Felix Laker - FMP lookup please

[SRD]

I understand that FMP has Chelsea Pensioner records. The LDS has an entry:
Felix Laker
United Kingdom, Chelsea Pensioners' Service Records 1760-1913
birth: 1870 Sussex
name: Felix Laker
birthplace: Sussex
estimated birth year: 1870

Would someone be kind enough to look up that record on FMP for me please.

Thank you.

[apowell]

Hi,

Felix served Royal Artillery 16th Dec 1889-19th Sep 1902

India 1890-1898
South Africa 1899-1802 (Boer war)
Uk based other times

Served 4th Battery of the Royal Artillery Regiment during the Boer war
Awarded South Africa medal 1901-1902

If you google 4th Battery you'll get more information.
Regards
Adrian

[SRD]

Thanks Adrian that's really useful, is there any source citation along with it please?

[apowell]

Hi,

Roll of Individuals entitled to the Kings South African Medal and clasps, under the Army order no 232
granting the medal issued on 1st October 1902

Felix Laker
Gnr
RA 76071
Kings South African Medal & 1901 &1902 clasps
Issue No: 68/ART/79569
Issued: 13/11/03

Regards
Adrian

[SRD]

Thanks again. Odd - another site said there were 3 clasps but my research suggests the KSA didn't have 3 clasps (except for nursing sisters and I doubt Felix qualified as one of them). I also understood that the QSA was issued automatically along with the KSA but can find no record of Felix receiving it.

[apowell]

Hi,

Yes you're spot on Felix must have received both QSA & KSA because they were always issued together and I'm thinking there must be some missing documentation. I would also take an educated guess that he would have at least been entitled to the standard clasps depending where he was stationed during the war.

Wow this is a gem i just found out taken from the National Archive WO100. The QSA and KSA campaign medal rolls:

Felix was involved in action during the war and slightly wounded at De Klipdrift:

Name:
LAKER, Felix

Rank:
Gunner

Soldier number:
76071

Unit:
4 Battery Royal Field Artillery


Medal roll (from National Archives WO100 series):
Roll
Page
140

Casualty details:
Wounded Slightly on 7 Mar 1902 at De Klipdrift (Official casualty roll location: De Klipdrift)

Unit:
4 Battery Royal Field Artillery

Source:
South African Field Force. JB Hayward & Sons

Gazetteer:
a farm in the South African Republic (Delareyville district; North West), immediately south of Sanieshof. Variant: De Klip Drift (as used in HMG, Times, etc.); Klip Drift (name confusingly used by Dennison since Klipdrift is the farm immediately south of Tweebosch). In a bid to force Asst Cmdt-Gen J.H. de la Rey's commando into an action, Lt-Gen Lord Methuen with Maj A. Paris's column left Vryburg* on 2 March 1902. Moving north-eastwards, the column went into camp on the farm Tweebosch* on 6 March. At 3 am the following morning the column's transport started to move. An hour later the main fighting force left the bivouac, but at 5 am the rearguard was attacked and destroyed by de la Rey with some 2,000 burghers as the waggons and infantry were crossing the Great Harts River at the drift named after the farm. The rearguard including Dennison's Scouts and the Diamond Fields Horse was completely overtaken by the ferocity of the assault and repeated charges by the burghers routed the assortment of colonial volunteers making up Methuen's cavalry which fled leaving the infantry and artillery without a defensive screen. Whilst Paris tried to rally the mounted men at a nearby African homestead, Methuen with detachments of the 1st The Northumberland Fusiliers and the 1st The Loyal North Lancashire regiment and two guns of the 4th battery Royal Field Artillery closed round the stranded waggons. After two hours' resistance Lt G.R. Venning RA and Lt T.P.W. Nesham RA were killed and Methuen was injured; resistance stopped and de la Rey took Methuen and the rest of the column prisoner. Meanwhile Paris with only 40 men offered stout resistance to the Lichtenburg commando commanded by Veg-Gen J.G. Celliers before being shelled into submission. Methuen was treated for a fractured thigh and allowed to leave in his own waggon for Klerksdorp. British casualties were 68 killed, 132 wounded and some 600 captured. This action is known to British historians as that of Tweebosch. HMG IV pp.417-420 (map no.59); Times V pp.503-508 (map facing p.562); Wilson IV pp.951956 (map on p.948); Gronum pp.98-106 (map on front endpapers); Dennison pp.177-178 (named as Klip Drift); Wulfsohn pp.34 and 179.

