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Henry George Abbotts

Private, 1st/2nd Battalion, Rifle Brigade – Anglo Boer War
Private, 116 Company, M.G.C. (Machine Gun Company) – WWI

- Queens South Africa Medal with clasps Defence of Ladysmith and Transvaal to 4902 Pte. H. Abbotts, Rifle Brigade.
- Kings South Africa Medal with clasps South Africa 1901 & 1902 to 4902 Pte. H. Abbotts, Rifle Brigade
- British War Medal to 26277 Pte. H.G. Abbotts, M.G.C.
- Victory Medal to 26277 Pte. H.G. Abbotts, M.G.C.

Henry Abbotts was born into a working class family in St. Pancras, London on 27 January 1876, the son of John Robert Abbotts, a labourer by trade, and his wife Mary, born Eele. He was baptised in the Parish of St. Saviour’s on 4 July 1880. At the time of the 1881 England census, he was 5 years old and at home in 151 Malden Road, Marylebone with his parents and siblings, James (12), Jane (10), Mary (7) and younger sister, Elizabeth (1).

Ten years later, at the time of the 1891 England census, the family had moved to 34 Colva Street. Despite becoming notorious and being labelled one of the most crime-ridden streets in London, the years of poverty at the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth century had instilled a sense of 'togetherness' in the residents. People looked out for each other and 'watched each other's back'. The terraced back to back houses were very similar to what could be found in the East End of London and the working class cities of the North. Everybody knew everybody and houses were often occupied by two or three generations of one family to say nothing of uncles, aunts and cousins.



It was into this environment that Abbotts was thrust – his father was a Bricklayer’s labourer whilst his mother and all of his older sisters were Charwomen. Needs must and Mr Abbotts’ inability to keep his pants on led to an even larger household, thereby extending the poverty among the many mouths to feed – three more daughters had been added since the last census – these came in the form of Annie (7). Hester (6) and Daisy (4). It came therefore, as no surprise that Henry decided to take his chances in uniform, joining the Rifle Brigade as a Private with no. 4902. Despite having been mustered to the 1st Battalion, he was to see most of his service with the 2nd Battalion.

What neither Abbotts nor most of the rank and file could have predicted as their lives hurtled towards the end of the 19th century, was the outbreak of war between the two Boer Republics in South Africa and the might of the Empire. Most, aware of the simmering tensions, would have hoped that cooler heads would prevail and that hostilities would be averted. Alas, such was not the case and, on 11 October 1899, the war commenced.

In anticipation of war, the 2nd Battalion, Rifle Brigade, had sailed from Crete on the Jelunga on 2nd October 1899, reaching Durban on the 26th. At 3 am on the 30th the battalion got into Ladysmith by rail, and after a hasty meal set out to join the 1st Devon, 1st Manchester, and 2nd Gordons under Ian Hamilton at Limit Hill, north of the town, where Sir George's centre was that day. The brigade did not have much to do beyond sending help to Colonel Grimwood's brigade on the right or east. During the forenoon the battalion and the 2nd Gordons deployed and lined the crest of Limit Hill, from which they covered the retreat of Grimwood's brigade, they themselves eventually retiring about 3 pm. On 2 November 1899, the men and women of Ladysmith, both civilian and military, woke up to find the Boers lining the hills surrounding the town - they were besieged and would remain so for a soul destroying 118 days.



From the commencement of the siege the battalion held King's Post and Leicester Post on the north of the town, working hard to make these posts absolutely unassailable from attack. The rocky nature of the ground, the want of suitable tools, and the fact that many of the diggers had to be on duty in the trenches all night, made the task superlatively difficult. Observation Post, about a mile in advance of King's Post, was till 9th November, held by a weak detachment of the 5th Lancers, who were attacked on that day, and the Rifle Brigade had to reinforce them. The attack was repulsed. The battalion's losses were 1 officer and 1 man mortally wounded and 4 men wounded. They had now to garrison this post and to set about making it impregnable.



The action at Surprise Hill

It could be said that the defining moment in the 2nd Battalions war was the affair at Surprise Hill. It was certainly the one where the majority of RB men saw action in an otherwise pedestrian defence with very little opportunity to see any action. There are many and varied accounts of the skirmish, but I have selected three, one from the Boer side and two from that of the British, in order to provide the reader with an account which will bring home, rather vividly, what Abbotts and his comrades would have experienced.

