TOPIC:

Medals to chaps who moved from the Navy to the Army are not exactly rare but medals to chaps who were with the NNC and then the SAHA aren't commonplace either.

William George Mitchell

Seaman, Natal Naval Corps (Bambatha Rebellion)
Private, 11th Infantry (Rand Light Infantry)
Bombardier, South African Field Artillery and 75th Battery, South African Heavy Artillery – WWI

- Natal Medal (Bambatha) with 1906 clasp to Seaman W.G. Mitchell, Natal Naval Corps
- 1914/15 Star to Pte. W.G. Mitchell, 11th Infantry
- British War Medal to Bombr. W.G. Mitchell, S.A.F.A.
- Victory Medal to Bombr. W.G. Mitchell, S.A.F.A.

William Mitchell was born in Whitby, Yorkshire on 27 April 1881 the son of William Miller Mitchell, a prosperous Brewer and his wife Catherine (born Moffat). At the time of the 1891 England census William was a boy of 9 in what can only be described as a large family. Elder brother Alexander was employed as an Assistant Teacher at the age of 16 whilst all the other siblings Catherine (14), Mary (12), Maggie (7) James (5), Charles (3) and baby Jessica (11 months) – were at home. Home was no longer the place of William’s birth – the family had moved to St. Aldgate in Oxfordshire where they lived at 6 Western Road. A young William was educated at the Central School in Oxford.

Sometime before the 1901 England census Mr Mitchell senior passed away leaving the family to fend largely for itself. Alexander, now a 26 year old Accountant’s Clerk took control of matters and moved the family to Stoke Newington in London where they lived at 36 Winston Road. Along with his widowed mother William, now 19 and an Ironmonger’s Assistant by trade, resided in the house with Mary (21), Charles (13) and Jessie (10). The Boer War had been raging since October of 1899 but William would appear not to have succumbed to the temptation to enlist with the various Imperial Yeomanry outfits being raised to help the Regular Army defeat the Boers in far-away South Africa. Instead he bided his time until the war was over before making the decision to move south to a new land and the start of a new adventure.

Having arrived in South Africa he settled in Durban and soon immersed himself in his new environment joining the Durban Garrison Artillery in 1902 and serving with them until he joined the Natal Naval Volunteers as a Seaman in a voluntary, peace-time capacity in 1906.

The NNV had been established in 1885 as a coastal artillery unit tasked with defending the port of Durban but was too small and poorly equipped to serve its intended purpose, but it nevertheless remaining in existence until 1904 when the unit was renamed the Natal Naval Corps (NNC), retaining the same functions as its predecessor - a land-based coastal artillery battery defending the port of Durban. After the Anglo-Boer War, it had grown in size from about 125 men to over 200 and, like the NNV, it had only one opportunity for active service, this time during the Natal Rebellion of 1906.

Although the military might of the Zulu nation had been destroyed during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879, the Zulus, a war-like people, remained a cause for concern to the Europeans who had settled in the Colony of Natal. The Zulus resented being taxed without the representative benefits that normally attend taxation so it was grist to the mill when the Colonial Government desperate to source additional revenue after an expensive Boer War, happened upon a scheme to tax every adult black male above a certain age the sum of £1. The imposition of a Poll Tax (as it was labelled) on all Zulu men over the age of 18, and the collection of this tax, was the spark that ignited the Rebellion of 1906.

In one of the first “moves” of the rebellion a Natal Police patrol near Richmond, south of Pietermaritzburg, was attacked by resentful Zulus and two policemen were killed. This resulted in the Declaration of Martial Law on 9 February 1906. Natal's volunteer regiments were mobilized as the month wore on, with the NNC being called to arms on 23 February. Initially, military patrols were used to locate and arrest the men responsible for the deaths of the two policemen, as well as to keep order in the Richmond district and elsewhere in southern Natal.

The arrested men were executed by firing squad on 2 April and this set off trouble that had been brewing further north in Zululand. A Natal Police detachment escorting European settlers to safety was ambushed near the Zululand border on 4 April and four men were killed. Operations against the rebellious Zulus now shifted to Zululand and involved all Natal's volunteer units, including the NNC, as well as detachments of men from the Cape Colony and Transvaal. No Imperial troops took part in the Rebellion and there was opposition in Britain to the actions of the Colonists.

The rebellion in Zululand took the form of skirmishes spread over a wide area, with the Zulus invariably being defeated by the better armed and better organized Colonial militia. After the chief instigator and ringleader Chief Bambatha and his minions had been cornered in the remote Mome Gorge and he, having been captured, had been beheaded the conflict was over and in early August the Natal regiments were demobilized.

In an unrelated event, some Natal regiments, including the NNC, were remobilized in 1907 to take part in the arrest of the Zulu king, Dinizulu. A hundred men of the NNC formed part of Dinizulu's escort from the Zulu capital, Nongoma, to the Natal capital, Pietermaritzburg.

A medal with the effigy of King Edward VII was awarded to all troops and some civilians who took part in the Rebellion. Those that served for between 20 and 50 days received the medal without clasp, while those with more than 50 days service received the medal with a '1906' clasp. Men of the NNC received a total of 203 medals, 136 with clasp and 67 without. Seaman William Mitchell was in the latter category being awarded the medal with 1906 clasp.

The dust having settled Mitchell returned to his civilian pursuits. As an aside his widowed mother, according to the 1911 England census was living in Trowbridge, Wiltshire along with her two remaining daughters neither of whom were married with Mary now 32 and Jessie 20 years of age.

