Frederick Lonsdale Garland (1893 - 1961)

Born 15 Feb 1893 in Verulam, Natal, South Africa

Ancestors

Died 4 Dec 1961 at age 68 in Umhlali, Natal, South Africa

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Biography

Frederick was born in 1893. He was the son of Frederick Garland and Edith Spring.

Baptisms in the Verulam Circuit of the Wesleyan Church 1872 - 1897:

Frederick Lonsdale, born 15 February 1893, baptised 11 May 1893

Son of Frederick Stranack and Edith Robinson GARLAND of Verulam^[1]

He served in the 1st World War, originally joining the Natal Mounted Rifles (the ‘3rd’ Rifles) on 10 August 1914. He left the N.M.R. on 23 July 1915, having attained the rank of Corporal. He was then sent to Potchefstroom in the Transvaal, where, on 28 August, he signed up for the South African Overseas Expeditionary Force, now with the rank of private, and given the number 3241.

In training with the 2nd South African Infantry, Frederick was shipped off to the north on 4 October 1915. He arrived in England on 20 October 1915. Whilst in England, presumably receiving further training, he was appointed a ‘Sniper’ on 18 December 1915. On 29 December 1915 he was posted to Egypt, North Africa, where he remained until 15 April 1916.

By 21 April 1916, he had been shipped off to the Western Front, landing at Marseilles in France. Here, and in the north-west, the Allied Forces were assembling their great army for the ‘big attack’ against Germany, planned to begin on 1 July 1916 – the now famous Battle of the Somme. On 6 May 1916, Frederick had, in the meanwhile, received promotion to the rank of Lance Corporal.

He was wounded during this battle at Delville Wood. His military papers state that on 12 December 1916 he was removed to a Prisoner of War camp in Gottingen, in Germany, and here he remained until finally, on 5 May 1918 he was released by the Germans and repatriated to England. Upon his arrival in England, he was immediately admitted on 6 May 1918 to King George’s Hospital (a large Red Cross Hospital in Stamford Street, Waterloo, London, established in 1914/15 as a military hospital). Here he was treated for the wounds he had suffered in July, 1916. Later, on 31 May 1918, Frederick was transferred to the South African Military Hospital in Richmond. He was released from hospital, finally, on 22 June 1918, and was given leave (‘furlough’) from 26 June 1918 until 10 September 1918 when he was eventually repatriated to South Africa, arriving in Cape Town on 10 October 1918. He came out to South Africa aboard a captured (in 1916) German passenger steamer, now operated by the P & O Lines, and called the “Field Marshal”. At the Wynberg Military Camp, he was declared, on 25 December 1918 as being ‘Permanently Unfit for General War Service’ and was finally officially discharged from the Army on 8th January 1919, when he returned to his home, the family farm in Verulam. Upon discharge, his Military Character was recorded as being ‘Very Good’. Frederick's war service had been three years and 122 days.

He was awarded four medals:

Military Medal

1914-15 Star

British War Medal 1914-1920

Allied Victory Medal 1914-1919 (S.A.)

He married Alma Ashton Graham on 30 August 1922 in Pietermaritzburg, Natal, South Africa. ^[2]

Unknown if they had any children.

Frederick passed away in 1961 at the age of 68.

Burial

Umhlali Cemetery, Natal, South Africa^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ http://sagenealogy.weebly.com/verulam-wesleyan-baptisms-1872---1897.html
2. ↑ "South Africa, Natal Province, Civil Marriages, 1845-1955," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KDCB-VLL : accessed 6 September 2015), Frederick Lonsdale Garland and Alma Ashton Graham, 30 Aug 1922; citing Pietermaritzburg, Natal, South Africa; 00731; National Archives and Records Service of South Africa, Pretoria; 1,796,448.
3. ↑ http://www.eggsa.org/library/main.php?g2_itemId=1702363

• http://gmic.co.uk/forums/topic/58104-well-researched-delville-wood-gallantry-group/