6 Clasp Queen’s South Africa Medal & KSA 1st Bn Coldstream Guards

Queen’s South Africa Medal with Belmont, Modder River, Dreifontein, Johannesburg, Diamond Hill and Belfast Clasps and King’s South Africa Medal with 1901 and 1902 clasps awarded and correctly named to1601 Private William Allcutt. along with a copy of his service papers that include a quite remarkable disciplinary record. The medal and clasp entitlements are confirmed on the roll and his service record.

William Allcutt attested to the Coldstream Guards at Birmingham on 21st April 1898, he joined the regiment on 27th April 1898. His extraordinary company defaulter book got its first entry 10 days later on 7th May when he was confined to barracks for 3 days for “committing a nuisance in the barrack room”. By the time he was discharged to the army reserve in 1905 this record had 53 entries and he’d accumulated a total of 246 days confined to barracks. Whether he was in the UK, Gibraltar, on a ship or on patrol in South Africa he doesn’t appear to have had much in the way of respect for authority or a sense of duty. Wherever he was and what ever he was supposed to be doing he was getting into trouble. His most common offence was “committing a nuisance” but didn’t limit himself to that, smoking in the ranks, stealing food, drunk at Cape Town railway station, being in a dirty condition, losing bits of kit, slovenly behaviour, gambling, improper conduct on patrols, speaking after lights out, getting up late, he had a wide repertoire of misbehaviour.

Usefully his disciplinary record confirms that he was in 1st Battalion – there’s 14 entries between March and September 1899 in Gibraltar (being dirty, having dirty kit, unauthorised absence etc) and on the 8th November there’s an entry for  “laughing in the ranks at physical drill” aboard SS Malta which is the ship which took 1st Battalion to Cape Town, arriving 16th November 1899.

1st Battalion was heavily engaged at the battles of Modder River and Magersfontein. Allcutt remained with the battalion for the duration of the war being awarded all of the clasps his unit could qualify for. 1st Battalion Coldstream guards left South Africa in October 1902.

Allcutt was discharged from the army reserve on the 20th April 1914. There’s no record that he attempted to reenlist during the Great War or indeed anyone ever asked him to.

The medals are in a worn condition with contact marks, an edge knock on the QSA, suspenders are somewhat loose but all attached and not going anywhere. He appears to have had as much care for his medals as he did for his military career which seems somehow appropriate.

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