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Copeland (F)

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No photograph available — remembrance poppy
Identity
Person No.
48814
Service No.
806
Last Name
Copeland 4
First Name
Unknown
Initials
F
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Unknown
Age at Death
Unknown
Death Record
Date of Death
15 November 1899 104
Cause code
KIA 14,778
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action 14,654
Killed in action at the site of the ambush of the armoured railway car, at Frere
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Private
Regiment
Durban Light Infantry 30
Later renamed 1st Infantry (Durban Light Infantry) (1912)
Corps
South African Infantry Corps 10,347
Unit
Unknown
Defence Force
COLONIAL 405
Colonial forces (pre-Union)
Location
Country
South Africa 23,872
Locality
Unknown
Cemetery
ARMOURED TRAIN SITE, CHIEVELEY, NEAR FRERE
Grave Reference
Unknown
Memorial
Memorial at the Armoured Train Site, Chieveley near Frere.
Memorial
Chieveley Armoured Train Ambush Site Memorial
Location
Chieveley, near Frere, KZN
Panel
Not listed against a numbered panel
On the panel
Position on the panel will be added with photographs
Memorial
DLI Anglo Boer War Memorial, D.L.I. Headquarters, Durban.
Memorial
Durban Light Infantry Anglo Boer War Memorial (DLI Headquarters)
Location
Durban Light Infantry Headquarters, Durban, KZN
Panel
Not listed against a numbered panel
On the panel
Position on the panel will be added with photographs
Memorial
The Anglo Boer War, 1899-1902 Source: kznpr.co.za (KZN: A Photographic Historical Record)
Names on Anglo Boer War Roll of Honour
Memorial
Durban Light Infantry Chapel (Chapel of St Michael & St George)
Location
Durban Light Infantry Headquarters, Durban
Address
5 DLI Avenue, Durban, South Africa
Coordinates
-29.84722, 31.01583 · OpenStreetMap
Panel
Anglo Boer War Roll of Honour
On the panel
Position on the panel will be added with photographs
Memorial
Natal Volunteers Memorial, Boer Campaign 1899-1902, Pietermaritzburg City Hall.
Memorial
Natal Volunteers Memorial, Pietermaritzburg City Hall (Boer Campaign 1899-1902)
Location
Pietermaritzburg City Hall, KZN
Panel
Not listed against a numbered panel
On the panel
Position on the panel will be added with photographs
Unit History
Role at time of death
Infantry
Status
Colonial volunteer unit
Part of
Infantry Formation (SAAIF) — Motorised Infantry — Reserve
Raised 1854 as D'Urban Volunteer Guard; several earlier name changes (Durban Rifle Guard 1859, Royal Durban Rifles 1873, Natal Royal Rifles 1889) before "Durban Light Infantry" from 1895.
Notes

Storeman in Durban; married. KIA armoured train ambush Waterfall/Frere; buried Frere. Name given as \"unknown\" on site memorial (Jordan photo caption).

Research notes

Source: Regimental History of the Durban Light Infantry, Vol. 1, Roll of Honour, "The South African War, 1899-1902".
Durban Light Infantry: Anglo Boer War Roll of Honour, compiled by K.M. Jordan, April 2020 (via angloboerwar.com's Durban Light Infantry 'Roll of honour' PDF, https://www.angloboerwar.com/images/pdf/DLI_ABW_ROH.pdf citing Historical Record of the Durban Volunteer Infantry Corps 1854-1904, The Durban Light Infantry Volume I: 1854-1934 (Lt-Col A.C. Martin), In Memoriam ROH of Imperial Forces ABW 1899-1902 (Steve Watt, 2000), Field Guide to the Battlefields of South Africa (Nicki von der Heyde), Natal Field Force Casualty Roll, and kznpr.co.za.: Private F. Copeland, Service No. 806, killed in the Chieveley armoured train ambush of 15 Nov 1899; his name is given as 'unknown' on the memorial at the site. Also commemorated at All Saints Church, Ladysmith. Resolves the 31 Aug 2026 finding that no findmypast DLI record matched this man.
Durban Light Infantry King's Medal Roll / Muster Roll, 29/9/1899 to 31/5/1902 (V5012/02, Record Office Discharge Depot, Cape, signed G. Molyneux, Capt., Adjt. D.L.I.) -- 10-page nominal roll scan on angloboerwar.com's Durban Light Infantry unit page, 'Nominal roll images' tab.: Corps No. 806, Copeland F., "15/11/99. Killed in An[bush]" -- confirms Service No. 806 and the 15 Nov 1899 Chieveley ambush date exactly.
K.M. Jordan, Durban Light Infantry: Anglo Boer War Roll of Honour (updated Nov 2023; email to John/Bobby 3 Sep 2026). Local file data/jordan_dli_abw_roh_2023-11-21.pdf (Downloads: "0. DLI ABW ROH - 21 Nov 2023.pdf").: Pte F. Copeland, SN 806; KIA Chieveley/Frere 15/11/1899. Confirmed.

Citations
Unknown
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