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Thanks for viewing

Paul

Newspaper clipping from The West Cumberland Times.

Dated 6th June 1900.




It only states Private W. Todd died interesting.

Hi deacs,
Thanks for adding the extra information

Paul

Mr Berenice UK, Sir...

Pretty pics, pretty place - but the prosaic wording of the memorial conveys no sense of the dramatic tragedy of that wintry Karroo morning, in setting so harshly in contrast with the lush idyllic tranquility of Eamont Bridge.

It was on the last day of May 1900 in the morning dawn hours, gasping the dry dust of a lonely Northern Cape farm, that for John Hindson and Will Todd the trials and tribulations of battles and battlefields ceased to have any importance.

Troopers 3892 Hindson and 3947 Todd were Eamont Bridge's proud contribution to the Westmorland and Cumberland 8th Battalion of Imperial Yeomanry which had formed part of a small force forwarded after relief of Mafeking, to contain residual hostile activity in Griqualand and British Bechuanaland.

The advance of the column had paused near the town of Douglas - at the ford of the Vaal river - and encamped in a poorly chosen location on an isolated farm named Faber's Put.

In the dark before the dawn of 30th May some 600 Boers, evading sentries, opened converging fire from three sides on horses in the mounted infantry lines, and a stone enclosure (kraal) in the centre of the camp with the artillery horses, causing a chaotic stampede of injured beasts and disorganized confusion as to from whence the attack was coming.

The barely awakend Imperial Yeomanry, quartered mid-camp in vicinity of the stone kraal, received full brunt of the onslaught, and sustained lion's share of the casualties. It is safe to say that the Eamont Bridge lads - probably friends and playmates since childhood - must have died never having seen the adversary that struck them down.

Like shooting sitting ducks really. Was this fair play? Of course it was! - war is not a game, but a job to kill the other chap. But, was it really fair to shoot a rudely awakened man from behind his back, as it were?? Yes, of course it is - all's fair in love and war!! And yet...? And yet...?

Especially for BERENICEUK :

In all a Mauser's bullet laid claim to six Westmorland and Cumberland men at Faber's Put - the names are commemorated on a brass plaque in Kendall Holy Trinity Church...




... and individual marble tablets to John Park, in Haverigg...




...and John Crayston, in Whitbeck...




Of passing interest the latter two memorials make erroneous reference to "Faber's Spruit".

As well as the impressive Penrith monument, a stone cross almost identical with the one at Eamont Bridge can be found at Saint George's Chourch, Millom...



And for QSAMIKE :

From the outset of the May morning shock attack, men and horses of "E" Battery Royal Canadian Artillery forming part of the column, had come under intense fire. Despite the initial pandemonium the gunners located the enemy's positions and manhandled their hardware to bear with such good effect that the Boer attack was quikly blunted. In the heat of this tight action Bomdr William Lattner became the Canuk's first KIA - his monument is in Granby, PQ...





Hope this will be of interest.
amb

Eamont Bridge is not a large place, but it managed to find four of its sons to fight the battles of the country. These four are Privates Todd, A. Warwick, and J. Hindson, members of the Westmorland and Cumberland contingent of the Imperial Yeomanry, and Private W. Hindson, one of the Penrith Volunteers, now with the Active Service Company in Carlisle. To let them go without a "send-off" was not to be thought of, and the good folks at the Bridge responded in a most enthusiastic manner to the subscription list which was opened in the first instance by Mr. Swenson. The result of the effort was that the four named soldiers were invited to a pleasant gathering of well-wishers and friends, which took place at the Bee Hive Hotel, Eamont Bridge, on Thursday night. Mr. Lawson presided, and opened the proceedings by proposing the health of the Queen. This having been honoured, he gave the health of the guests, and in doing so he said that he had another pleasing duty to perform. Since he came to live in Eamont Bridge, he had thought that a line of Kipling's, when he was writing about Lord Roberts, was very applicable to it. It was, "He's little, but he's a terror for his size." The people of Eamont Bridge might not be much, but they were a good-hearted sort, and when they found that no fewer than four had volunteered for South Africa, they could not let them go without a farewell. He therefore had pleasure in presenting to each of their representatives a memento which was given freely and from the heart. The sum of £10 was collected without the least difficulty, and therefore, each of their soldiers would receive a purse containing £2 10s. (Applause.) He knew what travelling on board ship was, and although the food was much superior on the transports to what it used to be, he knew that a little loose change for emergencies was very useful.

