| |
|
Australians
in the Boer War
Oz-Boer Database Project |
|
Full Record
Hint: This site is intended as a search aid - not a definitive source. It is essentially an index to documents that seem to relate to this person plus a very brief precis of relevant elements. Sources often conflict and I also flag things with a ? when I am unsure. So if the information below is important to you, then please check the original sources to see what else they contain (and in case I have inadvertantly introduced transcription and/or precising errors). There can be additional information that was not included in the database for both space and copyright reasons.
| Surname | | FLEWELL-SMITH |
| Given Name(s) or Initial(s) | | John Francis |
| Regimental Number | | |
| Rank | | Lieutenant Colonel |
| Unit Name | | 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen |
| State | | Qld |
Extracts and Comments
(from Sources as shown) | |
Murray: OC 5QIB, Area Cmdt., Cape Colony 1.8.1901, Administrator Martial Law Area 11 1.12.1901, OC Artillery & Cavalry Depot Cape Town 29.3.1902, Queen's South Africa medal and 5 clasps.
URL1: WW1 AIF Colonel Sea Transport.
B5172: next of kin in Lowood Qld.
URL2: sailed for Aust. from Port Natal aboard the 'Drayton Grange' 11.7.1902.
URL3: WW1 AIF Colonel OC Troopship Boorara a grazier aged 52 in 1916 born 1863 in Bow London Eng. next of kin wife in Zillmere Qld., no prior service shown.
URL5: remained in S. Africa for further service when 5QIB returned to Aust.
URL6: Col. FLEWELL SMITH selected by Liberal League to contest Brisbane seat in Federal election.
URL7: Lieutenant-Colonel JF FLEWELL-SMITH. Among the officers to be presented today [13.9.1902] with the long service medal, Lieutenant-Colonel FLEWELL-SMITH alone has seen active service, he having gone to South Africa in command of the Fifth Contingent. He returned last month to his home at Lowood. He left the regiment at the Modder River on 1st August, and handed over the command to Major TOLL, on account of receiving instructions to go to Capetown. On arriving there he was instructed to take over the military and civil command of No. 12 area, then being formed out of chaos. He proceeded to Naauwpoort, and consulted General Inigo JONES, who was in command of the Guards Brigade, and of the Midlands district, and as he gave a free hand, Colonel FLEWELL-SMITH chose Colesburg as his headquarters. At that time he had four district commandants and three civil magistrates under him. He looked after the "policing" of the district. At the end of March last, Colonel FLEWELL-SMITH had orders to go to Capetown, and take over the cavalry, artillery, and oversea colonial depot, at Green Point, and he stuck at that until 11th June, when all colonial officers wore relieved of their duties, and the war was at an end. When at home Lieutenant-Colonel FLEWELL-SMITH commands the 1st (Moreton) Regiment. He has been through all ranks practically during his long service.
URL8: interview 8.1902 with Colonel FLEWELL-SMITH who said, inter alia, that Lieutenant REESE distinguished himself [at Standerton], and Private SWEENEY was recommended for the VC, "which he well deserved and which I am greatly disappointed he did not get," added the Colonel. Another man was also mentioned, and the regiment all round behaved well.
URL9: LIEUTENANT-COLONEL JF FLEWELL-SMITH. From the officers of the fifth Queensland contingent, who have just returned from South Africa, we learn that Lieutenant-Colonel JF FLEWELL-SMITH, who went away in command of the contingent, is still acting as base commandant of the Colesberg district in the north of Cape Colony. This, it is stated, is a very important command - a much more important one than Colonel FLEWELL-SMITH held as head of the contingent - as the proper discharge of the duties require the exercise of great tact and judgment, as well as necessitating a considerable knowledge of military affairs. A part of the colonel's mission is to reconcile class hatreds among the people living in the district and to show the Boers that British rule is based on principles of equity and justice. So far as the officers of the contingent could learn, Colonel FLEWELL-SMITH is carrying on the work entrusted to him with great ability, and they consider that in this way he is doing as much to bring the war to a close as is being done by those who are engaged in active service at the front. He is, in fact, fulfilling faithfully the part
allotted to him in the great military machine.
|
| Source References | |
Murray: Official Records of the Australian Contingents etc. page(s) 488 491 492
Fogg: 5th Contingent Qld. Imperial Bushmen in South Africa 1901-02 page(s) various
B5172: National Archives of Australia series B5172
B2455: National Archives of Australia series B2455
MP84: National Archives of Australia series MP84
Bne. Courier: Brisbane Courier newspaper date(s) 16.5, 16.8 & 13.9.1902
WChamp.: Western Champion & General Advertiser for Central West (Barcaldine) newspaper date(s) 15.2.1913
QldTIps.: Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald & General Advertiser newspaper date(s) 13.5.1902
| | External Link URL1 | | www.awm.gov.au/database/133/page.asp?Folder=17&Page=93&Surname=flewell | | External Link URL2 | | www.angloboerwar.com/other-information/86-shipping-records/1826-shipping-records-july-1902 | | External Link URL3 | | naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/imagine.asp?B=4007198&I=1&SE=1 | | External Link URL4 | | www.archives.qld.gov.au/Researchers/CollectionsDownloads/Documents/boer_war_index_id18351.pdf | | External Link URL5 | | nla.gov.au/nla.news-article19184287 | | External Link URL6 | | nla.gov.au/nla.news-article79743646 | | External Link URL7 | | nla.gov.au/nla.news-article19192394 | | External Link URL8 | | nla.gov.au/nla.news-article19173832 | | External Link URL9 | | nla.gov.au/nla.news-article122545096 |
Please email me if you can
contribute any other relevant information about this person (eg any
other military service, where in Australia they came from or when/where
they died). Also, if you find an external link broken.
Apology: For some time now it has been difficult to keep up with the newly available sources (especially the Trove newspaper site) plus the flow of contributions and queries. So I have been forced to prioritise maintenance and data entry over replying to correspondence. Nevertheless, your contributions are being added to the database and acknowledged on the contributions page and, although my replies are many months behind, I will attempt to get to them more often.
The
Oz-Boer Database
is copyright and may not be used for any commercial purpose.
|
|
|