Cape of Good Hope General Service 1880-97, 1 clasp, Bechuanaland (Qr. Msr. W. E. Thomas. P.A.O.C.A.) nearly extremely fine £300-£400

Approximately 50 medals with Bechuanaland clasp awarded to the Prince Alfred’s Own Cape Artillery.

William Edward Thomas was born in Cape Town in c.1843 and enlisted in the Cape Volunteer Artillery on 13 March 1866; the following year the unit was re-designated Prince Alfred’s Own Cape Town Volunteer Artillery, and the name was subsequently shortened to Prince Alfred’s Own Cape Artillery. Thomas was promoted Corporal in June 1876, and Sergeant on 1 December 1878. He was appointed Quartermaster and commissioned Captain on 10 August 1891 and served with the Bechuanaland Field Force in 1896-97, seeing active service against Galeshewe’s rebels in Langeberg. Twice mentioned in the official history of the Cape Field Artillery, Gunners of the Cape, by Neil Orpen, one of the last official acts in which Thomas took part (he did not serve operationally during the Second Boer War) was the unveiling of the Langeberg Campaign Memorial in Cape Town Cathedral in March 1899.

Awarded the Colonial Auxiliary Forces Officers’ Decoration on 22 August 1902, Thomas resigned his commission on 31 March 1903. Subsequently farming in the Eastern Cape, he died on 24 March 1932.

Sold with copied medal roll extracts and other research.