BRITISH QUEENS SOUTH AFRICA MEDAL CAPTAIN & ADJUTANT E. MANNHEIMER: MIDLAND MOUNTED RIFLES

Captain & Adjutant E Mannheimer, Midland Mounted Rifles who later served in WW1 with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.

Queens South Africa Medal 1899 – 1902, 1 clasp CAPE COLONY. Impressed named CAPT: & ADJT: E. MANNHEIMER. MIDLAND M.R. Comes with Midland Mounted Rifles shoulder title (Missing lugs and pierced holes for fitting), medal rolls, seniority lists, London Gazettes.

Captain Edgar Mannheimer (Manning) served in the Boer War as a Captain and the Adjutant to the Midland Mounted Rifles where he qualified for the clasp Cape Colony, he is also entitled to the Kings South African Medal with clasps South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902 when he served with the D.D.V Guard (Dordrecht District Volunteer Guard)12/3/00 – 6/3/01.

He was gazetted as a Captain with the 8^th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment 29^th August 1914, however by the London Gazette 9/11/1915 he applied to have his name changed by Deed Poll from Mannheimer to Manning. By this stage his occupation is recorded as 'Late Captain' in his Majesty’s Army.

Midland Mounted Rifles

This regiment came into being in the second phase of the war for the purpose of assisting to expel the invaders from the Colony. In April and May 1901 they were often in action and were said to have done very well on two occasions in the latter month, particularly at Zwagershoek. At Doornhoek, on the 13th, they had Lieutenant P E H Coombs and several men wounded.

The first reference in despatches to the corps by name was unfortunately associated with a mishap. In the despatch of 8th July 1901, dealing with the operations against Kritzinger's, Letter's, and other commandos, Lord Kitchener said: "On the 21st of June a party of 60 Midland Mounted Rifles—a local corps— was surrounded and captured by Kritzinger between Cradock and Graaf Reinet; 9 men were killed and 2 officers and 10 men wounded". According to the published casualty lists the number of killed and wounded was slightly larger. Captain H J Spandow died of his wounds; Lieutenant A P Robertson was severely wounded. It is satisfactory that the detachment made a very good fight, and that there was no surrender until the losses became out of all proportion to the end to be gained in holding out.

The Midland Mounted Rifles were to get their chance in due time. The despatch of 8th September 1901 deals with the capture of Letter's commando by Colonel Scobell on 5th September.

In the despatch Lord Kitchener said: "It must also be mentioned that three days previously Letter's commando had been checked by a party of Midland Mounted Rifles, who killed seven and wounded six of their number, and prevented the Boers escaping by a pass which the patrol was then holding".

The corps continued to do much useful work in the central districts of Cape Colony.