WELDON – GEORGE ANTHONY
| Born: 1866/02/00 Rank: CAPT. Regiment: ROYAL DUBLIN FUSILIERS – 2ND BATT. GPS: S28°09.337 E30°15.608 |
Reason for death: KILLED IA Place of death: DUNDEE – TALANA HILL Date of death: 1899/10/20 Memorial: DUNDEE – TALANA MUSEUM |
Note:
CAPTAIN WELDON WAS THE FIRST BRITISH OFFICER KILLED IN THE WAR.
THE REV. GERARD CHILTON BAILEY WAS ANGLICAN VICAR OF THE PARISH OF ST. JAMES, IN DUNDEE, DURING THE BOER OCCUPATION FROM 23RD OCTOBER 1899 TO 16TH MAY 1900. REV. BAILEY KEPT A DIARY RECORD OF THE TIME WHEN THE TOWN WAS OCCUPIED BY THE BOERS. HIS JOURNAL “SEVEN MONTHS UNDER BOER RULE” WAS RE-PUBLISHED IN 2015. THE FOLLOWING IS EXTRACTED FROM HIS JOURNAL.
“I AFTERWARDS HAD A TALK WITH THE SOLDIER WHO WAS WITH CAPTAIN WELDON WHEN HE WAS SHOT. HE TOLD ME THAT HE DREW THE OFFICER UNDER A ROCK AND WAS HIMSELF SHOT WHILE DOING SO, AND THAT THE CAPTAIN, WHO ONLY LIVED THREE MINUTES, HANDED A MEDAL TO HIM SAYING ‘GIVE THAT TO MY PEOPLE’. LIEUTENANT GENGE CAME UP JUST THEN AND ASKED WHO HE WAS AND TOOK THE MEDAL SAYING HE WOULD SEE ABOUT IT. POOR FELLOW, HE WAS SOON AFTERWARDS SHOT HIMSELF. ON SATURDAY MORNING THE 21ST OCTOBER CAPTAIN WELDON HAD BEEN BURIED BY HIS COMPANY IN THE TOWN CEMETERY”. “CAPTAIN WELDON DUBLIN FUSILIER’S GRAVE IS IN THE TOWN CEMETERY, WHICH IS CLOSE TO THE RIVER BED, WHICH THE INFANTRY OCCUPIED EARLY IN THE BATTLE”. CAPTAIN WELDON’S MEMORIALS ARE, HOWEVER, LOCATED IN THE TALANA CEMETERY.
