Interesting Bugle find on ebay

[HARRY THE MOLE]

As far as I know Harry Potter was more renowned for his skills at wizardry! I admit though, that from the angle I took the picture it does look like 'Harry Potter.' But it is clearly stamped Henry. There are loads of 'Potter' bugles out there -and most are in far better condition than this. There are not many with the WD stamp though, and even less with unit markings.

I got the following information about the Buffs from Tina Machado in Canada...

'The following units participated in the second Boer War'

2nd Battalion The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
3rd Battalion The Buffs (East kent Regiment)
1st Volunteer (Militia) Battalion, The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
2nd Volunteer (Weald of Kent) Battalion, The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)

She also quoted from the book 'The Buffs' by Gregory Blaxland...

'The two Volunteer battalions, which had nominally been part of the Buffs since 1883 but had retained the uniforms they had worn as Kent Rifle Volunteers, were also represented, forming a composite company attached to the 2nd Battalion.'

'The Boers now fell back on guerilla tactics, and both battalions spent six months on wearisome blockhouse guards and escourt duties, fighting some fierce isolated actions here and there. For the 2nd Battalion there was also a spell on mobile column, in which they suffered 50 casualties during one hectic day.'

None of this proves anything about the bugle though. It may never have left the Drill Hall in Ramsgate. On the other hand, maybe all those dents would have an interesting story to tell if only they could talk. Such is the delights of collecting militaria!

[Battery Command Post]

You are absolutely right actually. I looked through another reference book and, yes, according to this one, 1st VB Buffs did send men to the South African War, and, in fact, obtained the battle honour "SOUTH AFRICA 1900-02" Interestingly both books are by the same author...

Tina Machado is slightly off with the battalions however. 1st VB would never be referred to as Militia, as this is a different military force in the UK, under very different terms of enlistment. The 3rd battlion were Militia however (East Kent Militia), so her list should be:

2nd Battalion, The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
3rd (East Kent Militia) Battalion, The Buffs (East kent Regiment)
1st Volunteer Battalion, The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
2nd (Weald of Kent) Volunteer Battalion, The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)

She may have been using 'militia' in the Canadian sense though, as over here, the Canadian Militia is the same as the British Volunteer/Territorial Force

From what I am reading here, due to legal restrictions to serving overseas in the Volunteer Act, men in the Vol Bns had to enlist in the Regular Army for 1 year to serve in the South African War. They then formed a company that was attached to a regular battalion. Apparently, 1st and 2nd VBs formed a composite company that was attached to 2nd Bn in South Africa.

Rob

[HARRY THE MOLE]

Hi Rob,

Many thanks for the information. I know very little of the Boer War, as it is an area of military history which I have never studied. But the information I got back from the National Army Museum in London seemed to have reached me rather quickly for anyone to have checked up properly. I sent an email and had a reply in less than two hours. I rather suspect that what I was told was more of an opinion than actual fact. The museum holds all the stuff from the former Buffs museum as well! I only suspected what they told me was wrong when I went through the casualty lists for the Buffs in the Boer War.

The end result though is that I got a Boer War bugle for a very reasonable price. There is another bugle on ebay at the moment. It was made in 1967, but the regimental badge on it is for a regiment that was disbanded in 1920!

regards,
Harry (Steve)

[Battery Command Post]

Hi Rob,

Many thanks for the information. I know very little of the Boer War, as it is an area of military history which I have never studied. But the information I got back from the National Army Museum in London seemed to have reached me rather quickly for anyone to have checked up properly. I sent an email and had a reply in less than two hours. I rather suspect that what I was told was more of an opinion than actual fact. The museum holds all the stuff from the former Buffs museum as well! I only suspected what they told me was wrong when I went through the casualty lists for the Buffs in the Boer War.

The end result though is that I got a Boer War bugle for a very reasonable price. There is another bugle on ebay at the moment. It was made in 1967, but the regimental badge on it is for a regiment that was disbanded in 1920!

regards,
Harry (Steve)

There's a great site on the Boer War here: Anglo Boer War website

This Canadian site is also worth a look, and actually has a section on bugles, including Potter examples: Boer War & World War I Bugles

Bugles are one of those items that are not so much 'faked', but reproduced in the thousands. Real ones are of a distinct pattern, broad arrow marked like yours and proper high quality instruments. Most of the repros are terrible quality, and easy to spot. They are one of the very few instruments that were actual army issue, as opposed to regimental property like the band's instruments. Issue instruments were:

Bugles
Bass Drums
Side Drums
Silent Drums (not 100% sure what these are)
Flutes (Bb and F)
Piccolos (Eb and F)
Trumpets

There are genuine examples of bugles with badges used by the army, but they are few and far beween. If i remember, there are some nice examples in the Welch Regiment museum.

I played cornet in a brass band (and school orchestra etc) for years as a kid, and can actually play bugle. I have a nice 1916 dated example by Boosey, which plays very well

Rob

[William1]

That's my drum at post 9, though I don't recall when and where I posted it. Collecting is a small world!

From early 1900 the Volunteer Battalions sent a Volunteer Service Company of about 100 men (the 8-company system was in use at the time) to serve with their parent regiments in South Africa during the Boer War, though whether your bugle went out there with them is debatable. The Volunteer Companies were sent out for a year, so that there was a second Vol Co in 1901 and a third in 1902. War fever was well abated by then and in most cases the third companies were nowhere near full strength.

Here's a 1913 bugle by Henry Potter. Their premises have moved by now, but not it seems very far. They are still using WD 52, which I presume is an inspection code.