TOPIC:

Sergeant Nigel Locke, Natal Mounted Police.

The information below comes from Lancing College War Memorial website, but that was a word-for-word copy of a biography prepared for the Old Bordenian Association. Does anyone have a photo of him we could add, both here and for Lancing College? www.hambo.org/lancing/view_man.php?id=277

Nigel Locke was born at Dane House Hartlip on the 2nd of January 1871 the son of Frederick Locke JP DL and Harriett Elizabeth (nee Goord) Locke of Dane House, Hartlip near Sittingbourne in Kent.

He was educated at Borden Grammar School and at Lancing College where he was in School House from September 1887 to July 1890. He was a member of the Cricket XI in 1889 and 1890 and of the Football XI in 1889/90.

On the 24th of March 1892 he enlisted in the Natal Mounted Police with who he later served during the South African War seeing considerable action with this unit during the Second Boer War.

As the history of the Natal Mounted Police relates, twenty police under Sergeant Locke had been attached to the Natal Volunteers for several months when they received orders to proceed from Dundee, Natal to Zululand. They rode from the Tugela River up to Melmoth, and remained there for several weeks until ordered to go on a four-day patrol to Mahlabatini. After establishing a camp near the town’s magistracy, a patrol was sent out each morning before dawn, riding down the road towards Emtonjeneni, and this patrol went out as usual on 28 April 1901.

As the men rode past a mealie patch about two miles from Mahlabatini, a shot was fired and one of the policemen quickly galloped back to report the incident. A force of nineteen troopers and three non-commissioned officers was assembled under Sergeant Locke, and they set out accompanied by Mr. Wheelwright, the magistrate, and Colonel Bottomley, a regular army officer. The men rode down the road and made a thorough search of the mealie patch but, on finding nothing, went along the veldt towards the Emtonjeneni store, about three miles away, until they reached a place where the road divided in two (the main track passing to the left, with another path going straight on through some wattle trees). Followed by four men, Wheelwright went along the main track and galloped to the top of a ridge, whereupon they came under a hail of enemy bullets – the rising sun clearly illuminated the men on the skyline, making them an easy target for the Boers concealed nearby.

Upon hearing these shots, the advance party of those men that had gone along the path formed into skirmishing order and entered a patch of trees where the Boers were hiding. The policemen were almost immediately ambushed, however, and every man was killed. The rest of the police detachment then rushed to the scene, at which point a Boer named van Neikerk, “more courageous than the others”, emerged from the trees and called upon the remaining policemen to surrender. They refused and van Neikerk responded by opening fire on the troopers, killing one of their horses, but was quickly shot down. The policemen then dismounted and took cover, spreading well out and opening fire whenever they saw the slightest enemy movement. Some six hours after the first shots had been fired, the Boers were finally driven off and the dead and wounded troopers were loaded onto a wagon.

Sergeant Locke had been seriously wounded in the opening stages of the engagement, and was found lying on the ground with his head resting on his saddle. He was, with difficulty, placed on the wagon, but the jolting proved so bad that a stretcher had to be improvised. Most of the troopers had, however, returned to their camp at Mahlabatini by this stage, and there were not enough men to carry Locke’s stretcher. Fortunately, a group of thirty natives then appeared and, as the history of the Natal Mounted Police recounts, “they were told to carry the stretcher in which Sergeant Locke was lying, but they were in a violent frame of mind. ‘We cannot do it, we want to fight’, they replied emphatically. It was only when the barrel of a revolver was held close to the Induna’s [native leader’s] head that he ordered eight of his men to act as bearers, and this they did with reluctance.”

Locke was, however, mortally wounded and died that same evening. He was buried with four of his troopers the following morning and, as nothing better could be found, their graves were marked with rough crosses made from biscuit boxes.

It was later ascertained that the Boer force had numbered about 150, eleven of whom were killed by the Natal Mounted Police. The remainder of the enemy fell back and, convinced that they had been opposed by an entire regiment, killed their native spies who had told them that there were only a few policemen in the area. When the Boers eventually discovered how many troopers had been defending Mahlabatini, they sent along “a rather disconcerting message” to the effect that they would visit the camp on the first moonlit night and kill every man there, a threat that was never carried out.

