Boer War Queens South Africa Medal to Private W.E. Croghan, 6th Inniskilling Dragoons, who was later the Commandant of the Wirksworth Home Guard during WW1.

Queens South Africa Medal 1899 – 1902 with 5 clasps, CAPE COLONY, ORANGE FREE STATE, JOHANNESBURG, DIAMOND HILL, BELFAST. Impressed named 3017 PTE W. CROGHAN. 6th DRAGOONS. Comes with copies service papers, medal rolls national census, newspaper articles.

Walter Edward Croghan was born in 1871 at Al Saints, Leicestershire. He enlisted to the 6th Dragoons Inniskilling Dragoons on the 11/9/1889, he was serving with the 1st Volunteer Battalion Leicestershire Regiment at the time. Croghan was up and down the ranks to Corporal a few times including being reduced for drunkenness and on another occasion whilst on active service in South Africa, was charged by Court Martial for ‘absence’ and reduced to the ranks again. At the time he was employed within the Regiment as a ‘saddle tree maker’. Croghan served in England from 2/9/1889 – 22/10/1899. South Africa 23/10/1899 – 3/4/1901 and England 4/4/1901 – 1/7/1902 which was the termination of his enlistment. He ran a public house the ‘Red Lion Hotel’ later in life and was the Commandant of the Wirksworth Home Guard WW1, and died on the 3/4/1935 in Leicestershire. In WW2 his pub the Red Lion was used as the HQ for the Wirksworth Home Guard. After the outbreak of the Second Boer War in October 1899, the regiment was sent to South Africa. It formed part of General French′s force in the operations around Colesberg the squadrons formed part of the cavalry brigade which served in all the engagements in the general advance on Pretoria, which was captured on 5 June 1900. They took part in the battles of Diamond Hill (June 1900) and Belfast (August 1900), and in the following cavalry advance on Barberton in the Eastern Transvaal. The regiment subsequently joined a column under the command of Colonel Michael Rimington in the Orange River Colony, taking part in miscellaneous raids and drives there throughout the last year of the war, which ended with the Peace of Vereeniging on 31 May 1902.