'Bushmen' sweetheart brooch : Sergeant C H Lade, 1st Tasmanian Contingent

Hand made gilded metal wire sweetheart brooch curved to form the word 'Bushmen' in cursive lettering. The brooch is made from a single piece of wire that is bent on itself to form a pin and clasp behind. The brooch is contained in its original cardboard container.

Associated with the service of Sergeant Cyrus Havelock Lade who served with 1 (Tasmanian) Contingent and 1 Battalion Australian Commonwealth Horse (ACH) during the Boer War. Lade was born in Victoria in 1881. He enlisted with 1 (Tasmanian) Contingent with the service number 57. The Contingent left Hobart on the troopship 'Medic' on 28 October 1899 and arrived in Cape Town on 26 November 1899. They were engaged in operations around Colesberg; were in the advance upon Bloemfontein; and joined Colonel Henry's Brigade and participated in the march to Pretoria. The Contingent returned to Australia on 7 December 1900 on the troopship 'Harlech Castle' and was disbanded shortly after. Lade re-enlisted in 1 ACH in January 1902 with the service number 1238. He left Hobart on 16 February 1902 on the troopship 'Manchester Merchant' and arrived in Durban on 14 March. From 15 April to 28 June 1 ACH served with the Australian Brigade and participated in operations in the Transvaal. They returned to Australia on the transport 'Drayton Grange' at Durban on 11 July and arrived in Tasmania on 9 August. The unit was disbanded on 19 August, 1902. Lade re-enlisted for service in the First World War in 3 Light Horse Regiment, AIF on 28 August 1914 with the service number 441. After taking part in the Gallipoli landings and in the defence of the Nile Valley and Suez Canal, he served in Palestine, where he died of wounds received at Gaza on 23 April 1917. The sweetheart brooch relates to Lade's service with 1 (Tasmanian) Contingent.