Tributes to the bravery of the Natal Mounted Police poured in, and Lord Kitchener, the commander-in-chief, issued the following telegram immediately after the engagement:-

“Please express to the chief magistrate and civil commissioner, Zululand, and to [the] Natal Police, my appreciation of the gallant defence of the Mahlabatini magistracy, by the magistrate and staff and field force of the Natal Police. I greatly regret their heavy loss, but in such a brilliant action losses are inevitable. Please send [the] names of any men who have distinguished themselves.”

The prime minister, Lord Salisbury, also sent a telegram on behalf of the British Government:-

“The Government has learnt with deep regret of the loss of so many brave lives in the attack on the Mahlabatini magistracy yesterday morning. It desires, however, to express its admiration of the brilliant manner in which the Natal Police field force acquitted itself on that occasion, when attacked with overwhelming strength, with the result that the attack was repulsed and the enemy were defeated. I beg of you to be good enough to convey this expression of appreciation to the remaining members of the field force who took part in the engagement.”

When news of Nigel Locke’s death reached Hartlip, the church bells were rung half-muffled as a mark of respect and his family later dedicated a stone tablet to his memory inside the church itself.

He is commemorated on a monument near the scene of the action along with the other men of his unit who took part in the action. They were:-

No 1292 Sergeant LOCKE
No 1784 Sergeant COLLET
No 2339 Trooper ALDWINCKLE
No 1779 Trooper CAMERON
No 1837 Trooper NELSON
No 2370 Trooper SALMOND (wounded)
No 1726 Trooper SMITH (wounded slightly)

His brother, Captain Harold Locke of the 1st Battalion Royal Irish Regiment died during the Great War on the 10th of October 1918.

Berenice,

A fascinating story.

I have just searched the newspapers and not even found a mention of him, never mind a photo

There is another memorial to him here:

www.kenthistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=7936.0

From The Times, 1 May 1901



From The Times, 15 May 1901. Showing that the Government can move very quickly whan it wants to:

Here is Holt's account of the incident at Mahlanatini:

www.angloboerwar.com/books/52-holt-mount...fence-of-mahlabatini

Berenice
Thank you for retelling the story of the 'Defence of Mahlabatini' and showing Sgt Locke's memorial.

David
Thank you for adding to the record of this affair.

It was indeed a proud day in the history of the Natal Police when a small number of them were put to the test. The men in Zululand had a largely thankless time in a backwater of the war, but Mahlabatini gave them an acknowledgement from the British High Command that they well deserved. I have told the muddled story of their reward elsewhere, but it is worth repeating here.

A NATAL POLICE DCM

In his book “The Mounted Police of Natal” (John Murray, 1913), H P Holt gives a detailed account of what he termed the “Defence of Mahlabatini”, which is summarised below.

On 28/4/1901, a Natal Police (NP) patrol near Mahlabatini in Zululand was ambushed by a Boer commando. The men managed to return to their camp and a reinforced patrol of a three non-commissioned officers and 19 troopers was sent out in search of the Boers. Another ambush led to a prolonged fire-fight that ended when the Boers retreated. The NP casualties were four killed, two mortally wounded and one wounded. It was later discovered that the Boer commando comprised 150 men, of whom 11 were killed. The Boers shot their Zulu spies in the mistaken belief that they had lied about the strength of the NP detachment at Mahlabatini. Later, after discovering that their spies had been telling the truth, they sent a message to the NP at Mahlabatini threatening revenge. They did, however, not return.

Both Lord Kitchener, Commander of the British Army in South Africa, and the Prime Minister of Natal, sent congratulatory messages to the NP. Two participants of the Mahlabatini action were later decorated with the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM). They were:
1st Class Sergeant J H Evans, who was promoted to Sub-Inspector.
2nd Class Sergeant A J Smith, who was promoted to 1st Class Sergeant.

Sergeant Evans’ DCM was later to become subject to some confusion because of errors made in recordings of his affiliation and in confusing him with other men.

