Below is a plaque of recognition for soldiers who fought and died in the 1899-1902 South African War, also known as the second Boer war. It was unveiled on the then headquarters of the Bucks Battalion of the Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry, next to what is now the library in Institute Rd, in August 1909. Made of black Aberdeen granite, a few details on the "war tablet" are a little hard to read now but we've done our best ..
Trooper BF Burton
Trooper W G Drinkwater
Trooper A J Gale
Trooper G. R Greaves,
Trooper F Langley, (Frank, brother to Jack, see below)
Trooper J Langley, (Jack, sadly died in WW1. Read more about his family here )
Trooper H B Rowe,
Trooper C Webb,
Trooper W White,
First Bucks VRC :
Sergeant G Hide (Geoffrey)
Private C Green,
Private G H Green,
Private CT Martin,
Private A Silvey,
Private G Simmonds
Private J Wheatley
Bugler L Shaw,
Private W Batley,
Sergt. H J Smith
And : Trooper G A Rogers, killed at Bolshop May 19 1902)"
The unveiling was left to General Higginson. Raising funds for the plaque had taken time and it's reveal was regarded as a big occasion in the town. A guard of honour was formed in Institute Rd for the General, consisting of members of the Marlow company of the Territorials and other groups such as Marlow Fire Brigade and the Church Lads Brigade. Once the ceremony was complete, those gathered marched to the Enclosure - the no longer enclosed patch of grass on the Causeway. The purpose was to perform the inaugural hoisting of flags on the flagpole. The Overseas League provided the flagpole, and invited Marlow council to give a home to it. They agreed, and funds had also been raised to buy the flags. Various groups in town provided national or territorial flags, and that of Cape Colony in South Africa was among them, purchased with funds raised by the pupils of Borlase school. A flagpole is still to be seen on the Causeway and few probably know why one was first erected there. The Overseas League aimed to encourage a sense of brotherhood amongst individuals living within the Empire and so it displayed not only the Union Jack but the flags of Western Australia and New Zealand for example. This was the first such flagpole erected by the League and it was reported across the Empire.
More information about Marlow and the Boer wars will follow shortly.
See here for the Brewery First World War memorial tablet
And the tragic early history of The Armoury (Bucks Volunteer HQ) - some distressing content - is covered here
For all mentions of your ancestors here, use the A-Z person to index in the top drop down menu. There are more than 3,000 individuals listed there.
SOURCES
National Library of Australia Trove Collection:
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/53186750/5137435, accessed September 2020
South Bucks Standard August 27th 1909, held at the British Library and accessed via the BNA November 2020
©MarlowAncestors. Post written by Kathryn Day.
