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1901 - Smuts invades Cape Colony at Klaarwater Drift.
1902 - Indemnity Bill passed by Cape Colony.

The General Indemnity Bill has been read a second time in the Cape Legislative Assembly. Mr. Graham, Attorney-General, in the coarse of his reply to the debate, asserted that the proposed Colonial Martial Law Commission was not, as alleged, a cloak under which to attack the British military administration of Cape Colony during the war.

A conference of Dutch loyalists is being held at Paarl, in Cope Colony. Fifty-five delegates, representing all the districts in the Western provinces, are in attendance. The conference considers the terms offered to the Cape rebels liberal, but complains that the loyalists of the colony have not been assisted by Great Britain as they should have been.

1900 - James Warren Jones, Arthur Carter, and Frank Finch-Smiles, of the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles, returned to British Columbia.

....Privates J. W. Jones, Arthur Carter and F. Finch-Smiles, three of the Victorians who assisted in establishing to the world the fame of Canada as a colony where brave fighters are bred, are home from South Africa. All bear injuries received in the cause of the Empire against the oppressors of her people in the Transvaal. Private Carter was wounded soon after Sunnyside, and was a victim to fever; while Private Jones injured his back severely at Paardeberg, and at Osfontein was obliged to fall out, suffering with rheumatism. He was later a victim from fever; and Private Finch-Smiles is nursing an injured leg and thigh where a Mauser bullet from a Boer rifle entered.
....That Victoria is proud of these returning sons of hers was amply demonstrated by the enthusiasm with which the citizens received Privates Carter and Jones on their arrival on the Yosemite on Monday evening. The bulletin in the window of the C. P. R. offices announcing their departure from Vancouver was scanned by hundreds, and a large gathering assembled at the outer wharf to await the landing of the steamer. She did not tie up there, but on coming in close enough to put some parcels ashore a big crowd jumped on board. Others hurried back by street car, 'busses and hacks to the inner wharf, where some thousands had gathered.
....An enthusiastic cheer arose from the large crowd as soon as the steamer touched the wharf; and Ald. Stewart, who was acting in the stead of the Mayor—His Worship being absent at the dinner given by the Governor-General—boarded the steamer and officially welcomed the returning soldiers. The City band played several patriotic airs as the vessel landed, and a guard of honor from No. 2 Company of the Fifth Regiment, under Capt. McConnan, and a number of the members of "A" Company, R. C. R. received them. As the boys came ashore soon afterwards, the spectators gave long and ringing cheers. An impromptu parade was then formed, and, headed by the band and the soldiers, a bunting-draped hack in which were the two returning Victoria soldiers passed through the streets to the Driard. The boys were loudly cheered all along the route. At the Driard an informal reception was held by them, a large crowd waiting for an hour or more to catch another glimpse of the heroes. At the hotel Private Carter's mother met him and welcomed her son home; his sister also greeted him, and after a space he went to St. Joseph's hospital, where his brother lies ill.
....Private Jones was one of the men of Paardeberg. He said, in speaking of the engagement there—and particularly that bloody charge in which Victoria was so sadly bereaved—that the onslaught was a great mistake. There was but a small portion of the Boers on that side of the river, and the trenches, which were about 200 yards away, were occupied by only a portion of the Boer rear-guard. Had they been taken they could scarcely have been held. "A" Company, in which were the Victorians, was on the firing line that day. The late Sergt. Scott was doing excellent work, keeping up a continuous fire with is rifle. He was at the end f the line, and to the side of him were the Black Watch, Argylls and Sutherlands. It was as he was rising up from his firing position to charge that a bullet killed him. Maundrell, Somers and Todd were killed in the charge, and Beach was wounded there. "A" Company on the firing line was supported by the Cornwalls, and their commander it was that gave the word to charge. The British were then in a kind of a semi-circle. The bugles of the Cornwalls suddenly sounded the charge, and the men were seen coming forward with fixed bayonets. When the Canadians on the firing line saw the Cornwalls coming forward they fixed their bayonets and joined in the charge; and in this movement so many brave men fell. At or about the same time a force under Gen. Kitchener were making a charge from the other side of the position, but they, too, were forced to retire. The retirement of the Canadians and Cornwalls and the other supporting regiments that night was one never to be forgotten. It was dusk, and the men straggled back in ones and twos, shouting across the darkness to each other to ascertain who was who. In fact it was an ill-assorted force that dribbled back to camp along the river bank. Part of the Canadians were on one side of the river and part on the other.
....The morning of the next day was given over to picking up the dead, an armistice having been made for that purpose. Private Jones was one of the party, and a sorrowful party it indeed was. The Victoria boys who fell there were all buried together under a large tree, right on the field where they fell in the Empire's cause.
