Orders, Decorations and Medals

The original Boer War manuscript diaries of Shoeing-Smith F. H. A. O’Dell, 12th Company, R.E., comprising three separate, folded notebooks with detailed handwritten entries covering the periods April to October 1900 (approx. 60pp.), October 1900 to February 1901 (approx. 12 pp.), and February 1901 to December of the same year (approx. 20pp.), two with his name and unit inscribed on opening pages, and all in all a rare and fascinating record of a non-commissioned soldier’s experiences on active service in South Africa, a record that also amounts to a valuable history of the 12th Company’s activities in the Boer War, occasional staining , worn folded spines and page ends, but his neat ink and pencil entries in good sound condition (Lot) £200-250

Frederick H. A. O’Dell, from Ampthill, Bedfordshire, was awarded the Queen’s South Africa Medal 1899-1902 with clasps for “Cape Colony”, “Orange Free State”, “Johannesburg”, “Diamond Hill” and “Belfast”, in addition to the King’s Medal with two dated clasps. Having arrived in South Africa at the end of 1899, 12th Company R.E. was attached to the 3rd Infantry Division.