helen_w129,
I found a William Holland, Regimental Number 2026 on the Medal Roll for the 1st Battalion, 24th Regiment.
The roll shows he was entitled to the South Africa Medal with clasp “1879” for participation in the Zulu War.
With service in South Africa from 1 March 1879 to 2 October 1879 it looks like he was one of the replacements for the men of the 24th who were killed at Isandlwana.
On 1 March 1879 15 officers and 526 men who replacement drafts for the 1/24th departed Woolwich on the hired transport “Clyde” for South Africa. On 3 April “Clyde” ran aground off Dyer’s Island, about 70 miles from Simon’s Bay. All the crew and passenger’s got ashore safely, and were picked up by HMS Tamar, a troopship, and taken to Durban where they disembarked on 11 April 1879.
The Medal Roll shows that he was later in the 2nd Battalion, 19th Regiment. Apparently he was out of the service when the medal issued and the medal was returned to the mint. The date of the return is difficult to read but appears to be 17/9/1885.
Hope this is of some help to you. Maybe someone who is more familiar with the 24th can fill in more details for you.
Petty Officer Tom