....On the afternoon of the day following that of the memorable charge, some of the Victorians, including Private Jones, were sent to relieve an outpost and support the naval guns. They were under fire that day for ten hours without a thing to eat, for the Boers had placed a pom-pom in position and destroyed the cooking impedimenta. From that time until the surrender of Cronje and his army on the 27th they were at work relieving the different outposts, digging trenches and aiding in other ways the hemming in of the Boers. On the morning of the surrender they advanced. "A" Company, in which were the Victorians, held a position opposite the river for volley firing; and the left half of the battalion, in which were the French-Canadians, advanced with the Argylls, Shropshires and Gordons to hold the advanced trenches, which were within 300 yards of the Boers. Then another advance was made by the left half of the Canadians, until they were within 40 or 50 yards of the Boers. There they were ordered to lie down, and the Engineers came behind them, digging trenches. Ultimately they retired to the trenches dug by the Engineers, and held them, commanding the Boers until the surrender. After the surrender of Cronje the men prospected the trenches for a meal, for they were half famished; but they did not find much in the Boer trenches.
....It was only when they were in a position close to Cronje and his men that the British had any close fighting with the enemy, for their usual plan of campaign was to hold a kopje and fire from it until the British got within charging distance, and then—unless the position was a very strong one—fly to their horses, which were tethered to the rear.
....The famished condition of the Nineteenth Brigade when Cronje was taken was in a measure due to the capture of the 200 wagons at Riet river by the Boers. The advance was so rapid in pursuit of Cronje that a sufficient force could not be left to protect the communications properly, and this convoy of 200 wagons was cut off. The vans contained biscuits and other food which was badly needed by the army which was making the big circle enveloping the Boer leader. The wagons were afterwards re-captured, but could not be held.
....After his attack of rheumatic fever at Osfontein, Private Jones was removed on March 8 to Kimberley hospital. There he remained five days, and was then taken by the hospital train to Naauwport, and after a week there was sent to the Delfontein hospital, conducted by the Imperial Yeomanry. This hospital Private Jones thinks was the best appointed in South Africa, as far as he could learn. He remained five weeks, and was then moved to Winburg, and afterwards to Capetown, after having been two and a half months in the hospitals. Speaking of the hospitals, Private Jones said he was well treated at all, and the only one he heard complaints of was that at Bloemfontein.
....He was at Capetown when the word came from Lord Roberts that the fever patients were not to be sent back to the front, and the men had the option of remaining. Those idle at Capetown are being sent to England on sick furlough. Pte. Jones, deciding to go to England, sailed from Capetown on June 6 and arrived at Southampton on the 26th. He received his discharge at Fort Brockhurst, and went on a visit to Scotland.
....Everywhere the colonial troops, said Private Jones, are treated well. The send-off given them at Liverpool by the mayor and citizens of that city he describes as a most cordial one. Cheering crowds and bands followed them down the Mersey to the sea. The mayor presented each one with a new sovereign.
....Private Carter was in the fight at Sunnyside, but did not take part in the action at Paardeberg, as he had been detached from that part of the force before then.
....Private Finch-Smiles did not reach the city till last evening [Tuesday 4th September], as he stayed over in Vancouver to visit some friends. Though it was not known when he would arrive, and therefore there was no formal reception for him at the steamer, still when he stepped ashore, limping slightly from his wound, there was a hearty cheer from the few people who happened to be on hand.
....Private Finch-Smiles said: "We were expecting daily to come up with the enemy, but it was not until February 18 that we heard the first of them. At Paardeberg we were just sitting down to breakfast when we heard the sound of firing in the distance, which reminded us more than anything else of the sound of the shovelling of stone into a metal truck or wagon. This was at 6:30. We were so anxious to get out that few of us ate much. We were soon fighting with the rest. I had not been in the fight more than an hour when I was shot in the leg with a Mauser bullet, and have been disabled ever since. This was the extent of my fighting experience."
....Mr. Smiles said he hoped to recover the full use of his leg again. It is all right now if he does not keep on his feet too long at a time.
Victoria Daily Colonist, Wednesday 5th September 1900

Francis Augustine Finch-Smiles had quite an interesting life. He was born in Ramsgate, Kent, on the 17th September, 1865, and later moved to British Columbia, where he was an elocutionist, and also acted locally. Served in the ABW, being invalided back to Canada, then to South Africa and England. Then to South Africa again, with his family, next to the USA, where he appeared in many films between 1920-1929. Finally returned to England, and died on the 14th of April, 1944, in Putney, London.
esat.sun.ac.za/index.php/F._Finch_Smiles



The best-known film he appeared in was The Lost World (1925).