TOPIC:

I have just been lucky enough to purchase a QSA to 4055 PTE G. Barrett of the 1st Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regt who was made a POW at Nicholson's Nek on the 30th of October 1899. He had only arrived in South Africa on the 25 th of September and spent the next 10 days in cells for being drunk on duty only returning to duty on the 5th of October.
The medal has the clasps Natal, Orange Free State and Transvaal .
After this experience he spent from Dec 1900 until the end of March 1902 on St Helena guarding Boer POW's before returning to South Africa with the 2nd battalion and qualifying for the South Africa 1902 clasp-not with medal.

Georgegt351
Welcome to the forum! Your Pte. G.Barrett did not have an auspicious start to his South African service; however he was at "Mournful Monday" as it became known and there is certainly enough there to whet a collector's appetite. Loose "South Africa 1902" clasps can be had to add to your medal to enhance it.
All the best for your future collecting
IL.

A most unlucky regiment to have actually served with, from that point, well into the second half of the last century, certainly not one that I would want to have joined, but, then, of course, I have the benefit of being able to speak wise after those awful wretched events.

Georgegt351 wrote: I have just been lucky enough to purchase a QSA to 4055 PTE G. Barrett of the 1st Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regt who was made a POW at Nicholson's Nek on the 30th of October 1899. He had only arrived in South Africa on the 25 th of September and spent the next 10 days in cells for being drunk on duty only returning to duty on the 5th of October.
The medal has the clasps Natal, Orange Free State and Transvaal .
After this experience he spent from Dec 1900 until the end of March 1902 on St Helena guarding Boer POW's before returning to South Africa with the 2nd battalion and qualifying for the South Africa 1902 clasp-not with medal.

Interesting that he was sent to St Helena. The 1st bn left SA in August 1900 with Boer POWs for Ceylon.

Barrett was released from POW camp in September, so he literally missed the boat. Interesting that he did not get sent on to Ceylon or transferred to the 2nd bn in SA at that time.

I have a copy of his service papers and they have no mention of his release date-if he wasn't released to Sept 01 after his regiment left for Ceylon he must have been a POW for about a year. The only conclusion I can come to is that he must have been one of the 900 prisons the Boers took with them as Pretoria fell.

This is a very interesting subject because except for this forum nearly all information concerning POW's is about Boer POW's of the British that appears on the net.

If the Boers were the mobile force we are led to believe then POW'S must have been a real burden to them.

George Barrett had indeed been realised before September 1901, the year before, as clearly shown in his papers, he was sent down to St Helena on the 4th of December 1900 and returned to South Africa on the 1st of April 1902.