The first – the Boer account – was penned in Chapter VII of A Boer Journal of the Boer War by Deneys Reitz and read as follows:

Two other corporalships went on duty at the same time. One, under Corporal Tossel, a former police detective, was posted at the foot of Surprise Hill and the other a long way to our left. My brother and myself and Samuel Van Zijl were the only members of our tent who were present, the other four being absent with the carrying party. As we walked along in the dark behind Isaac Malherbe we discussed the previous night’s attack on the Lombaardskop gun, and I remember poor Samuel saying he hoped our turn wouldn’t come next. But our turn did come next. When we reached the usual halting place two men were sent forward according to custom, and the rest of us turned in. my time to go on duty was 1 a.m. At about half past twelve I woke, and not thinking it worthwhile to fall asleep again, I lay on my blanket watching the stars.

After a while I distinctly heard the muffled sound of many footsteps in the direction of Surprise Hill, so I got up and walked forward to the two sentries to consult them. I found that they had also heard the noise, and the three of us listened for a few seconds to what were certainly men climbing the hill. We thought Corporal Tossel’s men had taken fright at something, and were withdrawing up the slope towards the howitzer emplacement. This belief was rudely dispelled, for suddenly there broke from the summit of Surprise Hill a crash of musketry followed by wild bursts of cheering, and we realised English troops were at the gun. As we stood undecidedly watching the hundreds of rifle flashes lighting up the hill-top, a vivid sheet of flame stabbed the darkness, followed by a tremendous roar, and we knew that our howitzer had been blown into the air. The two sentries and I rushed back to where our party were already on their feet. Isaac Malherbe now showed the stuff he was made of. Without a moment’s hesitation he went straight for the danger point, the continued cheering of the English soldiery and the volley-firing served as a guide. His intention was to join hands with Tossel’s corporalship if he could find them and then to prevent or delay the troops from returning to Ladysmith, until the whole of the Pretoria Commando could come from camp, and so destroy or capture the intruders.

As it turned out, Tossel’s corporalship had bolted when they heard the English coming. They had not only given them a clear field but had fired no warning shot to alarm the unfortunate gunners up above, who were taken unawares and all bayoneted. And as for the remainder of our commando in camp, they stood to arms all night, but Field Cornet Zeederberg refused to risk the confusion, that he perhaps justly thought would ensue, if he tried to march his men in the dark to an unknown situation. So the twelve of us were left to our own devices.

As we approached we could hear by the firing and shouting that the main body of the attackers were still on the hill, but they had posted a string of pickets at the foot to secure their line of withdrawal back to the town, and before we had gone very far we ran into one of these. Isaac and I were a few yards in advance when a ‘Halt! Who goes there?’ was shouted at us from a few paces away. we simultaneously fired a shot apiece and ran forward. we came on a dead soldier, a Sergeant, as I saw next morning from his badge, but the rest of the picket had run off into the night.

We went forward cautiously and soon we collided once more with another and stronger rear-guard party. We were again challenged from close quarters, and, a very heavy fire being aimed at us, we took shelter in a dry spruit bed that runs along the base of Surprise Hill. From here we returned the fire, until this outpost too gave us right of way, and we now began to file along the bed in order to seek out a convenient point from which to make a stand against the troops on the hill when they descended.

By now the troops were descending Surprise Hill, and we could hear them clattering down the slope towards us. Their officers were blowing whistles and calling out ‘A Company here!’ ‘This way B Company!’ and so on, to collect their men. They seemed unaware that the road was to be disputed, for they made no attempt to conceal their progress, and there was laughter and repeated calls of ‘Good old Rifle Brigade,’ and here and there we caught the gleam of matches being struck and the glow of cigarettes, to show how little they expected opposition.

In the meanwhile, Isaac had selected a suitable spot on the bank, our faces towards Surprise Hill, our backs towards Ladysmith, and here we crouched, silently waiting for the oncoming troops. From the sounds that reached us we judged them to be about 300 strong, and with no sign of Tossel’s men or of help from the commando, it dawned on us that we were in a pretty tight corner. The laughter and talking were drawing very near and Isaac whispered to us to hold our fire and each man peered into the darkness until, about fifteen yards away, we saw a black mass dimly-outlined and then, at his word of command, we poured volley after volley into their closely packed ranks, shooting as fast as we could work the bolts of our rifles. When the blast struck them they thought they were being fired at by their own rear-guard pickets, for there were cries of ‘Rifle Brigade! Rifle Brigade, don’t fire!’ but, discovering their error a commanding voice called out, ‘Bayonets, Bayonets,’ and they came at us like a wall. In spite of our small number we delivered such a volume of fire that the head of the column swerved to the left and slanted across our front to make the spruit lower down, and, although we continued our volleys, we could not prevent them from going by.

