PHOTO PAGE 87
Photos AJP 1
& AJP 2 Please contact Barbara McDonald at :- barian@netgazer.net.au These two great portraits are of a distinguished soldier who's' name ALFRED JOHN PAYNE. This is what his Granddaughter Barbara wrote, "I would like to identify my grandpa's regiment and details of his war service. I have written to the Department of Defence with no luck. Then, I had very little information. My grandfather was Alfred John Payne who at the time of his marriage in 1899 was 33 and QUARTERMASTER SERGEANT INSTRUCTOR SCHOOL OF MUSKETRY AT HYTHE, KENT. As he had been born at Warwick I started my inquiry there. I have two photos of 'Dick' as he was always called. One (AJP 1) as a younger man in a dress uniform with a mandarin collar wearing two big silver medals on a bar. One is a Burma service medal dated 1887-1889 and the other is for long service and good conduct, around the rim is engraved 541: QR: MR: SJT: AJ PAYNE School of musketry. The second photo (AJP 2) is of him as an older man in uniform with cap and wearing puttees. His regiment has been identified as the RIFLE BRIGADE. The back of the photo has "before going to France 1914"
AJP 2
"Among his medals and awards were other cap badges that have been identified as the Border Regiment and the badge of the 8th Regiment Foot, The King's (Liverpool Regiment) What I'm hoping to find out is, the regiment Dick was in when he first enlisted, I know that in 1906 he managed a farm in Market Bosworth (Leicestershire, England) so must have not been in the army at this time, then did he re enlist at the out break of WW1? Finally the spheres of action that he was involved in. He died in 1947 and on his gravestone after his name is CAPT R.B. He also had many medals and awards for shooting and I have been helped with the identification of the silver medal won at Bisley in 1902 and the list of the names of the men on The Regular Army team with him."Can you help Barbara with an identification or other information about her Grandfather please?
Photo MICW 1
Please contact Michael Walsh at :- fmwalsh@istar.ca Michael wrote the following about the photograph and the Canadian Boer War veterans seen in it. "The attached picture is of five Canadian Boer War veterans on their return from that War. The picture was taken in the Elora, Ontario area where they were from. From left to right: TOM BRYANS, JIM WELLS, BERT WALSH, WILL CAMPBELL, BOB BARRELL. My great-uncle ROBERT GEORGE WALSH (i.e. Bert) is the fellow sitting in the middle. He was born near Elora"Historically Speaking" about three Moose Jaw boys who volunteered for the Boer War in 1899 has the following information: "One Moose Jaw boy, Bert Walsh, rode his horse to Regina to sign up for cavalry duty. Bert had the reputation of being able to ride 'anything with hair on,' and was an excellent shot from the saddle. His royal send-off was told by a Times reporter: 'A Union Jack was placed in his hand and Constable Hendron (of the Mounted Police) escorted him up Main Street to the front of the town hall where the citizens' band played several patriotic airs. A procession formed, headed by the band, and Bert was escorted to the Manitoba Street bridge, where the final farewells were said. Here his father, Thomas Walsh, bid his son goodbye, after which Bert rode off amid the enthusiastic cheers of the citizens and the singing of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow."
Michael also wrote "I am guessing, but he probably joined the LORD STRATHCONA'S HORSE, a historic Canadian cavalry regiment which is still active today (indeed, in September 2000, they will have the unique privilege of forming the Queen's Life Guard at Buckingham Palace). The Strathconas were raised for service in the Boer War by Donald Smith, known best for his role in the creation of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and who was knighted as Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal. The Strathconas arrived in Cape Town on 11 April 1900, under the command of Sir Sam Steele, superintendant of the North West Mounted Police. The members of the regiment, who were largely cowboys and frontiersman, were famed for their ability as mounted scouts."
Michael Walsh
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