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A Battle of Colenso casualty 12 years 3 months ago #1669

  • Brett Hendey
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One of the many British casualties during the Battle of Colenso on 15 December 1899 was a young Sergeant who went on to live a long and unremarkable life far from his place of birth. One, and perhaps the only tangible reminder of his life are the medals he was awarded for his military service. They have a special place in my medal collection and I think of the man on the anniversary of what was perhaps the most memorable day in his life.

3150 Sergeant J Towey, Royal Dublin Fusiliers.
QSA (Talana, Relief of Ladysmith, Transvaal).

904 Sergeant J Towey, South African Engineers.
1914/15 Star, War Medal, Victory Medal and Silver War Badge.

John Towey was a Roman Catholic, who was born in Longton, Staffordshire, in about 1868. He served a six year apprenticeship and qualified as a General Blacksmith.

He joined the Royal Dublin Fusiliers (RDF) on 18/11/1888. His choice of an Irish regiment may have been because the Towey family had its origins in Ballaghaderreen, County Roscommon, Ireland. This town was the site of a British military barracks dating back to 1798, so the Toweys may have had an earlier link with the Imperial army. John Towey was granted two Good Conduct Badges, he completed the 2nd Class Certificate of Education on 14/6/1892 and reached the rank of Sergeant on 23/8/1895. He served in Britain until 7/1/1895; in the East Indies from 6/2/1895 until 17/5/1897; and in South Africa from 18/5/1897 until his discharge on 11/11/1901; a total of 13 years.

When the Anglo-Boer War broke out, Towey was stationed at Dundee with the 2nd RDF and he took part in the Battle of Talana on 20/10/1899, the first setpiece battle of the war. The RDF played a leading role in the assault on Talana hill. The regiment was on the left flank and suffered many casualties. Towey evidently survived the battle unscathed and was in the retreat of the British force to Ladysmith.

Half of one company of the RDF was besieged in Ladysmith, while the rest formed part of Major-General Hart’s Irish Brigade in the subsequent operations to relieve the siege. The first concerted effort to break through the Boer lines was with the Battle of Colenso on 15/12/1899. Once again, the RDF was on the left flank of the attack. The Irish Brigade was soon in trouble after missing their target crossing on the Tugela River and moving into a loop of the river, where they came under intense fire from the Boers. The Irish regiments were pinned down and there were heavy casualties, amongst them Sergeant Towey, who received gunshot wounds to the hand and foot. The Brigade was eventually extricated, but left behind over 500 men dead, wounded and captured. The entire attacking force eventually left the field of battle after the third humiliating defeat for the British in what became known as “Black Week”. Towey was one of the 756 British soldiers wounded on that day.

It is not known if Towey had to wait until the next day to be rescued from the battlefield, but his wounds were serious enough for him to miss the subsequent actions of the RDF in the relief operations and to be sent back to Britain for treatment in February 1900. He later returned to South Africa and was posted to the 1st RDF. He took part in operations in the Transvaal. When his period of enlistment expired on 11/11/1901 he took his discharge and settled in Natal. He was awarded the QSA with the clasps Talana, Relief of Ladysmith and Transvaal.

Towey’s civilian life was not interrupted by the 1906 Natal Rebellion, so he had evidently not joined one of the Colony’s volunteer regiments. He did, however, serve in the German South West African campaign during World War I. He enlisted in the South African Engineers on 26/10/1914 and served with ‘C’ Company in GSWA, presumably as a blacksmith, the trade he engaged in throughout his working life. He was discharged on 18/8/1915, evidently on medical grounds because he was awarded the Silver War Badge (No. 4755) and King’s Certificate (No. 4643). He was also awarded the 1914/15 Star (24/12/1920), and War and Victory Medals (19/5/1922).

A little is known of Towey’s family life. After leaving the RDF he settled in Pietermaritzburg, Natal, where he married a 26 year old spinster, Emily Symes. Their wedding was in St Mary’s Catholic Church on 5/2/1902. The fact that the marriage took place so soon after his discharge on 11/11/1901 suggests that couple had met earlier during Towey’s posting in Natal, and that Emily was the reason for him leaving the army and settling in South Africa. The couple had two sons and four daughters.

Natal Almanacs record that Towey resided in Pietermaritzburg until at least 1907 and that by 1910 he had moved to Durban, where he spent the rest of his life. His trade was most often given as “blacksmith”, but he was also described as an “engineer”. In the Almanac for 1913 – 1916, which covers the period of his World War I service, he is recorded as a “springmaker”. The first mention of his employment by the South African Railways is in the Almanac for 1918 – 1921. He evidently remained with the Railways and he later drew a Railways’ pension. Emily died in 1930 at the comparatively young age of 54 years. John died in 1947 aged 79 years and 10 months.

Towey was evidently proud of his military service. With his unmounted medals came two ribbon bars, one professionally made and the other clearly home-made, with the 1914/5 Star ribbon reversed. Both are in a very sorry state and they must have been worn over long periods, probably with the home-made one replacing the other after it was worn out. Towey may have had a job during his retirement, perhaps as a commissionaire, which required the wearing of a uniform that allowed him to display a record of his military service.

20/4/2011


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Re: A Battle of Colenso casualty 12 years 3 months ago #1671

  • Mark Wilkie
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Thanks, Brett, a most interesting account of the life and service of John Towey on the 112th anniversary of the Battle of Colenso.

Cheers,

Mark

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