Google De Klipdrift to find out further details.

Good hunting.
Adrian

[apowell]

Hi,

I've just been researching the engagement at De Klipdrift and it was also known as the Battle of Tweebosch and was the worst defeat suffered by us during the whole war:

In the Battle of Tweebosch or De Klipdrift on 7 March 1902, a Boer commando led by Koos de la Rey defeated a British column under the command of Lieutenant General Lord Methuen during the final months of the Second Boer War.

Background
In order to trap the Boer guerrillas in the Orange Free State, Lord Kitchener built lines of blockhouses connected with barbed wire. But there was not enough water in the Western Transvaal to employ the blockhouse system. Instead, he unleashed nine columns to hunt down De la Rey and the other Boer commanders in the area. On 24 February 1902, De la Rey pounced on a wagon convoy commanded by Lieutenant Colonel S. B. Von Donop. For the loss of 51 Boers, De la Rey killed, wounded or captured 12 officers and 369 men. In response, Methuen tried to track the Boer leader down.


Battle
Less than two weeks later, De la Rey ambushed Methuen's column at Tweebosch on the Little Harts River. The British force numbered 1250, including nearly 1000 mounted men and four guns. Methuen's force was largely made up of green troops; these panicked and fled or surrendered. Only the British regulars in the column fought stubbornly in the combat which lasted from dawn until 9:30 am. The British lost 200 killed and wounded, plus 600 men and all four guns captured. After being wounded twice and suffering a broken leg when his horse fell on him, Methuen was captured. He was the only general taken prisoner by the Boers during the war.


Aftermath
De la Rey sent the wounded Methuen to a British hospital in his own carriage under a flag of truce, despite demands from his own troops to execute him. The Boers court marshaled De la Rey for freeing such a valuable prisoner, but after convincing the court that Methuen would withdraw from the war, he was let off.

Upon hearing news of the disaster, a badly shaken Kitchener retired to his bedroom for two days and refused to eat. Recovering his poise, he ordered heavy reinforcements sent to the Western Tranvaal and appointed Colonel Ian Hamilton to coordinate the British effort. On 11 April, one of Hamilton's columns beat the Boers at the Battle of Rooiwal.

The defeat at Tweebosch, the biggest defeat for the British since the beginning of the war, had far-reaching consequences. In addition to the 68 killed, 121 wounded and 205 captured (including a general), 6 guns had also been taken and the biggest British force in the Western Transvaal neutralised. Questions were asked in parliament as to why Methuen had not been recalled following his defeat at Magersfontein. On the Boer side, there was a feeling that an honourable end could be found to the war.

Metheun escaped with his career intact, with the War Office and Kitchener taking the brunt of criticism for providing him with green troops. On 9 April, Boer and British delegations convened to discuss a negotiated surrender, which was signed on 31 May.

It seems to me that Felix would have been taken prisoner after the battle. I would try and post on a specialised forum for further information because your chap was involved in one heck of a battle and there must be more information to uncover.

I've checked Felix's service records and can find no mention of the above action etc which seems odd other than he was in the Ammun' 1st Corps Column Troops on the 9/10/99. It seems to me that the documentation on his service records are very poor and limited in any information eg. no medal awards or campaigns had even been given. I think you need to dig a little on the whereabouts of this 1ST CORPS and maybe post on a specialised forum covering the Boer war. These chaps have lots of references and knowledge I'm sure you could find out more.

Good luck and let us know of any new findings because this is becoming very interesting.

