TOPIC:

In anticipation of the anniversary of the lifting of the Ladysmith Siege, I am showing the medals of a young Natal Carbineers' Trooper, who took part in the patrol of Colonials that galloped into Ladysmith late on the afternoon of 28 February 1900 to bring an end to the Siege. The medals include a name-erased replacement KSA.

While the names of officers who were with the patrol are recorded, as are the names of some men who falsely claimed to have been present, the many 'other ranks' are mostly unknown. An exception is Trooper Harry Symons, whose story is told below.

HARRY EUSTACE SYMONS

Queen’s South Africa Medal, with five clasps (Orange Free State, Relief of
Ladysmith, Transvaal, Laing’s Nek, Tugela Heights). (Tugela Heights is
a late issue and is out of order on the ribbon.)
Tpr H E Symons 342, Natal Carbineers.
King’s South Africa Medal, with two clasps (South Africa 1901 & 1902).
Lieut H E Symons, Natal Volunteer Composite Regiment.
(Medal missing.)
Natal Rebellion Medal, with 1906 clasp.
SSM H Symons, Border Mounted Rifles.


Harry Eustace Symons was born in about 1865 at Hardingsdale, Claridge, in Natal. Claridge is now a suburb of Pietermaritzburg. He was the son of John Philip Symons and Laura Symons.

John Philip Symons was a prominent Civil Servant and politician in Natal during the latter part of the 19th Century. He held the post of Auditor for many years and was appointed to several temporary posts in the absence of the incumbents. These included Resident Magistrate at Umgeni (Howick) and Klip River (Ladysmith), Postmaster General, and Secretary of Native Affairs. He became a Member of the Legislative Assembly in the 1890’s.

Harry Symons applied for employment in the Natal Civil Service in 1890.

He served in the Natal Carbineers (NC) and Natal Volunteer Composite Regiment (VCR) throughout the Anglo-Boer War (1899 – 1902). At the outbreak of the War he was a Trooper (No. 342) in the Estcourt-Weenen Squadron of the NC and took part in the operations to relieve the Siege of Ladysmith as a member of the Composite Regiment (Major H Gough) of the Mounted Brigade (Earl of Dundonald).

The Composite Regiment was made mainly of Colonial troops from the NC (one squadron of about 90 men), Imperial Light Horse (one squadron of about 90 men), Natal Police (a detachment of about 40 men), and smaller detachments from the Natal Mounted Rifles (26 men) and Border Mounted Rifles (11 men). The Imperial Army was represented by the King’s Royal Rifle Corps Mounted Infantry (one company of about 110 men), and, later, one company of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Mounted Infantry.

Harry Symons’ first action was the Battle of Willow Grange (22/11/1899), which took place on and around the farm ‘Glenbella’, a few miles south of Estcourt, during the Boers’ only major incursion south of the Tugela River in the direction of Pietermaritzburg. ‘Glenbella’ was owned by F Symons, whose relationship to Harry has yet to be determined. The farm is still in the hands of the Symons family. Harry nearly became a casualty during this Battle. Coghlan (1994: 8 ) records that while manhandling a naval 12-pounder up Beacon Hill “Trooper Harry Symons … apparently nearly drowned in a stream near Beacon Hill station”.

The Mounted Brigade was used in patrols during the operations to relieve Ladysmith, the NC squadron being particularly effective in this respect, since it was made up of men who lived in the area and who spoke Zulu.

The first major battle involving the Mounted Brigade was the Battle of Colenso (15/12/1899). The Mounted Brigade was given the task of capturing Hlangwane, the only Boer-held hill south of the Tugela River, and on the extreme right flank of the British attack. Infantry support was required to press home the attack but, when this not forthcoming, the attack failed and the Mounted Brigade withdrew. Their casualties were light compared with those suffered by the infantry and artillery further west. Overall the Battle of Colenso was a disaster for the British. The NC lost four men killed and several wounded.

In the weeks that followed the NC took part in many patrols and clashed with the Boers on several occasions, but it was not until the build-up to the Battle of Spioenkop (24/1/1900) that a significant contact with the Boers was made. On 18/1/1900, while scouting ahead of the infantry near Acton Homes, west of Spioenkop, a detachment from the Composite Regiment, including the NC, ambushed a Boer patrol, killing 10, wounding eight and taking 24 prisoners. The chance for the British to secure an entry into Ladysmith via Acton Homes was not taken and, instead, the infantry was used to assault the high ground south of the Acton Homes-Ladysmith road. The Boers prevailed in the Battles of Spioenkop and Vaalkrantz and the British retired back to their Chieveley base.

