Ancestor Details
Ancestor's Name: Walter William Edwin Pope
Ancestor's date of birth: 03/11/1877
Ancestor's date of death: 24/09/1946
Cause of Death: Heart failure
Service and Life Before the Boer War: Walter Pope's father WRH Pope had been in the NSW Artillery and was later a captain in the 3rd NSW Infantry Regiment at Dubbo. Walter was a police constable stationed at Sunny Corner, NSW when he enlisted.
Service Number: 350
Colony or State of enlistment: NSW, Place of Enlistment: Bathurst
Unit: B Squadron, 1st New South Wales Mounted Rifles
Rank attained in Boer War: TPR, Date Effective: 1900
Highest Rank attained (if served after war): No evidence of post Boer War service.
Murray Page: 64
Contingent: Second New South Wales
Ship: SS Southern Cross, Date of Sailing: 17/01/1900
Memorial details: War Memorial Sunny Corner, NSW
Awards/Decorations/Commendations: Queen's South Africa Medal with Cape Colony, Johannesburg, Dreifontein and Diamond Hill clasps.
Personal Characteristics: Educated Intelligent, fit, good horseman and shot
Reasons to go and fight: Patriotism, adventure and chance perhaps to make more money
Details of service in war: Attached to le Gallais brigade, Lord Roberts' main column on the march from the Modder River to Bloemfontein. Pope wrote home from here as follows:
"We have at length arrived at Bloemfontein and captured it after half an hours fighting. Bloemfontein is now in the hands of the British, and the 0range Free State has surrendered unconditionally. We are camped about two miles out of the city, which as yet I have not seen, but I expect to get in for a look round in a few days. The hardships that we have gone through have been very trying, and for nearly three weeks we have had nothing to eat but three hard biscuits a day and now and again a drop of tea or coffee.
Hardship is not the name for what the troops have come through, for at intervals our privations beg a description. Twice now we have been standing to our horses for 24-36 hours respectfully in a terrible thunder storm, and the rain teeming down in sheets. Of course wet to the bone, and then march on without drying our clothes. We have had to stop where we fought once, and a bitter cold night it was. All we could do was... put on our great coats, put our arms through our bridle reins, drop down on the ground and sleep as best we could.
I have quite determined to stop away from soldiering if I get home again, for when we get 800-900 casualties in one engagement it makes a fellow very dubious."
After Bloemfontein they were part of Sir Edward Hutton's 1st Mounted Infantry Brigade on the march to Pretoria. At some point after this Walter was stricken with illness-probably Enteric Fever and was eventually invalided home arriving in Sydney 15 September 1900.
Walter wrote a number of letters home, they can be found HERE.
Service and life after the Boer War: In 1906 he was aagain a policeman stationed at Sunny Corner near Bathurst, and in that year he married Isobella Graham. His wife died in 1916 and there were no children of the marriage. Walter Pope did not remarry, after his wife's death he left the police force and became a government valuer for the Bathurst district. But rheumatic fever had taken its toll, he developed a heart condition and died in 1946 aged 68.
Descendant Details
Name of Descendant: Estelle Gould, Ingleburn NSW
Relationship to Ancestor: Great Niece
