Ancestor Details

Name of Ancestor: Cecil Simmons (Served in the Boer War as William Dunsmore)

Ancestor's date of birth: 08/06/1880 Dapto NSW

Ancestor's date of death: 26/12/1942

Cause of Death: Heart Disease

Service Number: 529

Colony or State of enlistment: NSW, Place of Enlistment: Sydney NSW

Unit: NSW Imperial Bushmen, C Company

Rank attained in Boer War: PTE, Date Effective: 01/01/19

Highest Rank attained (if served after war): SSGT, Date Effective: On enlistment

Murray Page: 99

Contingent: Fourth New South Wales

Ship: Armenian, Date of Sailing: 23/04/1900

Memorial details: Buried at Rookwood Cemetery, Church of England section NSW. The gravesite has no headstone or ID.

Decorations: Queen's South Africa Medal with, Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, Rhodesia and SA1901 clasps. 1914/15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal.

Personal Characteristics: His real name was Arthur Cecil Simmons and he enlisted under an assumed name of William Dunsmore in the Boer War. Height 171 cm, weight 69 kg. He was a jockey and a labourer before he joined the army.

Reasons to go and fight: Detail not provided

Details of service in war: 1900 - May 1901 in Rhodesia under Carington and west Transvaal including capture of de la Rey's convoy and guns at Wildfontein (24 March 1901).

Service and life after the Boer War: Served in the Royal Australian Garrison Artillery. Married Beatrice, worked as a miner, lived at Waverley. During WW1 he enilsted under his real name on 14 April 1915; 1529 SGT Arthur Simmons 18 Battalion, subsequently with AIF HQ Cairo as SSGT later reduced (some theft of public property involved).

Descendant Details

Name of Descendant: Shirley Drewett, Lake Cathie NSW
Relationship to Ancestor: Grand daughter

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