Boer War Medals

14th July 2008 Press Release

Boer War medals came into Richard Winterton Auctioneers to sell and give a remarkable insight to a Pte. H. Simmons of the Kings Royal Rifle Corps.

The root cause of this war was the long-standing rivalry between the British and Dutch. The Dutch Boers who disliked British rule had gone North to avoid it and had finally succeeded in gaining independence in the Transvaal, then came the discovery of gold and a hugh influx of Foreign Nationals, Mainly the British.

Britain sent a number of troops amongst them Pte. H. Simmons to boost their positions, but in 1899 the president of the Transvaal Republic attacked the British with over 50,000 men and so the Boer War commenced.

War lasted for over three years, but the professional soldiers of Britain in the end prevailed. Conditions would have been brutal in those days, all on horse-back and forced marches in extreme heat, but Pte. H. Simmons was not sent home but remained to help keep the peace and alongside his Queen’s medal for South Africa and the four clasps of the battles he fought, he was awarded the Kings medal of South Africa 1901 and 1902. We do not have the splendid red tunics they would have worn, we do however have the Kings Royal Rifle Corps cap badge. We feel the most interesting items are the two identity discs still attached to the dirty piece of string that he would have worn around his neck.