Miscellaneous services
Having now reviewed the history of our three organised contingents in the C.I.V., it remains to consider the services of our members in the Imperial Yeomanry, Regular Regiments, and, in a few cases, Colonial Corps.
B. The men concerned (sixty in number) fall into two main classes. A third of them—twenty- one, to be precise—had already served in one or other of the branches of the C.I.V., and are named at the end of their respective chapters. Going to the front a second time, most of them joined the Imperial Yeomanry, but six of them, viz.:
B. Moeller, Middlesex Regiment,
C. O. Greenwell, Durham Light Infantry
S. H. Little, Connaught Rangers
H. W. T. Elam, 68th Batt. R.F.A
H. G. Trapp, Royal Irish Regiment
R. H. Tremearne, Royal Warwickshire Regt., passed direct, with Commissions, into the Regular forces. Another exception was W. S. Herbert, who received a Commission in Marshall’s Horse, and was severely wounded, but returned to the front again after his recovery.
The remaining thirty-nine had not previously belonged to the C.I.V., and with four exceptions took service for the first time in the Imperial Yeomanry. To dispose of these exceptions at once, chief among them was Captain (now Major) Wray, R.F.A. (now commanding A Battery), who had been Adjutant of the H.A.C. for five years, and in that capacity had won the respect and hearty good will of all of us. When war broke out he was appointed to the Second Brigade Ammunition Column for the Cavalry and R.H.A., and afterwards became Adjutant and Acting Brigade Major of the First Brigade B.H.A. Among many other engagements he was present at the action of Sanna’s Post. He was promoted to Major on March 15,1900.
B. W. Allen, E. Hayward, and C. T. Flick were the other exceptions. Allen obtained a Commission at the outset in the 8th Hussars, and had two continuous years’ campaigning with them. Hayward enlisted in that famous irregular regiment, the Imperial Light Horse; and Flick enlisted on the outbreak of war in that equally distinguished corps, the South African Light Horse, and went through the whole of Buller’s campaign for the relief of Ladysmith, and the subsequent operations to the north, through Natal and the Eastern Transvaal. He has published an extremely racy and graphic diary of his experiences, entitled ‘Twelve Months with General Buller in South Africa.’ He afterwards served again as a Lieutenant in the Imperial Yeomanry.
Summaries of the individual service of all these sixty men are included in the alphabetical Appendix at the end of the book—summaries, that is, which are as complete as oar researches can make them; for, though pains have been taken to gather all possible facts, in certain instances information, from no fault of the Editors, has been lacking.
In this chapter it is proposed to take a general survey of the miscellaneous work, noting salient points, and distinguishing certain groups of men who went out together and had similar adventures.
The majority took service in the second levy of Imperial Yeomanry, which was sent out in the first quarter of the year 1901, and gradually replaced the original levies of 1900. In one way or another we were represented in all the principal campaigns and drives of the last fourteen months of the guerilla war, and in many of the principal actions, such as Brakenlaagte, Ylakfontein, Moedwill, Tweefontein. Three groups of men are large and important enough to justify a tolerably full and connected account of their doings.
Contingent of Officers in the 21st Battalion I.Y.
The first was a party of six who received Commissions in the 21st Battalion I.Y., namely:
Captain E. Treffry, 82nd Company
Lieutenant C. F. Nesham, senior subalt. 82nd Company
Lieutenant H. B. Clifford, 80th Company
Lieutenant A. E. Wood, 81st Company
Lieutenant D. G. Robbins, 83rd Company
Lieutenant G. F. D. McConkey 83rd Company.
They left England with their Battalion on March 14, 1901, and landed on April 5. They were sent ap country on the same night to Elandsfontein, and thence to Standerton, where they joined Rimington’s Column, which, with others, under Generals Elliott and Knox, was engaged in the seemingly endless labour of clearing the south-eastern comer of the Transvaal. The first casualty to our men was in the month of May, at Bethel, where Captain Treffry was dangerously wounded in an affair of outposts. Part of his company was attacked, and he him- self, while reconnoitring to the front, was surprised hy some Boers, and was shot at short range, receiving three bullets in the legs. He was in hospital at Standerton for some months, and later at Winburg, and was then invalided home.
Lieutenant Nesham took his place as acting Captain of the 82nd Company, and two months later had his promotion confirmed.
