2017 paperback with 184 pages in very good condition. Anglo-Boer War. Anglo-Boereoorlog.

Robert Poole was born in Inverness in 1874. A son of a highly respected Inverness family, Poole as a lad entered in 1887 the Inverness Post Office as a telegraph messenger.
At the age of fifteen in 1889 he was part of Sir William Preeces party attempting the transmission and reception of a radio signal over water, a distance of about one mile, on Coniston Water in Cumberland. Poole reported that Morse signals were indeed received.
This was the first record of radio reception in Britain significantly predating the demonstrations of Marconi. How or why Poole found himself at Coniston Water is not known but he was obviously an intelligent and able boy; an exemplary product of sound Scottish education.
He volunteered for service in the Boer War and as his papers reflect he was clearly a fit and strong man of 25 who found himself serving in the electrical branch of the Royal Engineers.
Arrived at Aldershot this morning (Friday 20th October 1899) and served with foreign uniform being short of khaki clothing. I had to take undersize which never with putties made ends meet. This is the opening entry in his remarkable account of every day from then until November 1900. He recorded his thoughts, impressions and observations on the ocean to Cape Town where the troops disembarked on Sunday 12 November 1899 and thereafter for nearly a year till he arrived in Nelspruit in November 1900.
Robert Poole remained in South Africa at the conclusion of the War and he was awarded the Queens medal with four clasps and the Kings medal with two clasps. He was appointed senior telegraphist in Heidelberg (Transvaal). He was
then promoted to the Head Office (of the Post Office) in Johannesburg.
At the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914 he volunteered to join the South
African forces under General Louis Botha and served in German South West
Africa in 1914 1915 as an engineer. He was awarded a DSO. He then served in
France from 1916 until 1919. He was awarded the MC and rose to the rank of Lt.
Colonel. After the war he returned to South Africa and resumed his civil duties.
Later as Chief Engineer of the South African Post Office he was involved in the
introduction of broadcasting in South Africa.
Robert Poole was a keen sportsman; a scratch golfer and original member of
the Culcabock Golf Club in Inverness. He played in the Caledonian Football Club
and was a good shot. His diary recounts many sporting events and his meeting with
FG Tait, the Scottish golfer, who was wounded at Magersfontein and subsequently
killed at Koedoesberg.
He died in December 1937 and was survived by his wife, three sons and two
sisters. His obituary notice states: The rigours of active service told on his robust
constitution and that must be attributed to his death at 64 years of age.