ALFRED JOHN CARTWRIGHT 

6141 Private Alfred John Cartwright, 2nd Battalion the Cheshire Regiment, was deployed with his battalion to South Africa for the Second Anglo Boer War, sailing aboard the Britannic on 7th Jan 1900, arriving on Saturday 27th January 1900.

Along with the 2nd South Wales Borderers, 1st East Lancashire, and 2nd North Staffordshire, they formed the 15th Brigade under Major General A G Wavell. They joined the main army advance from the Orange River to Bloemfontein and Pretoria, and were in action at Karee Siding on 29 Mar 1900. After the capture of Johannesburg their brigade became the town's garrison force. On 5th December 1900 the battalion took over as the garrison force of Frederickstad. In January 1901 part of the battalion was holding a post on the line south of Johannesburg when the enemy attacked fiercely. The attack was very gallantly driven off. 

In 1901 the battalion furnished the infantry of columns under Sir H Rawlinson, Colonel E C Williams, Colonel Hickie, and other commanders, which did much arduous but useful work in the South-West Transvaal. Private Cartwright drowned at Bethulie Bridge on 19th February 1901. He was buried in Bethulie Main Cemetery, Bethulie, Xhariep District Municipality, Free State, South Africa.

He is commemorated on the Cheshire Regiment Boer War Memorial in Chester Cathedral, Chester, England, with initials AJ on the regimental memorial plaque but with initial J on the other entry.

One source indicates he came from Wallasey, but another account gives his birthplace as Macclesfield in c 1859. TBC