This is taken from a 'look back in history' in the local paper, with the accompanying text:
Big welcome awaited the Boer War casualties
1900. Over two columns of the Folkestone Express were devoted to celebrations to mark the homecoming at Sandgate of some of the brave soldiers who left town the previous November to fight the Boer War, men who 'gambled daily with death' but returned home as invalids - 150 of them, arriving in charabancs and a variety of other transports from Sandgate railway station. Devons, Gordons, Rifles, Gloucesters, Artillerymen, Dragoons and Hussarsarrived by hospital train from Southampton to a warm welcome with much flag-waving from crowds along the route to the Camp Hospital or Beach Rocks convalescent home. Meantime 17 more East Kent Volunteers arrived in Hythe for training before going out, in May, to join Capt Gosling's company fighting in South Africa. They were expected to be led by Lieut. Hubbard, of Margate, their send-off to include a party at the Volunteer Club in Tontine Street given by Lieut. Griffin. Latest casualty figures were given as 213 officers and 2,015 men killed, plus 50 officers and 483 men died of wounds. Other casualties brought numbers up to 842 officers and 13,982 men.
My story referred to a return of troops in early 1901, so I'm not sure if these are two separate (but all too regular) events, or just the local paper using a more general date to cover a longer story, or the 1900 referring to when they went out. Nice to get a Thanet connection in the Margate Lieutenant, but even without that it's an interesting snippet of Kent history.
And don't forget that Michael's Bookshop publish a book (on a happier topic) on Sandgate: The Mansion of Mirth - Sandgate as Seen Through the Eyes of the Alhambra Music Hall and Rex Cinema.
3 comments:
Thanks Zumi interesting stuff, the boar war connection has jogged a memory and an idea. In Ramsgate during the Boar war and continuing through the First World War local news information was posted on a shop in Addington St so I thought I could print out some of the more interesting local blog postings and stick them up on the shop window, something I will look at tomorrow, any thoughts.
Sounds like an interesting plan - at least for those passers-by who can get to the shop, and can read small print from a distance (unless you're planning on blowing it up x4 or larger) ... not sure blogs will look as interesting as old maps and books in a window though. Maybe you should borrow next door's windows while they're not using them?
Zumi I have just done the first one, fairly badly and that took long enough, I cut and pasted a lot of the stuff about the proposed changes to Ramsgate’s schools I have also put them in frames at http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/schools/ so you can get an idea of what I mean.
However I think some sort of small publication may be a better idea I am having a play with that at the moment. Who’s Saying What in Thanet, I certainly print enough out for customers without the net at the moment.
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