TOPIC:

QUEEN'S SOUTH AFRICA
CLASPS :RHODESIA /RELIEF OF MAFEKING /TRANSVAAL
CONDITION :EF

Trooper Donald Robertson attested to the Rhodesia Regiment on 10th September 1899 in Bulawayo and was assigned to 'C' Squadron.

He was killed in action at the attempted relief of Mafeking on 31st March 1900.

Much of the following two paragraphs contain extracts from "The Siege of Mafeking" (1900) by J. Angus Hamilton (quoted for research purposes only).

Robertson was one of 500 men who struck out by different routes towards Mafeking under Colonel Plumer, in an attempt to fight their way into the besieged town. Having lived rough since October 1899 and 'not spent a night under a roof or slept in a bed for five months', Plumer's mounted force now ventured deep into the Transvaal covering 70 miles in 26 hours, a remarkable feat made more impressive by not losing a single horse in the extreme prevailing conditions.
The Boers under General Jacobus P. Snyman moved in quickly to surround Plumer's men and, owing to faulty information received from Baden-Powell, who had mistakenly led Plumer to believe that a second relief force was approaching Mafeking from the south, the Rhodesia Regiment quickly found itself alone and vulnerable. It suffered severe casualties, including Trooper Robertson, who was among 8 men killed : the wounded included Plumer, who was shot through the arm. The first the defenders knew of the relief effort was when the bodies of three Troopers were brought within the defences,'to friends who knew them not'. According to the Official History, it would have been much worse except for the 'masterly handling of the squadrons rearguard actions'.

Men of the Rhodesia Regiment also killed or wounded to die later were :
Lt. Milligan, F. (interred Mafeking)
297 Tpr. Shuckburgh, J. P. (died of wounds 11/04/1900,interred?)
426 Tpr. Davies, O. B. (interred?)
349 Tpr. Webster, C. (interred?)
Tpr. Schultz, J. (interred-Sehikale Pan)
Tpr. Baldwin, A. (died of wounds 11/05/1900-interred Petronella)
456 Tpr. Lees, T. (interred Lobatsi NR)

I noted these casualties from SAFF(1982) and cross referenced with S. Watt (In Memoriam 2000) and took particular interest in the sites where the men were interred(where known). They appear to be the first casualties of the relief force within the Mafeking area.
The fact that Robertson was interred in Mafeking makes for a compellingly strong case, I feel, that Robertson's body was one of those of the three Troopers that were brought within the defences as mentioned in the extract from Holland above.
Maybe Robertson was one of the first of the relief column to enter Mafeking, albeit as a posthumous hero of Colonel Plumer's attempted relief mission?

Is there any mileage in my theory? I welcome comments from our learned forum please. And also welcome any corrections where I am in error.

P. S. An extant QSA with clasp R of M of interest to David. Have you recorded this one before?
Cheers,
Steve

Steve,

A very nice medal whose existence I have added to the RoM roll - thank you.

The Rhodesia Regiment page says only this about the engagement:

On 26th March they made an incursion into the Transvaal to within twelve miles of Zeerust, and on the 31st they reconnoitred to within six miles of Mafeking. On this date the enemy was found in strength, and the British mounted troops lost heavily. Colonel Plumer was wounded on the arm. The Rhodesian Regiment had Captain F Crewe and Lieutenant Milligan and 6 men killed, and Major Weston Jarvis, Captain Maclaren, and Captain Holt, and 30 men wounded.

Maurice 9https://www.angloboerwar.com/images/pdf/maurice03-06.pdf) says:

Nevertheless, BadenPowell still deprecated any attempt by Plumer to relieve him. He was soon justified by the heavy resistance encountered by Plumer, when on March 31st he attempted the reconnaissance from Ramathlabama to be described in Chapter VII. The sharpness of that affair, little lessened by a showy demonstration toward the north made by Baden-Powell himself, proved clearly that to attempt to succour Mafeking with a few hundred men was still impracticable.

Maurice's chapter 7 ( www.angloboerwar.com/images/pdf/maurice03-07.pdf ) gives a little more detail on page 201.

I am still looking into that story of the bodies being taken to Mafeking.

Best wishes
David

David
Many thanks for the link provided regarding this action and Plumers attempted relief. It is difficult to see what more the column could reasonably have been expected to achieve with 500 men other than draw a portion of the boer forces away from the town. Which was done but at great cost.

The two paragraphs in my original post are copied from a note which came with the medal. I have not read the reference work by Holland myself, yet.
So maybe the report of the three Troopers' bodies may be just a story after all! Even so, I look forward to your further comment should you be able to add any credence one way or the other.
Many thanks again.
Steve

Moranthorse 1
Last night, I had a look through Colin Walker's "Mafeking Siege Slips" for any reference to the return of the bodies but could not find any. If such an event occurred, I would have thought it would have been referred to. Plumer's operation on 31/3 is mentioned in the Slips - as are the casualties - but nothing more I could find.
Regards
IL.

IL,
Many thanks for taking the time to investigate this further.
Such an event would have been significant and surely would have been recorded in the slips as you say.
Perhaps it is just another story? Perhaps Robertson's body may have been reinterred at a later date in Mafeking? I shall keep looking for any more possible leads and post anything of interest.
But, a great medal and pleased to have Trooper Robertson's QSA in my cabinet.
Cheers Steve