2/HLI

[David_Bluestein]

David,

For what it's worth here is the scan of the page about July 1915. There's not much to it and probably won't give you much more than you already have - sorry.

Tim L.

Tim,

Thanks kindly! This will come in useful.

Regrads

David

[Guest fbdownes]

Hi Tim thought I check a little before replying about the departure date. On G/dads MIC the date of entry was 27th Aug so I am going to assume you were right about the records being written up later. It looks like the date given was the time they went into action. And as telfer Smollet went right through the war with the batt and finished up as O/c I am going with him regarding the first reinforcements arriving in Sept.

Many thanks for helping out and now I am twice as green with envy over the photos. You can see how he changed from a boy to a man with time and it looked like he had a stripe too. Lucky feller you. If I get any thing interesting will be in touch. fb Brian

[CROONAERT]

We believe he served in the Boer War but as far as I can work out, he must have been with the 1st Bn HLI at the time because the 2nd didn't go to Sth Africa.

Here's a photo of him taken in 1902 - can we confirm the uniform in any way?

P.S. Can anyone decipher his Regimental number on the MIC - I think there are a couple of possibilities - is the first number a 1 or 7 and is the second number a 5 or 3.

Tim.

The 2nd battalion actually did go to South Africa. (Their casualties start to appear in the 1st January -30th June 1901 casualty lists, the earliest being 5115 Pte.N.Fraser,2/HLI, who was dangerously wounded (later DOW) at Elandsfontein on 22nd February 1901).

The badge on the photo certainly looks like HLI to me (and you can see the "H" of "HLI" on his shoulder title).

His number looks like 7547, especially if you compare the "7" with the "1" in the writing next to it, which looks like it was written by the same hand.

Dave.

[Auimfo]

Dave,

This is news to me! Any time I've checked battle honours of the 2nd Bn (74th) it never lists Sth Africa and according to any timeline for the HLI of the period, the 1st were in Sth Africa and the 2nd, the Channels Islands and home. I've checked a few internet sources and none of these list the 2nd as having been in Sth Africa during the Boer War. In addition to this, I've got a copy of Conan-Doyles The Great Boer War and the index only lists the 1st Bn.

I'm sure you're correct (I'm probably not looking in the right places) but can you tell me where to find information about the 2nd's service in the Boer War?

Tim L.

[CROONAERT]

Dave,

This is news to me! Any time I've checked battle honours of the 2nd Bn (74th) it never lists Sth Africa and according to any timeline for the HLI of the period, the 1st were in Sth Africa and the 2nd, the Channels Islands and home. I've checked a few internet sources and none of these list the 2nd as having been in Sth Africa during the Boer War. In addition to this, I've got a copy of Conan-Doyles The Great Boer War and the index only lists the 1st Bn.

I'm sure you're correct (I'm probably not looking in the right places) but can you tell me where to find information about the 2nd's service in the Boer War?

Tim L.

Tim.

The 2nd battalion actually have the battle honour South Africa 1899-1902. This is confirmed in "Battle Honours of the British and Commonwealth Armies" by Anthony Baker. The casualty lists that I have (which are listed in regimental and battalion order) are a copy of those that were actually issued, on a 6 monthly basis, at the time.

If it's of any help, the first 2/HLI casualty was that that I mentioned above (22nd Feb 1901) and the last (in my lists) was on 13th April 1902 (by which time the 3rd Battalion was also recieving casualties in SA !). So, it looks like the 2nd Bn was definately there possibly from Jan/Feb 1901 through to (at least) April 1902. They probably went on garrison duty in Jersey following this.

As I've mentioned before, I don't actually have much on the HLI, but if you wish, I'll give you a list of the places where 2nd Battalion men were either killed or wounded. This will give you an idea of their movements and actions in SA.

Dave.

[Guest WillieG]

On the subject of 2HLI on 27 July, my nameless,authorless 9 HLI (battalion war history?) account mentions the 2HLI who at that time in the same brigade. The 9 HLI were in the line at Cuinchy (Support Point and Cambrai Redoubt) from 20 July to 28 July on which day they moved to Givenchy (Canal to Duck's Bill). The Brigade was relieved and moved back to Bethune on August 7. The account does however say....' the only noteworthy incident during this spell was a mine which the enemy put up at Duck's Bill on the 2HLI front. The 2nd Battalion had some casualties, including Capt. Hooper....'

Not exactly what you're after but close.