The plan to relieve Ladysmith that failed in the Battle of Colenso was modified in the next stage of the relief operation. Starting on 12/2/1900, the Mounted Brigade, this time with infantry support, captured the high ground of Hussar Hill, Cingolo and Monte Cristo south of the Tugela River, and then assaulted Hlangwane, the object of their attack during the Battle of Colenso. This time the assault was pressed home and with the fall of Hlangwane on 21/2/1900 the Boers lost their foothold on the south side of the Tugela River. The infantry then crossed to the north bank by way of a pontoon bridge and with the Battles of Tugela Heights (22 – 27/2/1900) opened the way to Ladysmith.

The Mounted Brigade then moved ahead of the infantry to scout the country between the Tugela River and Ladysmith. Late in the afternoon of 28/2/1900 advance elements of the Composite Regiment found a clear way ahead of them into Ladysmith. A column made up of the NC, Imperial Light Horse, Natal Police and, possibly, a few men from other units galloped into Ladysmith, thus bringing the 118 day siege to an end.

Harry Symons probably took part in many of the patrols leading up to the Battle of Colenso, this battle itself, and subsequent actions, including the one at Acton Homes. However, he definitely took part in the final dramatic event that ended the siege. After the War, Symons was awarded the Queen’s South Africa Medal (QSA) with four clasps (Orange Free State, Relief of Ladysmith, Transvaal, Laing’s Nek). He was clearly entitled to a fifth clasp (Tugela Heights), and he entered into a lengthy battle with local military authorities to secure it. In a letter dated 10/8/1906 addressed to his then military commander, Captain J Schofield of the Border Mounted Rifles (BMR), he recounted his efforts to obtain this clasp, and wrote:
“The Clasp for Tugela Heights is an important one - & one I should not like to lose - I was with Col. McKenzie during the operation around Colenso right up to the Relief of Ladysmith & rode into the town with the Carbineers on that memorable day, the 28th Feb. 1900.”

Although the names of the officers who took part in this final climactic event are recorded (e.g. Stirling 1907), few of those of other ranks involved are known. Harry Symons is one of the few. His claim to have been present in the final gallop into Ladysmith cannot have been unjustified, since it was made successively to officers in the NC and BMR, as well as the Commandant of Natal Militia, any of whom would have exposed it, if untrue.

Symons finally received the Tugela Heights clasp late in 1906.

He continued to serve with the NC until the regiment stood down in September 1900. Like many other members of his and other Natal regiments he then enlisted in the Natal Volunteer Composite Regiment (VCR) (No. 41). Initially he held the rank of Corporal, but later was promoted to Sergeant and, finally, Lieutenant.

A diary kept by a fellow Carbineer, Tpr J B Nicholson, recording his service in the VCR between 3/10/1900 and 27/7/1901, includes several mentions of Harry Symons (Coghlan 2004). The diary entries tell of incidents in the areas patrolled by the VCR in northern Natal, the adjacent districts of Vryheid and Utrecht in the Transvaal, and in Zululand.

On 16/12/1900, following the successful Boer attack on Lancaster Hill the previous day, the VCR went along the road to Piet Retief in search of the Boer camp. Corporal Symons and detachments, first of eight men, then of three men, scouted ahead and came under Boer fire. Artillery was called in and cleared the way ahead of Boers. The VCR then retreated to Dundee.

On 25/12/1900, the VCR was patrolling along the Buffalo River in the vicinity of Rorke’s Drift and Fugitive’s Drift. Corporal Symons and Trooper Nicholson went in search of a Christmas turkey on a farm at the foot of the Biggarsberg. They were successful in their quest and the turkey and other treats were prepared for a Christmas feast held in the late afternoon.

0n 4/1/1901 and the following day, Corporal Symons and Trooper Lewis went under a flag of truce to deliver a proclamation by Lord Kitchener to the Boers urging their surrender. The men failed to locate the Boers, so the proclamation never reached the Boers in this area. It clearly would have served no purpose because the War was to continue for another 17 months.

On 19/7/1901, Symons, now a Sergeant, led a group of five men and Colonel Evans, Officer Commanding the VCR, on an expedition to the Zulu War battlefield at Isandlwana. They visited the scattered graves, including those where the Natal Carbineers and Natal Mounted Police made a final stand in their effort to protect Colonel Durnford. Symons and the others went on to Rorke’s Drift in the late afternoon.

No record has been found of Symons’ activities in the last ten months of the War, although, since it was during this period that he was promoted to Lieutenant, he clearly was a valued member of the VCR. His service throughout 1901 until the end of the War on 31/5/1902 qualified him for the award of the King’s South Africa Medal, with clasps South Africa 1901 and South Africa 1902. This medal has been separated from Symons’ QSA and its whereabouts is unknown.

After the War, Harry Symons farmed at Riverlea in the Underberg district. He remained a part-time soldier, but his new location meant a transfer from the Natal Carbineers to the Border Mounted Rifles, with his squadron headquarters being at Ixopo.

