For many years it was thought that the Queen’s Own provided about 34 Officers and Soldiers to serve with the Canadian contingents that fought alongside the British Army in the South African, or Boer, War between 1899-1902, it turns-out that this number was underestimated.

Over the past 2 years, museum volunteer Brock has been carefully scanning and recording many of the Museum’s large, fragile, handwritten Orders, Records of Service and Service Rolls. Most of these are over 100 years old and wouldn’t stand up to constant handling so they have been scanned and added to the Archives page of the museum website for all to view.

It was just recently noticed that in the 1898-1901 Regimental Orders, the names and companies of the Queen’s Own men who were authorized to volunteer for active service in South Africa were written. When research was complete and the names cross-checked with the South Africa Service Files at Library and Archives Canada, it was determined that an additional 20 QOR soldiers needed to be added to the list. This makes a total of 54 soldiers from the Queen’s Own who volunteered for active service and deployed to South Africa with various Canadian Units.

The listing, including names and units they served with, can be found on the museum website timeline under TIMELINE: 1900-1924/SOUTH AFRICAN WAR/RIFLEMEN OF THE QUEEN’S OWN WHO SERVED IN THE SOUTH AFRICA CAMPAIGN 1899-1900 or at the link here.