Alfred Hooper

1878 - 1906

Alfred is the eldest son of Henry George Hooper and Ellen Stent. He re-enlisted in the army in 1899 as Driver 32618 in the Royal Artillery. A driver in the artillery was in charge of teams of horses moving guns. On 12th September 1899 he was posted to South Africa to fight in the Boer War. He arrived in South Africa on the 26th, and joined the 62nd Battery, Royal Field Artillery.

The Boer war ran from October 1899 until May 1902, and was a conflict between the local Boers (farmers) and Britain, triggered by a struggle over control of gold and diamond mines. Initially the British forces were outnumbered and outfought by the well armed Boers, which led to a number of sieges, notably Ladysmith, Kimberley, and Mafeking. After the British increased their numbers the Boers reverted to guerrilla warfare of surprise attacks and quick escapes before they were defeated in 1902.

This photo of the 62nd Field Battery appeared in a book about the Boer War published in 1901. Alfred is in this picture. I can't see anyone with a family likeness - maybe you can do better.

All soldiers who saw active service in the Boer war were awarded one or two medals. Every soldier received the Queen's South Africa medal with clasps indicating battles and campaigns that they had served in. The Queen died in 1901 but the medal continued to be awarded until the end of the war in 1902.

Alfred's Queen's medal included clasps for:

Modder River 28 November 1899

Paardeberg 18 - 27 February 1900

Driefontein 10 March 1900

Johannesburg 29 May 1900

The second medal was the Kings South Africa Medal., introduced by the new king Edward VII . It was awarded to soldiers who had completed 18 months service in the conflict. The medal recognised service in the difficult latter phases of the war and rewarded those who, by their long service in the field, had brought the campaign to a successful conclusion. Poor logistics over very long supply lines and disease, combined with having to fight against a disciplined and capable enemy of excellent horsemen and marksmen who had perfected guerrilla warfare, made this a hard-won medal. In addition to men often having had to go without basics such as food and water, enteric fever killed several thousand and was a constant drain on manpower. Alfred was awarded the medal with 1901 and 1902 clasps.

Modder River

The 62nd Battery Royal Field Artillery played a pivotal role during the Battle of Modder River on 28th November 1899,

“At around noon the 62nd Battery arrived after a twenty five mile march in which several horses died of exhaustion. The battery came into action on the left flank at a range of 1,500 yards. At Methuen’s request the battery moved up to 900 yards and resumed firing, incurring casualties. Once the Boer guns were silenced the battery withdrew out of rifle range only to be redirected to the British right flank where they were required to repeat the operation, firing six rounds a minute until the Boer guns there were silenced”.

The first two pictures are of the 62nd Battery at Modder River - although the first picture looks more like a ceremonial occasion in the RFA dress uniforms. The second picture gives a good impression of Alfred's job as a driver seated on horseback.

The main picture below is of the battle of Modder River.

Battle of Modder River

At the end of the war, Alfred was transferred to the 78th Field Battery and stayed in South Africa until early 1904, when the 78th was transferred to India. He had signed on for seven years, which expired in October 1906 while he was in India. He was granted his discharge on 19th October 1906. The very next day he died. The letter from the regiment to his mother says he died of heat apoplexy, which sounds like sunstroke. It seems a tragic coincidence that he succumbed the very next day after he had been told of his discharge, especially since he had been in India for two years already, prior to that in South Africa for four years, and would have been accustomed to the heat.

I can't help suspecting that the news of his discharge must have been cause for some celebrations, and maybe he had too much to drink and fell asleep in the sun.

He had a few pounds owing to him, which the army distributed evenly among his remaining family.

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