A misunderstanding of the structure of the NP during the Boer War was behind two of the four identified faulty records. During the war there were two groups of Natal Policemen who saw active service. The first was the NP Field Force, which was made up of men detached from normal policing and who were specifically tasked with engaging the enemy. The second group comprised men of the NP District Police, who were still employed in normal policing but, when the need arose, they too engaged the enemy. This is known to have happened with the District Police of Dundee, Ladysmith, Estcourt and parts of Zululand.

It so happened that at Mahlabatini in April 1901 Sgt Evans was a member of the District Police, while Sgt Smith was serving with the NP Field Force. When their DCM’s were gazetted this distinction was recorded as “Sgt A.J. Smith, Natal Police” and “Sgt J.H. Evans, District Police” (South African Honours and Awards, 1899 – 1902. Arms and Armour Press reprint, 1971). Although Smith and Evans were both members of the NP, this recorded distinction was to confuse at least two researchers.

In his book, “Recipients of the Distinguished Conduct Medal 1855 – 1909” (J B Hayward & Sons, 1975), P R Abbott recorded Evans as being in the “(Cape) District Police”. Since the Cape Police (CP) was divided into several administrative districts, Abbott mistakenly concluded that Evans served in the CP, which in fact never entered Natal and Zululand. This error was due to a poor understanding of the police forces of the Cape and Natal, as well as the location of, and participants in the Mahlabatini engagement. Abbott did at least bracket “(Cape)”, which suggested some doubt in his mind.

No such doubt troubled the medal roll compiler, D R Forsyth. In his book, “Medals for Gallantry and Distinguished Conduct awarded to Natal, Cape Colony and Union Defence Force Units” (1981), Evans was recorded as being a member of the Cape Police.

These were not the first mistakes in the recording of Evans’ DCM. In his book, “The Colonials in South Africa 1899 – 1902” (The Naval & Military Press reprint), John Stirling recorded Kitchener’s 8/12/1901 despatch as follows:
“Natal Police – Sgt. Lane, for excellent service in defence of a convoy from Melmoth to Nkandhla, May 29. Sgt. A.J. Smith of the Police, and Tpr. A.W. Evans of the M.R., got the D.C.M.”

J H Evans is not mentioned and, instead, the name of Tpr A W Evans of the Natal Mounted Rifles is mistakenly included under the “Natal Police” heading. A W Evans was awarded the DCM for gallantry on 29/10/1899 in an action that preceded the Siege of Ladysmith. This action and the award are covered in detail in “The Official Natal Mounted Rifles History” by Eric Goetzsche.

Less excusable than the three errors recorded above was the one made by retired Natal Policeman, A A Wood, in his book, “Natal. Past and Present” (Arthur H Stockwell Ltd, Ilfracombe, Devon, 1962). His account of the Mahlabatini action included the following:
“Awards: Sergeant J.H. Evans was promoted to Sub-Inspector, and two Distinguished Conduct Medals were awarded to No. 1432 Sergeant J.A. Smith, and No. 1726 Trooper Jack Smith.”

Wood at least allowed Evans his promotion, but he credited his DCM to Tpr Jack Smith, who may have been the man wounded at Mahlabatini, but who certainly was not awarded a DCM.

Judging from entries in the NP Headquarter’s Order Book, Evans continued to serve in Zululand until at least the end of the war. He was awarded the QSA with the clasps ‘Natal’ and ‘Transvaal’, the latter indicating his service in those parts of the Vryheid district that bordered on Zululand. Evans is one of many Natal Policemen who should have been awarded the KSA.

Evans retired from the NP in 1904 and evidently returned to Britain. When World War I broke out he enlisted in the Royal Fusiliers and later served at Gallipoli and in France with the Lancashire Fusiliers. He reached the rank of Captain and was awarded the 1914/15 Star trio of medals. His group of five medals was offered for sale by Liverpool Medals on 6 May 2009.

It is extraordinary that there has been so much confusion surrounding J H Evans’ DCM. Hopefully, this account will set the record straight.

21/3/2011