Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The Boer War medal to Lieutenant V. A. Ball-Acton, Oxfordshire Light Infantry, who was killed in action at Paardeberg

Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 2 clasps, Relief of Kimberley, Paardeberg (Lt. V. A. Ball-Acton. Oxford L.I.) extremely fine £3000-3500

Vere Annesley Ball-Acton was killed in action at Paardeberg on 18 February 1900. He was born on 22 April 1879, and educated at Rugby. He entered Sandhurst in September 1897 and was gazetted to the Oxfordshire Light Infantry on 11 February 1899. He proceeded with the 1st Battalion on active service, as one of the junior subalterns, at the end of the year, was present at the attack on Cronje’s rear-guard at Klip Kraal on 16 February, and was shot through the head at the battle of Paardeberg on the 18th, when within a few hundred yards of Cronje’s laager.

The regimental diary tells the story in more detail:

‘February 18th - Moved off at 3 a.m., without food or water; after a little there was some brisk firing on our right front, when the 6th and 7th Divisions and the Highland Brigade extended. The Boer laager was now sighted across the river, and our Artillery set to work to shell it, soon setting some wagons on fire. We now advanced towards the river, which was held in a sort of semi-circle by the Boers. We got into action at about 8 a.m., and pushed on as far as we could under cover of the ant-hills. Bullets came dropping in most unpleasantly, and soon fell in storms. The left bank moved down to the river, where there was absolutely no cover, and of course suffered terribly, though they reached a point within about 400 yards of the laager.

The enemy was intrenched on the opposite bank of the river amongst trees, and could not be seen, so that it was quite impossible to turn him out, even if the river could have been crossed, and the fire was kept up all day. Fortunately their Artillery fire was ineffective, as their shells did not burst, but their “pom-pom” was rather a nuisance, and their rifle fire throughout the day was like the independent firing preliminary to the final assault on a good old Aldershot field-day. We were under it for nearly twelve hours, without food or water. The casualties in the Regiment were heavy; Bright and Ball-Acton were shot dead, Day mortally wounded, Hammick shot in the leg, Watt shot in the shoulder by a Martini bullet, which passed along under the skin of his back and out at the other shoulder, while F. J. Henley had the skin of his leg carried away by a bullet, and Porter escaped by a veritable hair’s breadth, a bullet grazing the left side of his head just above the ear. Of the men, 6 were killed and 26 wounded. At dusk all firing ceased, and we all moved back and bivouacked for the night. The Battalion fired during the day 17,260 rounds of ammunition.’

Like his two brother officers, Lieutenant Ball-Acton found a soldier’s grave by the side of the Modder River, being buried by a funeral party of Canadians, near whose shelter-trenches he had fallen. For related family awards see Lots 408, 409 and 411.