Edwin Warlow 1st Battalion 1898-190?

Hello,

I recently have been to the N.A and came across Edwin Warlow a great great uncle of mine who served with the 1st battallion of the Royal Welch Fusiliers.
I have a few questions if i may.

Attached is a picture i have found on the web of the 1st Battallion Welch Fusiliers in 1900 in South Africa - Would i be correct to assume that it must include my great great uncle. He served in South Africa 1899-1902 and won the following medals

Cape Colony, Transvaal, Tugala Heights & Relief of Ladysmith.

I know he was 5ft 7, blue eyes, brown hair and 122lbs and only 20 years old in 1900, not that it helps much in the picture.

Is this a common picture that someone may have names for?, and also where might i find more information about him and his service? is it available at the N.A?.

On the medal role it also shows him as going to the 2nd Btn Hong Kong on the 20.7.00 (thats what it seems to say to me anyway)

I would love to find out more about him, what he won the medals for etc

he also seems to have been promoted to provisional Lance corporal at some point and then demoted back down to private (from his papers), would there be records of this held anywhere?

Many thanks

Mike

The only thing I can confirm for you at this time is that the 2nd Bn were in Hong Kong in 1900.

2nd Bn
1899 Hong Kong
1900 China: Tientsin, Beijing
1900 Hong Kong
1902 India: Chakratta

Hi Mike,

Firstly the photo, It would have to be a massive coincidence for your relative to be pictured(although me might be!!). When the 1st Bn deployed to South Africa in 1899, they had just under 1100 Officers and Men under arms.

Do you have your relatives Service papers and medal index card? If so I would suggest you scan them and post them as an attachment on this site. One of our members Richard Ward, has an interest in medals and may possibly be able to glean more information for you. It would appear that his medals are Campaign issued, but Richard will be able to advise you better.

With regard to the 2nd Bn at Hong Kong, its possible that your relative took part in the Boxer Rebellion in Pekin 1900. Another of our members Richard Donovan, has an interest in this action and again may be able to provide more detail.

I would suggest that your relative had an "interesting" period of service with the regiment and deserves further research. Can I suggest that you purchase a copy of The Royal Welch Fusiliers Regimental Records Volume 2 -
IBSN:0 9525408 2 7 This is available from either the RWF Museum or internet booksellers, it covers South Africa and Pekin in detail, and gives you a good idea of what was happening in the regiment at that time, and will help increase your knowledge of the period you are researching

Many of our members will find your family research of great interest, please keep us updated on how you get on, its possible that details you uncover will assist other Forum members in the future

Best wishes

Many thanks for the info so far, yes I have his servcie record and medal roll scanned in, but they are alot bigger file sizes then i can uload on here. Ill try compressing them and posting them and see how you get on with reading them

First off his medal roll

Edwin is the last one on the page

His papers are attached.
I scanned them as best i could from the a3 print outs i got from the N.A . The originals are quite faint due to water damage etc, but the scans are a little fainter still, so if you are unsure what something says on them, just ask and ill try and read it off my a3 print outs.

The page which mentions distinguishing features, is unfortunately too faint to read really on the originals (that section) , mentions i think something about a scar on his forehead and something about a finger on his right hand. Next time I go to the NA i will try and get a better print of that page to see if it is more readable.

I will lookup the book you stated, many thanks for all your help and advice guys

Mike

Hello,
Edwin Warlow,definately did not serve with the 2/RWF in the Boxer uprising.
In the photo he has down loaded the uniforms shown could of course look as if they were serving in S.A. or even India or Burma.I am not experienced enough to tell which campaign.During the Boxer uprising the 2/RWF wore fur caps (Not Bearskins) but more like the ones worn by the RWF towards the end of the 2nd World War. I believe they were known as FORAGE caps.
The 2nd in the boxer uprising also wore a light weight K.D.Or even a B.D material. they wore a white webbing belt with this uniform, plus long trousers without puttees or gaiters. If Warlow was the recipient of the medals mentioned he must have been with the 1st in South Africa.
Regards RBD aka "Don"

Hi Michael

I have been doing a little digging for you. Firstly from my records it is clear that your relative is entitled to the Queen’s South Africa Medal with five bars – not four. He also appears on pages 86, 165 & 175. The bars should be Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, Tugula Heights and Relief of Ladysmith.

I have no other trace of him being entitled to any further medals such as the China 1900 (Boxer Rebellion) Some 87 men of the first battalion were posted to the 2nd Bn on the 20th July 1900 as reinforcements from the 1st in South Africa.

So I can confirm that he originally started out in the 1st Bn and Transferred to the 2nd.

Unfortunatley I can’t make out the scans to well but if you would like to email me the full size ones I’ll see if I can make anything out for you.

Richard

Hi Richard, thanks for that.

What do you mean he also appears on pages 86, 165 and 175 ??

And he is missing the tick from the Orange Free state on his medal roll - strange?, how do you know he is entitled to it?.

Will gladly email you the pictures, what is your email address?..they still arnt brilliant before compression though and like I said, if you want me to check something on my "originals "if you cant make somthing out, id be happy to

Thanks for all your assistance and digging..

Regards

Mike

Hi Mike

Ahhh yes - sorry about that ! Should have been a little more specific. . .

I have done a lot of work on the Medal Roll for the Queen's South Africa Medal to the RWF. Your relative appears on the three pages I have quoted above. The tick for OFS bar being on one of the other pages. This is not that uncommon once you have looked at the roll in detail - If you would like I can try and copy the three pages for you.

If you email me what you have to info@rwfus.co.uk I will try and enhance the files to see what jumps out at me.

I have attached a photo of the medal in question with the correct bars.

Richard

Hi,

I have just sent you the files, they are quite large so I've sent them in individual emails, but it means you can zoom right in to make things out.

Many thanks for the picture of the medal, something i didnt expect, but looks fantastic

Regards

Mike