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Peter Ewart
| Joined: 31 Aug 2005 |
| Posts: 1797 |
| Location: Near Canterbury, Kent, England. |
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 Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 1:56 pm |
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If your ancestor served in the Buffs he would have had to be in the 2nd Bn in 1879 (around 800 in each of the 1st & 2nd Bns if up to strength). This Bn went to the Cape in the 1870s but I'm not sure offhand if every company of the 2nd ended up in Zululand. Those that did so went north from the Cape in dribs and drabs before and during the war. So it is possible that he served in the campaign, perhaps saw action at Nyezane on 22nd Jan 1879 - or possibly was not involved at all, despite being a Buff at the right time.
If you obtain his soldier's service documents from the National Archives at Kew (class ref WO97) they will reveal his wanderings, if any, around the world, as well as his entitlement to any campaign medals (and, of course, identify his battalion & any other moves, as well as plenty of other details). If he died in service, however, instead of being discharged to pension when time-expired, then it is likely that these papers will no longer survive. Assuming you already know for certain he was in the army in 1879, presumably he was discharged some time in the 1880s? The papers should also help biographically and genealogically.
If the papers cannot be located, muster rolls and description books may assist at Kew. Alternatively, the 1877/8/9 South Africa medal roll should provide chapter and verse anyway, and, if he was a recipient, will give you a guide to his qualification for such. There may be contributors to this forum who can assist there.
There are other methods which can be employed if the above fails but any one of these should provide you with want you want to know. If it transpires that he was there, you may find some of the excellent photographs in the albums of the surviving regimental collection of interest. These are no longer held at the Regimental Museum here in C'bury but have been transferred to the custody of the National Army Museum.
Peter
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