Boer War, WW1 & 2 Medal Group of 6 to Adcock HLI.

An amazing group of six medals all awarded to one man who gave his whole life to the Army.
The group comprises of;
Richard Adcock was born in Shepards Bush London 1870 and by the age of 11 he is being educated by the British Army, and he is serving as a bugler, but his period of service only reckons from 1883 at the age of 13. This was a smart way for the British army to gain well educated NCO’s that were moulded for army service.
He served over ten years in the West Indies from 1884 to 1895. Home service in Great Britain for three years from 1895 to 1898 after which he served 122 days in Crete. He then came home for a short while before going off to war in the Boer war from October 1899 with the 1st battalion Highland Light Infantry as lance Sergeant and Musician.
The 1st Battalion sailed on the Aurania and arrived at the Cape about 11th November 1899. Along with the rest of the Highland Brigade. The battalion went straight into action during black week at Modder River, on 28th November 1899, the Highland Brigade joining Methuen’s division. This was a tiring battle especially with the heat. The Boers fled after British managed to catch vital positions. Known as the fiercest battle yet fought in the war, an almost impossible offensive task. The total Boer casualties may perhaps have amounted to 150, mainly due to shellfire. 70 British were killed and another 413 were wounded. Then on to the battle of Magersfontein 11th December 1899. The 3rd Highland brigade under Major General Wauchope attacked the Boer lines in the early hours of the morning in sheets of pouring rain holding knotted ropes so they didn’t loose there way. When they got around four hundred yards from the Boer trenches, they opened fire, many officers leading the way were killed including Major General Wauchope. As the sun broke the skyline the brigade found themselves pined down with just loose scrub for cover. The highlanders had to wait until the cover of darkness the nest evening to brake cover and withdraw.
In the early part of 1900 they moved to near Paardeberg and on February 18th 1900 the battle opened at Paardeberg drift on the banks of the Moder river on what was to become known as ‘Bloody Sunday’ again the brigade suffered heavy casualties.
In February 1900 the Highland Light Infantry transferred to the 19th Brigade under Major-General Horace Smith-Dorrien, and the Gordon Highlanders joined the Brigade. After the fall of Pretoria, British forces thought it was going to just a case of mopping up the last few defiant Boers, but those who surrendered and swore their allegiance to the crown, they would just return to their old commando unit and continue their form of guerilla warfare, destroying the railway lines and burning the homesteads of non-compliant Afrikaners.
The HLI now under the overall command of the mass force of Lieutenant General Hunter advance through Lindley and Bethlehem in the free state taking on lord Kitchener’s scorched earth policy, also engaging in the manning of block houses.
Louis Botha and General Smuts signed the Peace of Vereeniging treaty on the 31st of May 1902 but not until Nearly 100,000 lives were lost including civilians.
Sergeant Adcock didn’t leave South Africa until January 1903 and from here he was posted straight to Egypt, finally returning home in March 1904. Adcock left the Army in the October of 1904 and was put into reserve. In 1911 we see Adcock married to Florance and has four children, and he is living as an army pensioner. When the great war broke out in 1914, Richard enlisted mediately and was posted to the 12th service battalion HLI and soon promoted to sergeant and then to Quartermaster Sergeant in just a few months. He landed in France on the 11th July 1915, part of 46th Brigade in 15th (Scottish) Division. They saw action at the battle of Loos in 1915, the Somme in 1916 when posted to the 4th battalion as WOII. Richard Adcock was not demobbed until January 1919 and after he became an Innkeeper at the Docks and had a few more children. In 1939 he was now employed as a Postman and is registered as a Chelsea pensioner and during the war taking on ARP work in London, boasting of having over 55 years of military service.
Obviously, I have only touched on this man’s military service as an NCO and also, he was a regimental musician, a bugler and possibly a piper. His medals come with various military insignia, badges and WW1 dog tags. His medals are mounted to be worn and are in good used condition and have original matching miniature or dress group. What a man, what a history, seeing service in three wars. He wasn’t always a perfect soldier, he let himself down on occasions, but he never lost his rank.
Comes with lots of research and copied documents and paperwork.

Code: 30451