United Kingdom. A Queen’s South Africa Medal to Pte. Lenton, Volunteer Company of the Derbyshire Regiment

 Instituted 1899. In silver, full size, rim officially impressed 7566  PTE H. LENTON. VOL:COY DERBY: REGT, with CAPE COLONY, ORANGE FREE STATE, TRANSVAAL, SOUTH AFRICA 1901 and SOUTH AFRICA 1902 clasps, worn (loss of detail on obverse), edge knock to reverse, remains near very fine. 

Footnote: Private Harry Lenton is on the Medal roll for the Queen’s South Africa Medal. 

The Volunteer Service Companies of the Derbyshire Regiment (Sherwood Foresters) were raised during the Second Boer War (1899–1902) to reinforce the overstretched British Army in South Africa. Formed from part-time volunteer battalions at home, each company was made up of around 120 men who attached themselves to the regular 1st Battalion, Derbyshire Regiment. The first Volunteer Company sailed in early 1900, joining Lord Roberts’s advance into the Orange Free State and later fighting in operations around Johannesburg, Diamond Hill, and the Transvaal. A second company followed, serving mainly in Cape Colony, the Orange Free State, and on blockhouse duties during the long guerrilla war. Their work included arduous marches, skirmishes with Boer commandos, and the vital but unglamorous task of guarding railways and supply routes. For their service, the men of the Derbyshire Volunteer Companies received the Queen’s South Africa Medal, often with multiple clasps marking the breadth of their campaign. Their contribution demonstrated the growing importance of volunteer soldiers to Britain’s imperial wars at the turn of the twentieth century.