Memorial details

Memorial type
Battlefield cross or marker
District
West Dorset
Town
Dorchester
County
Dorset
Country
England
Commemoration
Boer War; Second (1899-1902)
Lost
Not lost
WM Reference
55759

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Current location

The Keep Military Museum
Bridport Road
Dorchester
West Dorset
Dorset
DT1 1RN
England

OS Grid Ref: SY 68703 90609
Denomination: Undefined

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Description
A wooden cross with the commemoration painted in black .The cross is set on a base comprised of rough hewn stones and against a painted background of the battle of Wagon Hill . Alongside the cross is a printed document with a description of the battle .
Inscription
On cross /IN/ MEMORY/ OF/ THE FOLLOWING/ N.C.O.s & MEN OF THE 1ST DEVONSHIRE REGT/ WHO FELL IN ACTION ON WAGON HILL LADYSMITH/ ON THE 6TH JANUARY 1900/ (names) On accompanying document/During the siege of Ladysmith in South Africa the Boers /seized Wagon Hill which overlooked the town /1st Devons were ordered to capture the hill "at all costs"/During a violent hail storm they charged ,bayonets fixed /across more than 100 yards of open ground swept by enemy fire /In the course of this action Lieutenant /Masterson despite being wounded six times succeeded /in taking a vital message across open ground to a flanking/ unit and in doing so earned the Regiment its first VC/ Immediately after the battle the Battalion raised this /memorial cross on the site of the charge .A little while later /it was replaced by a stone memorial and the cross was brought back to England /
Inscription legible?
yes
Names on memorial
Bamsey, F
Bibb, J
Brown, W
Curtis, A
Davidson, W
Fair, W
Harvey, W
Litton, F
Marden, H
Newcombe, W
See details for all 13 names
Commemorations
  • Boer War; Second (1899-1902)
    Total names on memorial: 13
    Served and returned: 0
    Died: 13
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: surname,rank,year died,regiment,place of death
    Order of information: rank
Components
  • Paper Memorial
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Paper
  • Plinth
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Stone
  • Cross
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Wood
  • Memorial
    Measurements: depth 950mm, height 2080mm, width 1120mm
    Materials: Undefined
  • Undefined
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Undefined
Listing information
Condition
Trust fund/Scholarship
No
Purpose: Unknown or N/A
Responsibility
The Keep Military Museum

This record comprises all information held by IWM’s War Memorials Register for this memorial. Where we hold a names list for the memorial, this information will be displayed on the memorial record. Please check back as we are adding more names to the database.

This information is made available under a Creative Commons BY-NC licence.

This means you may reuse it for non-commercial purposes only and must attribute it to us using the following statement:

© WMR-55759

For queries, please contact [email protected].