Andrew Thomas. He was born in 1878 in Hook, Hampshire and in the 1881 census he is living with his family in Hook. He attested for the Royal Marines in 1896 and transferred to the ASC in 1897. He died of disease whilst serving with the 33rd Company on 25th November 1899 at Queenstown, just a few weeks after hostilities began. He is possibly the first ASC casualty of the Boer War. (His soldiers papers exist but are badly burnt and mostly illegible, but they indicate service in South Africa in 1899.) Note that in the South African Field Force Casualty Roll he is shown as A.G. Sprey with the service number S/13418.
Documents available: Royal Marines service record, QSA medal roll
Condition: NEF with some light spotting and a minor blemish where the dates have been removed; please see photographs for detail