During May and June the Battalion was trekking to and fro in various quarters of the same region. In June, Lieutenant Clifford was promoted to be Captain, and was appointed Adjutant of the Battalion. At the end of June it returned to Standerton and was there split up into several portions, the 80th Company (Captain Clifford’s) going to Greylingstad, the 81st (Lieutenant Wood’s) to Heidelberg, the 82nd (Captain Nesham’s) up the Natal Railway line, and the 83rd (Lieutenant Robbins’s) retaining Standerton as its centre. Lieutenant McConkey had been invalided to the base. The work of all the companies was much the same—patrolling, farm-burning, convoy- duty, etc.—for about three months. The chief incident, and a sad one for us, was the death of Lieutenant Bobbins, on August 15. His company was engaged on cattle-guard about four miles from Standerton, when they were attacked by Boers, who, being disguised in khaki, were able to surround and surprise the party. A sanguinary little fight ensued in which six Boers were killed and three British. Bobbins was struck by four bullets at point-blank range, and fell dead.
Lieutenant Wood, whose company went to Heidelberg, was employed there on a detached command of forty men at Eden Kop, in August and September, and had a good deal of desultory fighting.
We now come to October, when a determined and successful effort was made finally to clear the North-eastern Transvaal. Our men—those that were left of them, that is—joined Colonel Rawlinson’s column, which, with others under the supreme command of General Bruce Hamilton (with Colonel Wools-Sampson as his brilliant intelligence officer), swept rapidly up the country to the north-east, carrying all before them to Komati Poort, and capturing 1,700 prisoners in eight weeks. This involved incessant forced marching by night and day, often in the worst of weather, and consequently a terrible strain on the troops engaged—Colonel Rawlinson’s column alone losing nearly two-thirds of its original strength. The whole campaign lasted four months —to the end of January 1902, that is. Lieutenant Wood was invalided home about Christmas.
Two only were now left of the original six— Captains Nesham and Clifford; and they—with the now reunited 21st Battalion—were engaged for a month in scouting for block-house work, first on the Ermelo-Carolina line, afterwards in Swaziland. Then, the Battalion being again split up, they were quartered, one at Volksrust and one at Botha’s Pass, till peace was declared. Captain Nesham went home in the middle of August; but the last of all the six, Captain Clifford, remained in Africa for some months longer as Adjutant of the I.Y. Depot at Elandsfontein, and only regained England on October 25,1902.
The H.A.C. Machine-gun Section
A special note should also be given to another group, of nine men, who went oat together in the Imperial Yeomanry.
Their names were:
J. S. Watney, Private; promoted to Lieutenant.
G. H. Macdormell, Corporal; promoted to Sergeant.
A. J. Mordim, Private; promoted to Corporal and Sergeant.
F. R. Seaton, Private.
A. R. Shield, Private.
F. E. Short, Private.
E. Baynes, Private.
A. A. Waters, Private.
A. H. Debenham, Private.
They left England early in March 1901, and landed at Durban on the 23rd. Debenham henceforward has a separate history, for he joined the 25th Company I.Y, while the remaining eight joined the 62nd Company. After two months’ trekking and fighting in the Brandwater district of the Orange River Colony, seven of them (that is, all except Waters) were transferred in the middle of June to the 34th Company, and made a complete section in charge of a Maxim gun. Watney was given a Commission, and became the Lieutenant in charge of the section; G. H. Macdonnell was promoted to Sergeant; Mordin to Corporal, and the other four remained as troopers. Starting from Harrismith, they first took part in the great drive to Standerton, next in a campaign through the Wit- kopjes with a flying column under Colonel Beay. In September and part of October they were engaged in convoy work between Bethlehem and Harrismith; a troublesome business, for that region was still alive with guerillas. On October 15 they were sent to a standing camp at Blomeveldt Bridge, at the foot of Van Reenen’s Pass, and from thence (and, later, from another camp at Glenlennie) joined various short expeditions into the neighbouring districts. During this period, Short, G. H. Macdonnell, and Shield were invalided home, and J. A. W. Macdonnell arrived from England to join the section. Mordin was promoted to Acting-Sergeant. The other two places were filled by Yeomen from the 34th Company.