Adrian

[SRD]

Wow, lots of interesting stuff there. But it leaves so many threads hanging. If Felix was taken prisoner, what then? And how does that fit in with his service record in South Africa ending on 19th September 1902, his possible service in the SAC (implied by the little I can see on https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/Vi ... arrowLinks) and his KSA medal record (ancestry http://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-b ... ls&indiv=1). And was he the Felix Henry Laker who married Emily Richardson in Eastbourne in 1907 and died in 1949 in the Hailsham registration district? There's also a record as him as a Chelsea Pensioner which implies that he not only survived but came back to the UK.

[apowell]

Hi,

If we check the 1911 census returns only person listed for Felix is your chap and checking the 1901 census returns the same person isn't listed which suggests this is the same Felix and he was serving in South Africa. The only Felix listed on the 1901 census returns is another Felix born abt 1843 which I think would be his father ? I can find no other Felix Bapt' around 1870 but no mention of the middle name Henry however I think the evidence suggests this is your chap.

He must have been taken prisoner at Tweebosch because all the remaining soldiers were surrounded and captured and this would still fit in with his discharge date of 19th September 1902 because the Boer War ended on the 31st May 1902 and I presume all prisoners would have been released by the end of the conflict and it may have taken sometime for them to recover and be shipped home.

This is interesting:
Lord Methuen's offical despatch is dated 13 March 1902, and was dictated from his bed at Klerksdorp. He gave a general account of the action and wrote : 'I remained with the guns, 4th Battery, and Infantry, until my horse was killed and my thigh fractured by a bullet. They held out in a most splendid manner until about 09h30 when all the men around the guns had been shot down, and Lieutenant Venning, commanding the section had been killed. I would also call attention to the gallant manner in which Lieutenants Nesham and Venning, Royal Field Artillery, stuck to their guns.

Regards
Adrian

[apowell]

Hi,

Forgot to mention Felix's service papers it mentions his next of kin:

Father
Felix Laker
Steyning Village,
Eastbourne

This must be your chap and at discharge he wasn't married which fits in with the marriage entry Eastbourne 1907 you mentioned.

Adrian

[SRD]

I agree that circumstantially the evidence looks very strong but that next of kin evidence rather throws a spanner in the works.

I have no record of father Felix living in Steyning village, he moved from West Grinstead to Thakeham (where son Felix was born and which is 9 miles away from, and the closest they ever seemed to get to, Steyning) to central Eastbourne (where Felix also lived) to Westham (on the outskirts of Eastbourne and some 35 miles from Steyning).

The 1911 census has Felix Henry claiming to have been born in Steyning whereas my Felix was born in Thakeham (according to FreeBMD and all subsequent census records prior to his enlistment). The Parish Records for Steyning (or at least those available to the Sussex Family History Group, transcriptions of which are available online to members) appear to stop at 1664 so it's possible, if the 19C ones were destroyed, that there was a Felix Henry born in Steyning to a father Felix, at the same time as my Felix was born in Thakeham.

And still no more evidence about any SAC service, am I really going to have to fork out to access that record on the Forces War Records site?

I think I'll stick the genealogical info into a Brick Wall post and see if the Staffies can come up with something.

Thanks very much for all the info you've dug up.

[SRD]

Actually, that next of kin address can't be correct, Steyning is not close enough to have an Eastbourne address, maybe that's where the problem lies, son Felix had maybe already left home and was misinformed or misunderstood where his parents had moved to.

Too many maybes for me, I think I'll just have to mark the info up as 'possible'.

[apowell]

Hi,

Gosh isn't this family research really frustrating at times.

Good luck and I hope further information turns up to help you.

Regards
Adrian

[apowell]

Hi again,

I'm thinking would it be worth while obtaining Felix's marriage certificate which should give his father's name and profession etc.

Also the Birth certificate would prove helpful to cross check the fathers details.

The problem it all costs money

Just a quick thought.

Good luck
Adrian

[SRD]

I think the cross reference between the FreeBMD entry for Felix' birth and subsequent census for his parents are good enough to confirm his parentage. I'll have to see if his name comes up on any of the family tree sites and, with a bit of luck, the SFHG may have access to Parish marriage registers.