Memorial on Primrose Hill. Paeroa. New Zealand.
S 37° 22.833 E 175° 40.545
60H E 382760 N 5862088
The 1st NZ KIA in the Boer War. A memorial in memory of George Roland Bradford who died of wounds received at Jasfontein, South Africa, 18 December 1899. He was the first from any of the colonial contingents to give his life for the Empire.
Waymark Code: WM3V8E
Location: New Zealand
Date Posted: 05/19/2008
Views: 17
Jasfontein farm, located in northern Cape Colony, South Africa, probably has no significance to New Zealanders at large, yet it was the scene of the first serious overseas engagement in which our troops fought against an enemy. It was also the place where the first New Zealand soldier was shot while on active service.
No.44 Trooper George Roland Bradford was the son of Mr. F. Bradford, of The Red Lion Inn, Brede, Sussex, England. Having been a private in the Grenadier Guards, he traveled to New Zealand in 1895, and joined the Ohinemuri Rifles as Battalion Sergeant Major. His occupation was listed as laborer. Wounded at Jasfontein farm 18th December 1899 and dying on 28th December 1899, he was buried close to a stone wall. The grave was marked by a wooden cross, engraved:
Gone, but not forgotten,
Never will his memory fade
Noble thoughts will always linger
Where our comrade brave is laid.
He was aged 29 years at his death, and his comrades thought him to be under-ranked. The body was disinterred and reburied at Colesburg, being marked to this day by an iron cross.
A memorial was erected on Primrose Hill, Paeroa at a cost of 63 pound 8 shillings and 2 pence. It was unveiled by the Premier on 4th May 1903. His bandolier was used as the Badge of Office of the Dominion President of the South Africa War Veterans Association of New Zealand. Each silvered bullet was engraved with a President's name.
The memorial on Primrose Hill was originally a fountain.
Bradford received the Queen's South African medal with the 'Cape Colony' bar.
Further detailed history of New Zealand's first overseas casualty is available on the this website: G.R. Bradford, Killed in Action, Boer War.