The next important date is December 14, when they joined General Dartnell’s ill-fated column of Yeomanry and Imperial Light Horse, and for an opening enterprise made a forced march to surprise Christian de Wet at Barkin Kop, the same spot where the H.A.C. Battery had had such a sharp encounter with him eighteen months before, and when the 38th Field Battery had suffered so severely. The surprise failed, however, and four days later it was de Wet’s turn to attempt a surprise of the British. He attacked Dartnell at Eland’s River Bridge, on the road between Bethlehem and Harrismith, enveloping the column completely, and pressing home his assaults with all the dash and ferocity that distinguished Boer tactics at this period. But he met with resistance just as spirited, and retired after a four hours’ struggle with severe losses. Our section was heavily engaged on the right flank. This was in every way a most creditable episode, but unhappily a lamentable disaster was close at hand. On December 21 the column was sent to Tweefontein to guard the head of the block-house line, and on the night of the 24th, .as every one knows, it was rushed by de Wet. On that night Macdonnell and Baynes were on picket (but not, it is fair to note, on the side of the camp from which the surprise came), Seaton was on horse-guard, Lieutenant Watney was on the crest of the hill in the officers’ lines, and the rest of the section were with the gun in the men’s lines behind the crest. The circumstances of the surprise are well known. De Wet’s burghers noiselessly climbed the steep declivity which bounded the camp on one side, and were on the British before they knew it. All accounts show (and the terribly heavy lists of killed and wounded speak for themselves) that the Yeomanry in that desperate situation behaved with the utmost gallantry. The murderous mSUe that ensued is indescribable, but for us of the H.A.C. there stands out the fact that Lieutenant Watney died while doing his best to stem the torrent. At the first alarm he had taken his place with the Maxim, bat forbade the section to fire it as friends and enemies were mingled irretrievably together, and instead he collected some men and ordered a charge, leading it himself but falling immediately. It is impossible to think without deep emotion of the death of this brave young comrade of ours. It is certain that the effort he made was utterly hopeless, and that it was pure devotion to duty and innate gallantry that prompted him to sacrifice his life.
The rest of our men were taken prisoners, and the Maxim was captured, but not before Sergeant Mordin had disabled it. The prisoners were marched off on foot to the Basutoland border and there released, afterwards returning to Harrismith, where they were re-armed and re-horsed, and soon after the gun section was reconstituted, with a new Maxim. In February 1902, they were present at the great drive which culminated with large captures on Majuba day, and at various other operations, and they were finally sent home, the war being at an end, in July, and were discharged in London on September 3, after eighteen months’ service.
The H.A.C. Contingent in the 27 Company, 7th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry
Another group of seven left England on March 1, all attached to the 27th Company, 7th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry.
These were:
C. A. Cutbill, Private, till September 15, 1902, when Commissioned as Lieutenant in the 8th Company, 4th Battalion
L. N. Garstin, Private, till November 1901, when Commissioned as Lieutenant in the 74th Company, 8th Battalion
H. T. P. Curtis, Corporal
P. C. Wooton, Corporal
F. H. S. Satchwell, Private
H. S. Elam, Private
W. D. Tress, Private.
In Africa they became so much separated that their histories cannot be given in full; but all of them served during April and May, 1901, under General Dixon in the Western Transvaal, and four of them were present at the battle of Vlakfontein on May 28, 1901, where Delarey surprised the British force, and in a dashing charge of 500 mounted men, under cover of a veldt-fire, temporarily captured two guns, which were, however, regained after a long and bloody struggle. Three of our four men—Wooton, Elam, and Curtis (the fourth being Satchwell)—were in the escort to the guns, and were all wounded more or less seriously at the first rush, when the escort was shot down to a man. The total losses of the day were terribly heavy. Again, in September of the same year, most of the seven were in General Kekewich’s column in the same district, and three, Garstin, Cutbill, and Satchwell, were at the action of Moedwill (Sept. 30) when the same veteran Boer leader dealt one of his smashing and unexpected blows on a force ill-placed to meet it. But this time, too, a magnificent resistance was improvised and persisted in, and the Boers completely repulsed, though at lamentable cost in killed and wounded. On this day it is admitted that the young un- seasoned troopers of the Yeomanry behaved every whit as well as the veteran regulars.
In March, April, and May of 1902, Curtis, Wooton, and Satchwell (the two first having recovered from their wounds and rejoined their company in August 1901) again served under Colonel Kekewich in the Western Transvaal, and were present at the severe action of Rooiwal on April 11, when, in the course of a big drive, 1,500 Boers under Kemp attempted to break the line by means of what was practically an old- fashioned cavalry charge, but were repulsed with heavy loss.
