While most material uncovered by family historians is the result of painstaking research, once in a while the odd gem comes to light purely fortuitously. This happened to me a few months ago when I was in the Public Record Office examining Lin(d)field military records. I was idly browsing among the military reference books while awaiting the arrival of some documents when I spotted a small thin volume entitled The Abu Klea Medal Roll. This immediately caught my interest, because although territorial recruitment was still in its infancy in 1885 (the year of the battle), I knew that a significant proportion of the British force involved in it was made up of the Royal Sussex Regiment, and it was therefore just possible that a Lin(d)field could appear on the roll. I was therefore highly gratified (and excited) to be rewarded with the mention of a Corporal H J Lindfield, not as it turned out a member of the Royal Sussex but of the Medical Service Corps, (a forerunner of the RAMC), so presumably a medical orderly. Why my excitement? Most people today have never heard of this battle and its significance has been long forgotten, so some explanation is necessary. Continue reading Serendipity – The Corporal of Abu Klea →