Several times, however, parties of soldiers who had lost their way in the dark walked in among us, and of these we shot some and took others prisoners. A Captain named Geo. Paley came up to where my brother and I knelt, firing over the edge of the bank, and as he failed to halt when called upon we both loosed a round and brought him toppling between us. About this time, we heard four or five shots in rapid succession, followed by groans, from the direction where the troops were still crossing the spruit twenty or thirty yards off. We did not know the meaning of this, and only at daybreak did we find that we had listened to the death-cry of some of our men who had come from the camp to our assistance.

It was now towards three in the morning, and we had nearly exhausted our ammunition, so we sat quietly watching the tail of the column vanish into the darkness beyond, on its way to Ladysmith. When daylight came at last, a grim scene met our eyes. Before us, within a radius of 25 yards, lay over 60 dead and wounded British soldiers, and as we walked forward among them we came on the bodied of 3 of our men who had not been with us originally. Two were dead and dreadfully hacked with bayonets and the third was at his last gasp. These had been away to the railway depot with the fatigue party and, on their return, had gallantly attempted to make their way to us when they heard the firing. They nearly reached us, but ran into the withdrawing soldiers, and were bayoneted before they could fire more than a few shots.

Our work was now done, and shortly after sunrise Mr Zeederberg and a large escort of men came scouting through the bush to see what was left of us and they were surprised to find so many of us still alive.



An alternate or additional view of the Surprise Hill affair was contained in Ruari Chisholm’s book Ladysmith. He picked up the story from page 132: -

“At 10 p.m. that night, 500 officers and men of the 2nd battalion of the Rifle Brigade, accompanied by Lt. Digby-Jones of the R.E. and a dozen sappers, set off northwards from Observation Hill, as quietly as their hob-nailed boots, rifle straps and steel-tipped scabbards would permit. Soon there was a halt at the railway, where the officers attacked the barbed wire fence beside the track with heavy-duty wire cutters.

Lieutenant Byrne and half of E company were left at the railways in reserve, with the other half company in a nearby donga. The guides, Thornhill and Ashby now pointed out to Metcalfe the configuration of Surprise Hill, flanked by Bell’s Kopje to the east of Thornhill’s Kopje to the west. The silence of the night was complete, except for the beam of the Boer searchlight on Telegraph Hill. Just after midnight the soldiers moved silently out of their dongas. Captain Gough’s company deployed to the right of the line and Major Thesiger to the left, with Captain’s Paley and Stevens in support. For a second time in a week the Boers were not on the alert and 500 infantrymen stumbled uphill in the darkness undetected. When the Boer picquet eventually challenged the advancing British and opened fire, the leading riflemen had scarcely ten yards to go. It was too late to stop them and, after a Sergeant had led a bayonet charge which dispatched the howitzer crew, Digby-Jones was soon at work with his gun-cotton. The first fuse was defective, and after some minutes, the sappers scrambled back to do the job again. this delay was soon to cost lives.

By the time the retreating infantry heard the double explosion signifying Digby-Jones’s successful destruction of a 4.7 inch howitzer and an ammunition dump, the Boers were fully alert. The Transvaalers from Bell’s Kopje and the Free Stater’s from Thornhill’s began a furious enfilading fire from both flanks, while a band of gallant Pretorians took up position to cut off the British withdrawal (this would be the men described in the Chapter VII of A Boer Journal of the Boer War quoted above)
In the darkness confusion was inevitable – Boers firing at Boers, and British soldiers addressing enemies as friends. In addition, the Boer command of the English language, with beckoning calls of “Rifle Brigade, this way”, lured some men to their deaths. But resolute control by Metcalfe, the unfaltering sense of direction of the guides, and some determined use of the bayonet triumphed. Reforming at the railway crossing, the column came back in unbroken formation, bringing with them most of their 50 wounded. 15 men were, however, never to return.”

It is interesting to note the contrasts and the similarities in both accounts. For the sake of historical accuracy, a third account of the skirmish is provided: -

Colonel Metcalfe got Sir George White’s, sanction to endeavour to destroy the howitzer on Surprise Hill. On the night of the 9th he reconnoitred the route, and on the 10th at 10 pm started with five companies 2nd Rifle Brigade and a few Engineers under the ever-ready Lieutenant Digby-Jones. The hill-top was reached; after some delay the howitzer was found, not in its emplacement; the explosive was inserted; a fuse was lit, but no explosion happened; another had to be set. This time the gun was destroyed; but meanwhile the Boers had gathered in force on the hillside, and our men had to charge with fixed bayonets, never firing a shot. Many Boers were bayoneted. Colonel Metcalfe lost 1 officer and 11 men killed, 36 wounded, and 10 prisoners or missing, but a bit of good work had been boldly and skilfully executed. Sir George White in his despatch of 23rd March 1900 remarks that "the companies were, on the way back, admirably handled by their captains. The affair reflects great credit on Lieutenant Colonel C T E Metcalfe and his battalion".

