[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer

South Africa: 1897-1907.

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Hardcover. Oblong folio. Measuring 17" x 12". Blue cloth over stiff paper boards. Contains 442 sepia-toned or black and white silver gelatin photographs measuring between 1½" x 2" and 10½" x 11", with captions. Good only album with detached spine, worn edges, and rubbing, with very good or better photographs.

A large album following a British soldier, F.W. Darwall, while serving with the 58th Regiment during the Boer War. The album begins with training in England in 1897 with group photos of the men, tented encampments, and images of men performing drills. A large photo showing the entire regiment is captioned “58th on parade – 1899 – marching orders.” The 58th regimental band is photographed in a group photo carrying instruments and in full regalia. One section features caricatures of the men with one drawn as a Crow to illustrate a nickname. The troops boarded the transport ship the S.S. *Harlech Castle* in October of 1899 “on way to South Africa” by way of the Canary Islands where they stopped briefly. Once they arrive in Cape Town, Darwall displayed attractive photographs of Simon’s Bay including a panoramic image formed by combining two photos. One section is captioned “on trek with 1st Division under Lord Methuen” and shows men on a train and at temporary camp sites. Following this are images from a frontier hospital in Queenstown featuring nurses, patients, and “the King’s palace.” Darwall fought at the Battle of Stormberg and photos show the desolate battlefield and gravesites from the British loss.

After the war Darwall stayed with the 58th and was stationed in the captured city of Pretoria at the artillery barracks. He stayed there through 1904 and recorded images of life with family and friends as well as military maneuvers and posts. By the end of 1904 he returned to England and photographed events at great houses in the country including Stork Court and Colwood Hayward’s Heath. Two large photographs from 1907 show the 58th Regiment at the Hyderabad Barracks in Colchester in June of 1907. Under a portrait photo of the officers, which include Darwall, he writes who had been killed since the photo was taken, a considerable number. The album ends with photos from Ringwood camp and tourist images of Stonehenge and St. James’ Palace.

The Second Boer War (1899-1902) was fought between the British and the independent Boer States over gold and diamond composites found in South Africa at the time. Although the Boer’s started strong with sieges at Ladysmith, Kimberley, and Mafeking, some of which are pictured here, the British ultimately won dismantling the South African Republic and the Orange Free State.

An extensive collection of images detailing a career military officer's time serving during the Boer War and post-war period.


Item #449105

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Item #449105 [Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer. F. W. DARWALL.
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer
[Photo Album]: 58th Regiment Second Boer War and Career of a Military Officer