QSA + 2 to Pollard Suffolk Regiment – Died Naauwpoort SA 1900.

A Queens South Africa medal with ghost dates, correctly named to 3406 Private Thomas Pollard 1st battalion Suffolk regiment. With 2 clasps, Cape Colony and Orange Free State, both correctly attached.
Thomas Pollard was born 1868 in Market Western Suffolk a small village in West Suffolk. Before he joined the army, he worked as a farm labourer in Thelnetham, the next village.
His younger years may not have been a happy time, in 1891 he is living with his mother and stepfather with his siblings, which may have been a contributary factor for joining the army.
The 1st Battalion sailed on the Scot in November 1899 and arrived at the Cape on the 28th.
With his two clasps, which are confirmed, shows he took part in the Battle of Suffolk Hill on January 5–6, 1900, was a disastrous night assault by the 1st Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment against entrenched Boer forces near Colesberg during the Second Boer War. Led by Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Watson, 354 British troops scaled what was then called Red or Grassy Hill in the dark but lost the element of surprise and faced heavy gunfire. The colonel and 3 officers and 25 men were killed, and 1 officer and 23 men were wounded; 5 officers and over 100 men were taken prisoners.
Thomas survived this attack, he may have been wounded, if so or to what extent, there is no record. He later died in the military hospital at Naauwpoort of Enteric fever (Typhoid) on 7th June 1900.
Typhoin killed more British soldiers than enemy combat, causing roughly 8,000 to 13,000 deaths from disease compared to roughly 6,000 deaths from battle. Troops drank from polluted rivers, streams, and wayside pools after Boers seized local waterworks. Overcrowded camps, primitive waste disposal, and the proximity of latrines to water sources, plus flies and dust carried the Salmonella typhi bacteria from human waste onto food and supplies. The wounded were particularly susceptible to the disease especially in overcrowded and under equipped hospitals of the time.
Thomas Pollard is now remembered with honour at the Ipswich war memorial, erected by Suffolk people as a memorial to the Suffolk soldiers who lost their lives in the South African War 1899-1902.
His medal is in very good order and comes with medal roll which confirms the two clasps and census information etc.

Code: 31772