The other skirmish of significance in which the Rifle Brigade took part whilst ensnared in Ladysmith, was the action at Wagon Hill on 6 January 1900. This battle was a concerted effort by the Boers to break the deadlock and to take Ladysmith by the scruff of the neck, once and for all.

An official account read thus: -

At three on the morning of 6th January the battalion (Rifle Brigade) heard the furious rattle of musketry round the southern defences, and about 5.30 they were ordered to send six companies to Caesar's Camp, four miles off, arriving there about seven. Five companies were pushed into the firing line, which was distant from the enemy only 80 yards. "For nearly the whole day the fight raged fiercely, first one side then the other gaining a slight advantage, but we could not succeed in dislodging the Boers" from the south-east of the hill. At 3.30 the enemy tried to rush forward, but were driven back, and shortly afterwards retreated under a heavy fire, "some companies firing their last round". The battalion this day lost 1 officer killed and 1 mortally wounded, and 20 men killed, 5 officers and 32 men wounded. That night, officers and men lay on the stricken field soaked and physically wretched, but knowing that another big bit of work had been done.

On 7th January the battalion was ordered to take over Waggon Hill from the 1st King's Royal Rifles. The Honourable A Dawnay, adjutant of the 2nd battalion, in the account which he gives of the siege, already quoted from, says: "On arriving at Waggon Hill we were not best pleased at our change of quarters; we found none of those snug burrows or palatial residences that we had built with so much care in our old habitation, and the defensive works were few and far between. All the weary digging had to be started afresh, only under more trying conditions, as it all had to be done by night, it being quite impossible to attempt anything of the sort by day, since we were continually exposed to shrapnel at the convenient range of 3200 yards.”

After the relief of Ladysmith on 28 February 1900, the garrison was given a period to rest and recuperate. They were ready to go forward when General Buller moved north, and the 2nd Rifle Brigade were brigaded under General Walter Kitchener with the 1st Devon, 1st Manchester, and 2nd Gordons. In the fighting at Rooi Kopjes, 24th July, and Amersfoort, 7th August, the battalion took no prominent part, but they were to get a great opportunity in good time. When the force arrived at Geluk, 23rd August, it was evident the Boers were about to make a stand. On the 26th, at a conference between Lord Roberts and General Buller, it was arranged that the troops of the latter, being the old Ladysmith garrison, should attack the enemy's position on the 27th.

The position was an extremely strong one, stretching for miles on either side of the Belfast-Komati Poort Railway. Bergendal, by which name the battle has become known, is the name of a farm, the house and buildings of which are situated on, or rather a little to the east of, a kopje. This kopje and the buildings, which were seen to be strongly held, lie to the south of the railway and to the west of a long ridge or series of kopjes running roughly north and south. These ridges seem to have been the Boer main position. They had guns on these as well as on the hills north of the railway. Buller decided that Bergendal kopje must be the first point attacked. It was slightly isolated, and formed a definite objective. He placed the Manchester Regiment, four naval 12-pounders, two 4'7 guns, two 5-inch guns, the 61st Howitzer Battery, and the 21st Battery on a ridge lying south of, and roughly parallel to, a line drawn from Bergendal to the Boer main positions. A Battery RHA and the 53rd RFA fired from a point about one and a half mile north of the other artillery and close to the railway. For three hours these guns kept up a furious fire on the buildings and kopje, but the Boers would not shift. The infantry were then ordered to assault, the 2nd Rifle Brigade to attack from near where the A Battery was—that is, from the west—the 1st Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers from near the main artillery position, or the south. Between these battalions were the 1st Devon and 2nd Gordons in support.

The Rifle Brigade being extended to about ten paces, had reached a point 800 yards west of the kopje when there opened a terrific rifle-fire both from the kopje and from hills north of the railway. The attackers lay down, then after a great effort by our artillery the Rifle Brigade again advanced by rushes, and "there never was a waver from start to finish". The Boers bolted, but a pom-pom complete and 19 prisoners were taken: 14 of their dead were found. The Rifle Brigade lost 3 officers killed or mortally wounded, and 21 riflemen killed or died of wounds; 7 officers and 63 men were wounded. The losses of the other battalions were very slight.

