FIRTH Francis Spencer

  • First Name(s):
    Francis 
    Spencer 
  • Surname:
    FIRTH
  • Service Number:
    Unknown
  • Rank:

    Second Lieutenant

  • Conflict:
    Boer War
  • Service:
    Army
  • Regiment:
    East Kent Regiment (The Buffs)
  • Former Units:
    None
  • Date of Death:
    1st June 1900
  • Age At Death:
  • Cause of Death:
    Enteric Fever
  • Place of Death:
    Bloemfontein, South Africa
  • Place of Burial:
    Unknown
  • Place of Birth:
    St Andrews, Clifton, Gloucestershire
  • Home Town:
    Unknown
  • Casualty's Relatives:

    Son of Robert Francis and Hellen Jane (nee Smith) Firth.

Remember The Fallen - Lest We Forget

FIRTH Francis Spencer Is Named On These Memorials

Malvern College Boer War Memorial

Notes About The Memorial(s) Listed Above

Additional information on the memorial: Lieut., East Kent Regiment, “The Buffs”.

Further Information About FIRTH Francis Spencer

Born September 1879 at St Andrews, Clifton, Gloucestershire. Siblings: Joseph William Firth, Mary Helen Firth, Henry William Firth. Died 1st June 1900, Bloemfontein, South Africa.

“Died of enteric, June 1, 1900, at Bloemfontein.” Was the account of his death. Enteric was a general word for bowel disease or problems. The Buffs took part in the heavy fighting of early 1900 at Klip Drift and Paardeberg, but in March 1900 they were assigned to protect Bloemfontein and other towns along the Central Railway.

Diseases were rampant during the Boer War, taking more lives than battle wounds. Though the British Army learned this lesson in the Crimean War it was soon forgotten.

Lord Wolseley, Commander-in Chief wrote in 1886 in The Soldier’s Pocket Book for Field Service; “The Sanitary Officer is the creation of recent years, and as a general rule he is a very useless functionary… There is not time for any great sanitary works; and for the ordinary cleanliness of temporary camps and bivouacs the Principal Medical Officer with each division can do all that is necessary.”

The Sanitary Officer position was abandoned soon after.

Sources: AngloBoerWar.com, My Heritage, Boer War Casualties Catalog

If you have any information about FIRTH Francis Spencer, please get in touch
Credits: All information on Francis Firth has been researched by and is courtesy of Dave Scrimger.