It was with the BMR that Symons served as a Squadron Sergeant Major during the Natal Rebellion in 1906. He was awarded the relevant medal and, having served for more than 50 days, he qualified for the 1906 clasp.

Late in 1913, Symons applied for permission to take a female domestic servant with him to British East Africa (Kenya). Since the servant was Coloured (“the illegitimate daughter of a Dutchman & a Native Girl”) approval from the Chief Native Commissioner was required. In fact, on 3/2/1914, the Magistrate at Himeville was to record “that Mr Symons left for B.E. Africa without the girl, who returned to her people at Mkomanzi”. This matter is of interest because it documents Symons’ departure from Natal, evidently to settle in Kenya.

Harry Symons died at Eldoret, Kenya, on 20/10/1953 aged 88 years and three months. In his Death Notice issued by the Master of the Supreme Court in Pietermaritzburg on 14/1/1955, Symons’ address in Kenya was given as “Devondale, Uasin Gishu District”. His wife’s name was given as Frances Lillian Symons (nee Whitridge). They had no childen. Frances, who had been born in Timaru, New Zealand, died in the Eldoret European Hospital on 19/2/1961, aged 84 years and eight months. In her Death Notice it is recorded that she had married Harry at Caversham in the Lion’s River District on 24/1/1906.

Since both deaths were recorded in Pietermaritzburg, the Symons’ had clearly maintained links with Natal, but the extent and nature of these links are not known.


REFERENCES

Coghlan, M. C. 1994. On the Fringes of Buller’s Army. Unpublished
manuscript.

Coghlan, M. C. 2004. From the very beginning to the very end. Natalia 34:
17 – 49.

Stirling, J. 1907. The Colonials in South Africa 1899 – 1902. Reprint
published by The Naval & Military Press Ltd.


24/8/2007

Thanks for sharing, Brett. As always a most interesting group. Ron Lock is scathing of the failure to exploit the success at Acton Homes in his recent publication, Hill of Squandered Valour.

I read with interest your mention of Symons seeking the permission of the Chief Native Commissioner for a servant to accompany him to East Africa. I've recently been researching that very man. I presume it must have been Charles Apthorp Wheelwright CMG?

Wheelwright also had a lengthy QSA-related battle with the military authorities over his entitlement to the QSA while serving as Magistrate of Mahlabatini and organising its defence. There was of course the ambush of the Natal Police patrol he was with at Mahlabatini on 28th April 1901. His battle with the military authorities seemed to have started in 1904 and went on to 1911. He got his QSA in the end.

I had a look at the East African Mounted Rifles nominal roll to see if he Symons was on it. He seemed just the type of man that would have enlisted in the EAMR. I guess he was getting on by 1914-15. I also had a quick look to see if I could pick up his name on any of the other East African rolls or the unattached list but didn't come across any matching name.

Cheers,

Mark

Hi Mark

Thank you for responding to my post.

I think that, in general, the British military seriously under-estimated the worth of Colonial troops during the Boer War, hence mistakes such as that at Acton Homes. Those officers 'forced' into close association with Colonials (e.g. the OC's of the Composite Regiment of the Mounted Brigade, Imperial Light Horse and Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry, to name but a few), saw things differently. As the war progressed attitudes changed and Colonial mounted infantry became indispensible to the British cause.

The name of the Chief Native Commissioner is not given in the documents relating to Symons' application but no doubt it was the man you have been researching.

I did not know the saga of Wheelwright's QSA, but it isn't surprising. Colonials must have added considerably to the stress levels in the medal section of the War Office. My favourite remains Sub-Inspector James Hamilton of the Natal Police, who took 25 years to get his well-earned KSA, a matter that I have referred to elsewhere in this forum.

Thank you for checking East African military rolls for Symons' name. Perhaps his new farming venture left him no time for military service.

Regards
Brett

Hello Brett,

Thank you for posting the story. Much enjoyed.

Regards

Adrian

Hi Brett, very much the case. I recall the saga of Hamilton's KSA. On the original application for the Wheelwright QSA there were 14 other names. Wheelwright was the only one to finally get a QSA. Wheelwright certainly deserved his but no doubt others on that list did too. One can't help thinking that with his CMG and his senior position in the Natal Government that he was able to exert enough pressure that they finally had to listen. If I recall Hamilton appeared to be well connected too.

Cheers,

Mark

Mark

It will always be so - using status and influence to achieve one's ends. Hamilton was recorded as a "gentleman" on one of his papers and he had certainly married well. He was, however, not in Major-General Dartnell's inner (i.e. Headquarters) circle, so had to fight his own battle to secure the KSA. Dartnell clearly used his influence to get the KSA awarded to his inner circle when, in fact, none qualified for the medal.

Adrian

Thanks for your comment.

Regards
Brett