QUEEN'S SOUTH AFRICA 1899-1902, three clasps, Relief of Ladysmith, Transvaal, South Africa 1901 (2340 Pte. J. Readon, 2 R. Scots. Fus.), very fine

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QUEEN'S SOUTH AFRICA 1899-1902, three clasps, Relief of Ladysmith, Transvaal, South Africa 1901 (2340 Pte. J. Readon, 2 R. Scots. Fus.), very fine

Lot Essay

Private J. Readon was taken prisoner at the Battle of Colenso.

Four Companies of the Royal Scots Fusiliers were in the firing line at Colenso. The war correspondent Bennet Burleigh wrote that: 'The Queen's and others of the 2nd Brigade with a few of Barton's, chiefly the Scots Fusiliers, were quite near the iron bridge and the river. Regardless of the wildest fusillade ever heard from an enemy our men tried to bore in farther ... The Scots Fusiliers in that connection had very back luck, for they got left in an untenable position and were surrounded' (The Natal Campaign refers). 39 men were taken prisoner.