The men then stepped forward and received their gifts, after which ringing cheers were raised, followed by "They are jolly good fellows."

The musical program given below was then continued. At the conclusion, a vote of thanks was accorded, on the motion of the chairman, to Mr. and Mrs. Swenson, as the inaugurators of the send-off. A vote of thanks to the chairman was also proposed by Mr. J. Siddle. The program was as follows, Mr. C. Lacy being the accompanist.: - Songs - The Englishman, Mr. J. Wilson; The rose and the shamrock, Pvt. A. Warwick; Welcome as flowers in May, Mr. King; The little midshipmite, Mr. T. W. Wilson; The Charge of the Light Brigade, Mr. C. Warwick; Soldiers of the Queen, Private Wright; The Golden Wedding, Private Wright. Duet - Army and Navy - Wilson Bros.

Mid Cumberland and North Westmorland Herald, Saturday 10th February 1900


We are requested to express the grateful thanks of Privates Todd, Hindson, and Warwick, of the Imperial Yeomanry, and Private W. Hindson, of the Volunteers, to the people of Eamont Bridge for the handsome testimonial they have received from them.

Mid-Cumberland and North Westmorland Herald, Saturday 10th February 1900




It was with feelings of deep regret and pain that the people of Penrith and district received the news on Monday night that the yeomen they sent from their midst some months ago had had an engagement with the enemy and that several of their number had fallen in the fight. An air of general excitement and anxiety hung over the town and many were the eager inquiries as to the correctness or otherwise of the reports. The evening papers were eagerly bought up, and the casualty lists examined, and when it was seen that the Westmorland and Cumberland Company were not mentioned there was a tendency to discredit the report. Unfortunately it proved all too true, and a list of the killed and wounded in the engagement with rebels, which took place at Faberspruit, 12 miles from Douglas, on the 30th ult., was issued by the War Office on Tuesday night. It was then seen that the 8th Battalion of the Imperial Yeomanry, of which the local company form part, had suffered most severely, their total being one officer (Lieutenant Huntingdon), a corporal, a lance-corporal, and nine privates killed; and a sergeant, a corporal, a trumpeter, and eleven privates wounded.

The Westmorland and Cumberland company lost altogether a dozen men, 6 being killed or dying from wounds, and 6 being wounded - three severely. Their names and numbers are: - 3877 Private J. C. Crayston, Milnthorpe.
3879 Private W. R. Day, Chelmsford. www.angloboerwar.com/forum/17-memorials-...ar-school-chelmsford
3892 Private J. Hindson, Eamont Bridge.
3947 Private W. Todd, Eamont Bridge.
3955 Private J. Wright, Albert-street, Penrith. 3918 Private J. Park, Millom. 3883 Private E. H. Fenton, Graham-street, Penrith.
3940 Private F. W. Slee, Kirkbythorpe.
3958 Private G. Watt, Morland. www.angloboerwar.com/forum/17-memorials-...-westmorland-cumbria 3849 Corporal C. W. Wilson, Liverpool.
3855 Trumpeter R. Bayliffe, Hexham.
3894 Private R. Hodgson, Carlisle.

The loss to Eamont Bridge is great, for no less than two out of the three yeomen who went from that village with the Yeomanry have been killed. Little did those who took part in the gathering at the Bee Hive Hotel in February think that in so short a time two of those whom they were sending away with such hearty wishes for their welfare, would fill soldier's graves. Private Hindson was 27 years of age and his stepmother lives in the village. His father is dead. He had previously been a member of the Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry for some years. His brother, Private W. Hindson, is at present serving with the Active Service Volunteers from Penrith. Private Todd was a son of Mr. Thos. Todd, miller, Eamont, and he, too, was a member of the local Yeomanry. He was a single man, working with his father, and was 25 years of age.

Mid Cumberland and North Westmorland Herald, Saturday 9th June 1900

www.angloboerwar.com/forum/17-memorials-...erland?start=6#63112

The Todd family gravestone in Penrith Cemetery.




Soulby is a hamlet, close to Pooley Bridge, at the northern end of Ullswater.
www.thecumbriadirectory.com/Town_or_Vill...own=soulby_(penrith)

deacs also added a photo of this gravestone.
www.angloboerwar.com/forum/17-memorials-...erland?start=6#63112