General Buller said: "The honours of the assault belong to the Rifle Brigade, as they had to attack that part of the kopje which had been most protected from our artillery-fire; but all the troops did splendidly, and the carrying of such a position, held as it was by resolute men (the famous Johannesburg Zarps), will always remain present to the minds of those who witnessed it as a most gallant feat of arms". After referring to the excellent way the maxims were handled and other dispositions made, Sir Redvers remarks: "The loss of the post at Bergendal led to the enemy abandoning in great haste the whole of their immensely strong position about Dalmanutha, and forced them to withdraw in great confusion beyond Machadodorp. In fact the capture of Bergendal by the Rifle Brigade and Inniskilling Fusiliers cleared the whole of the high veldt of the enemy".

The battalion crossed the railway along with General Buller and moved north towards Lydenburg, which, after some fighting, they reached on 7th September, and in that district they remained for a considerable time. Henceforth they were to have plenty of work and a fair amount of hardship, but they were to see no fighting to be compared with Bergendal. During the remainder of the campaign they were employed in the Eastern Transvaal. In March 1901 three companies accompanied Colonel Park on a night raid on Kruger's Post, which was entirely successful. In April the battalion was put into a column under General W Kitchener, and for the next three months did much hard marching, chiefly north of the Delagoa Railway. About the end of July 1901 the battalion took over a number of posts about Middelburg and garrisoned these for a long period.

Abbotts was to see out the war in South Africa before returning to the United Kingdom. He was awarded the Queens Medal with the clasps Defence of Ladysmith and Transvaal, along with the Kings Medal with both date clasps.

Back home, he wed Ellen Sach, a 25 year old, in the Parish of Islington on 23 November 1902, he was 26 at the time and described as a labourer by occupation. The 3rd June 1906 saw the birth of their son, William Ernest – Abbotts is described as a Carman, resident at 67 Cornwallis Road on the baptismal certificate.

Life continued apace and before long the 1911 England census came round. At home, at 75 Granville Road, Wood Green, when the enumerator called were the pater familias, who was now a 35 year old Labourer in Government employ, along with his wife, Ellen and two children – William Ernest (5) and Elizabeth May (3 months) – bringing up the rear was brother-in-law, Henry Sack, a 32 year old General Labourer.

The 4th August 1914 saw the outbreak of what became known as the Great War, a conflict on an international scale which pitted Great Britain and her allies against the Axis forces of Germany and her allies. Now 38 and no longer in the full bloom of youth, Abbotts initially attested for 1 years’ service in the Territorial Force, specifically the Reserve Battalion of the 7th Middlesex Regiment, on 26 October 1914. Embodied as Private with no. 20181, he saw 1 year and 30 days of home service until, on 24 November 1915, he took leave of the Battalion, re-enlisting in the Regular Army with his old outfit – the Rifle Brigade. His Proceedings on Discharge Form, completed at Waltham Abbey, confirmed that he was 37 years old and 9 months, was 5 feet 6 inches in height and had a dark complexion, hazel eyes and dark brown hair. He also sported a number of tattoos – one of a female figure and Brittania on his left forearm and a Shamrock, Rose and Thistle on his right forearm. In addition, he had scars on his left check and forehead. His conduct was described as “During his period of service, this soldier has performed his duties satisfactorily.”

Abbotts appears to have spent his time with the 16th Battalion, Rifle Brigade. The 16th Battalion was in 117th Brigade, 39th Division with this Division joining the British Expeditionary Force on the 8th March 1916. Abbotts was probably detailed off as a machine gunner the day before they embarked, and then joined the Division with 116th Company MGC a week later. This Company had been formed in Grantham on 1 March 1916, before moving to France where it joined the 39th Division, at Loisne on 18 May 1916.

There is a record of him being admitted to the Middlesex War hospital on 15 May 1917, which meant a return to England for some reason. The hospital was actually at Napsbury, St Albans. He had a carbuncle on his neck and after treatment, was discharged to furlough on 1 June 1917 before returning to France and rejoining his company in the field. Abbotts was posted to the Class Z Reserves on 8 February 1919. He was awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal for his efforts on the Western Front.

Henry George Abbotts passed away in Edmonton, London in 1935 at the age of 58.

The bomb-proof shelters built by the 2nd Battalion at King's Post, photographed by Middlebrook some time after the siege. Taken from the higher ground to the northeast, with Tin Town visible on the plain below.



Q.519 (COPYRIGHT) 'THE KINGS POST' SHELL PROOF SHELTERS CONSTRUCTED BY THE K.R.R. DURING THE SIEGE OF LADYSMITH / BOER WAR 1899-1900 / MIDDLEBROOK / BURBAN.


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An awesome photo image - thank you Neville.