Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence

Lest We Forget
British Legion
The Royal British Legion

ST GILES CATHEDRAL, EDINBURGH SOUTH AFRICA (BOER WAR)
SCOTTISH SHARPSHOOTERS WAR MEMORIAL

The memorial is to be found within St Giles Cathedral, Royal Mile, Edinburgh. It takes the form of a brass plaque emblazened with the Regimental badge at the top and the list of nine names to the fallen. The names have been sorted into order here, they were originally listed by rank. The Sharpshooters, as befitted their name, were recruited from men who passed a much tougher shooting test. They comprised the 18th Battalion Imperial Yeomanry, the 67th, 71st and 75th Companies being recruited in London and the 70th Company raised in Edinburgh. The corps was the brainchild of Henry Seton-Karr, Conservative MP for St Helens, and was raised by a committee led by the Earl of Dunraven. Unlike some of the other Special Corps, it was not a unit for gentlemen, many of its recruits coming from what a newspaper of the time called “the artisan class”. All the men were expected to be excellent shots and those with overseas experience in the colonies or elsewhere were preferred. The recruits who came forward, more than 500 in the first few weeks, included prize shots from contests at Bisley and in Scodand, big game hunters, men who had fought in the Matabele War in Rhodesia and former members of the Canadian police and colonial irregular units.

ERECTED BY THE SCOTTISH SHARPSHOOTERS & FRIENDS IN MEMORY
OF THEIR COMRADES WHO FELL IN SOUTH AFRICA DURING 1900-1901

ANDREW

Henry

Lieutenant, 70th Company (Sharpshooters), 18th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry. Died of dysentery 9th July 1900 at at Salisbury Hospital, Rhodesia. Aged 30.

Extract from The Last Post - Roll of Officers who fell in South Africa 1899-1902 by Mildred G Dooner, published by Naval and Military Press:

ANDREW. - Lieut. Henry Andrew, 70th Co. I.Y., died of dysentery at Salsibury Hospital, Rhodesia, July 9th, 1900. He was born in May, 1870, and was formerly a lieut. in the Royal Highlanders. Lieut. Andrew joined the I.Y. on March 21st, 1900. His name is engraved on a Latten Brass, placed in St. Paul's Cathedral in memory of all ranks belonging to the 18th, 21st and 23rd Batts. I.Y. who fell in the war.

BETHUNE

A

Trooper

BOYD

J A

[Corporal on memorial] Lance Corporal 12535, 70th Company (Sharpshooters), 18th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry. Wounded 2nd February 1901 at Klaarstroom, died of those wounds.

DEAS

J B

Corporal

GREIG

B

Trooper

KERR

J A

Sergeant 12617, 70th Company (Sharpshooters), 18th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry. Severely wounded near Kimberley 14th December 1900, died of those wounds at Kimberley 22nd January 1901.

LIDDIARD

E J

Sergeant 12625, 70th Company (Sharpshooters), 18th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry. Killed in action at Tanwater 23rd February 1901.

RHOADES

T W

Corporal

RUSSELL

Patrick Brown

Trooper, 20th Comapny, Imperial Yeomanry, Scottish Sharpshooters. Died, at Fort Tuli, Rhodesia, of enteric fever 3 December 1900. Aged 43. Second son of Archibald Russell of Auchinraith, Lanarkshire.

Photograph Copyright © Andrew Young 2014

Last updated 16 December, 2020

Friends of the War Memorials
War Memorials Trust
Main page
Commonweath War Graves Commission
Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Copyright © Roll-of-Honour.com 2002- | GDPR Cookies
Email: webmaster@roll-of-honour.com