals are unheard of and this one attracted the attention of the foremost South African medal collectors of the time.
In his article, Duxbury outlined his efforts, assisted by other medal authorities, amongst them the late Dr F K Mitchell JCD, then Honorary Curator of the Medals and Numismatics Department, to verify Wilson's ten clasps: 'Belmont', 'Modder River', 'Paardeberg', 'Driefontein', 'Johannesburg', 'Diamond Hill', 'Wittebergen', 'Relief of Kimberley', 'South Africa 1901' and 'South Africa 1902'. The roll for Damant's Horse (WO 100/244, p70) verified the eight battle clasps, but not the two date clasps. Duxbury and the others reported that the medal appeared 'normal in every way and that it has not been tampered with'.
Duxbury's question: Is Wilson's ten-clasp medal correct or not?
In his original article, Duxbury could not answer the question with the available evidence and, in conclusion, surmised that Wilson might have served in another unit to earn the two date clasps. Not only was Duxbury missing verification for the date clasps, but he also had no way of knowing if the trooper was even eligible for the date clasps on the QSA or if he should have been issued a King's South Africa (KSA) Medal. To earn the KSA, Wilson would have had to serve more than eighteen months. A record of Wilson's service in the war would help to answer this question. In 1972, Duxbury did not have the luxury of a database to consult, which makes queries such as these easy to answer.
Forty years have passed and the computer age makes QSA research very easy and it is now possible to answer Duxbury's question. The first port of call is the indexed QSA medal rolls on Ancestry.co.uk. Unfortunately, their slightly odd indexing did not immediately show M Wilson, Damant's Horse (with no service number, as was the case with this unit). Not wishing to trawl through 12 900 hits, the author went to the Register of the Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902 ( www.boerwarregister.com ) and this site quickly showed Trooper Moses Wilson, Rimington's Guides (which became Damant's Horse), Nesbitt's Horse and French's Scouts. For the latter two units, Wilson had service numbers, so the Ancestry.co.uk search was now more likely to yield positive results.
Wilson's entry on a Supplementary Roll for Nesbitt's Horse (WO 100/262 p362) prepared in 1903 shows that he is entitled to the clasps' South Africa 1901' and 'South Africa 1902' and there is also a 'Yes' correcting a 'No' in the column for the KSA. A note on the roll states that, on 8 June 1905, two clasps were issued with the medal and eight other clasps to Cape Town: '2 cis issd (with med & 8 cis) to CTn'. The two date clasps were issued with Wilson's medal with eight battle clasps and this explains the existence of the ten clasp medal in the museum. Who fixed the date clasps to the QSA, Wilson himself or the issuing authorities? Given Duxbury's belief (supported by others who had viewed the medal) that there had been no tampering and that the medal was 'as issued', perhaps Wilson received a QSA with ten clasps in 1905. Clearly the authority that issued the medal did not have Wilson's service record to hand to determine if the date clasps should go on the QSA or if a KSA should be issued. Such issuing errors are not uncommon with the QSA.


The ten-clasp Queen's South Africa Medal, awarded to Trooper Moses Wilson.
(Photo by courtesy: Ditsong National Museum of Military History)
The Roll also shows a later correction, dated 19 January 1907, indicating that Wilson was entitled to a KSA, which was issued. On a KSA Roll for Nesbitt's Horse (W0100/363 p 247), prepared in 1906, Wilson's entry is annotated 'clasps issd' indicating that he was sent a KSA with no clasps on 25 January 1907. What prompted the issue of the KSA is not clear, but perhaps Wilson requested a KSA when he saw others wearing theirs.
The KSA Roll shows Wilson's dates of service with the three units. He enlisted on 12 October 1899, the day after war broke out, and served until the end of the war with a break of no more than seven weeks:
Rimington's Guides (12 October 1899 to 16 October 1900); French's Scouts (4 December 1900 to 16 August 1901) and Nesbitt's Horse (20 August 1901 to 1 July 1902). The story does not end there. On the KSA Roll, there is a further note stating that, on 20 February 1919, a KSA and two clasps were issued to 'Mr Moses Wilson, 3A Wolmaran St, Johannesburg'. This would be a second, or duplicate, KSA with two clasps affixed. Both KSAs would have been named to Nesbitt's Horse and this could explain why it is not with the QSA, which is named to Damant's Horse.
In conclusion
Wilson's ten-clasp QSA is judged to be as issued, but represents an error by the authorities; the date clasps should not have been issued with the QSA but held over to be fitted to a KSA. But, as we know and love the QSA, it is riddled with such anomalies.
In addition, Duxbury published a list of 98 men who, like Wilson, earned the eight-clasp medal with Rimington's Guides. Two earned the 'Belfast' clasp instead of the 'Wittebergen' clasp. On reviewing Duxbury's list against the medal roll, two men are missing: Trooper E D Forster and Sgt C V Foster. This brings the total to a hundred men, which neatly coincides with Stirling's statement (1990 reprint, p151) that in November 1899, the 'corps numbered about 150 ... many were detached to act as guides ... only about 100 remained with their leader'. Rimington's Guides were disbanded in January 1901 when their commander, Lt-Col M F Rimington (6th Dragoons) was given command of a column. The men were re-formed as Damant's Horse in February, commanded by Major F H Damant and served until the end of the war. Wilson never served in Damant's Horse; he was with French's Scouts in February 1901. His medal is thus named to a unit with which he never served.
Bibliography
'QSA and KSA Medal Rolls', class WO100, the National Archives, London (accessed via Ancestry.co.uk)
Stirling, J The Colonials in South Africa 1899-1902 (J B Hayward & Son, Suffolk, 1907, reprint 1990)
'The Register of the Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902', www.boerwarregister.com
Special note: Sandi Mackenzie, Curator of Medals and Numismatics at Ditsong National Museum of Military History, may have found the missing connection in the Anglo-Boer War service record of Trooper Moses Wilson, recipient of the museum's ten-clasp Queen's South Africa Medal. It seems that, on 16 October 1900, he was transferred from Rimington's Guides to the Rudepoort (Roodepoort) Police.