Under the heading of Imperial Yeomanry should be given a short account of the death of Lieutenant H. H. Ward. He had already served as a driver in the H.A.C. Battery, and as such was mentioned in despatches. Volunteering again for the front, he first served in Bethune’s Horse, and then received a Commission in the Imperial Yeomanry. In February 1902, he was with Colonel Doran’s column in Cape Colony, and on the 5th his company was sent to Middle Post, between Calvinia and Sutherland, to escort the baggage of the column. On the same night the force was surrounded and attacked by an overwhelming number of Boers. Ward at the time was in charge of a small detached outpost. Accounts of the exact circumstances of his death vary; but, from comparing them, there is little doubt that he held the post with great gallantry to the last, refused to surrender, and was shot at close quarters. That is what the evidence goes to prove; but even without it, any one who knew Ward, his high ideals of a soldier’s duty, and his unswerving adherence to them in every detail of military life, can well believe that that is how he died.
Besides those whose names have already been mentioned in this or one of the preceding chapters, the following members served in the Imperial Yeomanry:
A. W. J.Chambers as Lieutenant
H. T. Hanson as Lieutenant
C. G. Stewart as Lieutenant
H. W. Callmgham, as Sergeant
W. L. Haywood, as Lance-Sergeant
W. C. M. Carpenter, as Corporal
J. V. Barff, as Lance-Corporal
W. A. C.Bailey as Private
G. Baily as Private
R. F. Brooks as Private
H. J. F. Calrow as Private
J. D. Kay as Private
L. L. Lewis as Private
J. D. Lockton as Private
H. D. Osmond as Private, also served Imperial Light Horse
G. S. Sanderson as Private
Regular Regiments
Among those who joined Regular Regiments the Company has two farther deaths to deplore, those of Lieutenant B. Moeller and Lieutenant R. H. Tremearne.
Moeller first took service as a Lieutenant in the I.Y. Mounted Infantry, was transferred in July 1900 to Colonel Bainbridge’s Mounted Infantry, served with them for three months, and was then given a Commission in the Second Battalion Middlesex Regiment (Sept. 1900). In November he joined the Mounted Infantry Company which was thenceforward incorporated in the 14th Mounted Infantry Regiment. With this Regiment he was constantly trekking and fighting for more than a year in many different districts of both colonies. On the night of Dec. 18, 1901, when serving on a column under General Spens, he was in charge of the advance-guard for a night attack on some Boer farms at Holland, near Standerton, in the Eastern Transvaal. The farms were taken, but in the early morning of the 19th the British were surprised by a superior force of Boers and suffered very heavily. Moeller, who was now in charge of the rear-guard, made a most gallant and resolute stand and checked the enemy’s onslaught. Having, by his nerve and judgment, effectually covered the retreat of the rest of the force, he gave the order to his own men to mount and gallop back. At the last moment, however, he was mortally wounded in endeavouring to save a wounded trooper who was in the hands of the Boers. He was carried into Standerton, and died there on Dec. 23,1901. An exceedingly interesting diary of his experiences, as 'written by him from day to day in the field, has since been published, under the title of ‘Two Years at the Front with the Mounted Infantry,’ with a preface by Lieut.-Colonel Boyle (H.A.C.).
Tremearne first went out with the Draft to the H.A.C. Battery, and was afterwards commissioned in the Fifth (Militia) Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Soon after landing, however, he contracted enteric fever, and died at Carnarvon, Cape Colony, on April 14, 1902.
H. W. T. Elam, having obtained a Lieutenancy in the 68th Field Battery, was severely wounded at Dewetsdorp, on Nov. 23,1900.
CONCLUDING SUMMARY
One hundred and ninety-three Members of the Company served in South Africa.
Four were killed in action, or died of wounds.
Two died of disease.
Thirty were wounded or invalided home.
Thirty-three held His Majesty’s Commission, of whom eight were promoted from the ranks while serving in the field.
Eighteen were mentioned in despatches for special or meritorious services.
One was made a C.M.G.
One was made a member of the Distinguished Service Order.
Three received the Distinguished Conduct Medal.
Peace declared on May 31,1902.