1914 saw the commencement, on 4 August, of the Great War – the War to end all Wars – between Germany and her sycophants on the one side and Great Britain and her supporters on the other. South Africa too was drawn into this war on the side of the Empire tasked with the job of putting the Radio Station in German South West Africa out of action. This was perceived by the Imperial authorities to be a potential threat to Allied shipping and General Botha, so recently a sworn enemy of the Empire’s, was called upon to assist.

After having to initially squash an internal Rebellion led by disaffected Boers the South African forces invaded the dusty and dry territory of German South West Africa and Mitchell who had relocated to the Transvaal in the intervening years, enlisted with the 11th Infantry (Rand Light Infantry) for service with “A” Company on 31 August 1914. Providing his mother, Mrs C Mitchell of 49 A, Trowbridge Road, Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire as his next of kin he was assigned no. 31 and the rank of Private.

Entering the theatre of war along with their comrades in the Imperial Light Horse as part of the Central Force they were soon in action with one of the first skirmishes being that of trying to intercept the German retreat from Kolmanskuppe. The R.L.I. were also “exposed” to enemy aircraft in November 1914 when one of the only aeroplanes in the territory, the German “Aus fly” flew slowly over their camp when, on sight of the aircraft “the Rand Light Infantry lay flat on their backs and let fly with every rifle they had”. The plane proceeded to drop an artillery shell attached to a string on them but this didn’t explode and failed to have the desired effect.

Mitchell was discharged from the regiment on 23 February 1915 on the expiry of his term of engagement and returned home being awarded the 1914/15 Star for his efforts. The dilemma that he and thousands of others now faced was to continue the fight, either in German East Africa or the Western Front in France and Flanders. The other option which some chose was to resume their civilian occupations and take no further part in the war.

Mitchell was made of sterner stuff and at Cape Town on 30 August 1915 completed the Attestation forms for service with the South African Field Artillery. Confirming that he was now 34 years and 4 months old he stated that he was a Clerk by occupation and unmarried. He had served an apprenticeship of 5 years with Mr J.A. Brown in Bradford on Avon and had been with him until Time Expired on 1 January 1900. He also confirmed his service with the R.L.I.

Physically he was 5 feet 6 inches in height, weighed 148 pounds and had a fresh complexion, grey-blue eyes and black tinged hair. To show just how devoted he was he sported a tattoo of the crest of the Natal Naval Volunteers on his right forearm and had operation scars on the side of his right leg by way of distinguishing characteristics. Having been passed as Fit for the army he was deployed to the S.A.F.A. Depot as a Gunner with no. 262. Mitchell’s career with the Field Artillery was to be a short one – on 2 November 1915 he was transferred to the South African Heavy Artillery with no. 811 which is where he was to remain for the rest of his service.

On 27 February 1916 the S.A.H.A. embarked aboard the “Saxon” for England and the Front. On arrival in England on 19 March 1916 Mitchell was posted to 75th Battery, S.A.H.A. (the Natal Battery). On 23 April he embarked at Southampton for the Front arriving at Le Havre the following day, Easter Monday. The Battery’s first shot of the first Battle of the Somme was fired on 11 June 1916 when the guns were calibrated, the target being the ruins of the church of La Boiselle so that when the barrage bombardment commenced on 1 July 1916 the Battery was prepared firing 1312 rounds before noon on that day. Mitchell, meanwhile, was admitted to 104 Field Ambulance on 16 June with a Scalded Foot which was put down to an accident. He re-joined the Battery on 24 June.

On 27 October they came into contact with the South African Infantry who were in the line near High Wood preparatory to taking part in the attack on Butte de Walencourt. Here they concerned themselves with counter battery work. On 29 January 1917 the position at High Wood was evacuated and the Battery went into billets in Albert.

The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line led to the 75th moving further south on 13 March where they came into action near Rouvroy assisting the French in an attack to be made on that front. On 19 March they returned to Assevillers and made preparations to follow up the enemy commencing the advance on 25 March and crossing the Somme using a pontoon bridge. On 6 April they moved to St Emilie and fired their first shots at the Hindenburg Line two days later. All moves after this were hampered by the muddy condition of the roads.

In early July the Battery’s work in the Somme area was over and the move was made to the Ypres salient. Mitchell, on 19 July, was granted 10 days leave and, shortly after his return, was admitted to hospital on 4 August with an undisclosed complaint which turned out to be a contusion of his left foot. This was serious enough for him to be moved to 54 General Hospital in Bolougne and then to the 1 C.D. at Ecault before re-joining his Battery in the field on 25 September 1917.

Back in action Mitchell and his Battery moved to Rudolph Farm on 5 October but no firing was done until 12 October owing to a lack of ammunition. Once ammo had come up firing on pillboxes and communications commenced with the Battery under constant and heavy artillery fire themselves. Until December 1917 they supported every attack made on the Pilkem Ridge, Passchendaele Ridge and Houthoust Forest. Mitchell was promoted to (unpaid) Lance Bombardier on 26 October 1917.

On 21 March 1918 the German offensive in the Somme area commenced and three days later the whole Brigade moved south billeting in Robecq on the 24th. They then moved just north of Arras where they came into action to hold the line near Vimy Ridge and saw much action after that coming under heavy enemy fire.

On 20 April 1918 Mitchell was promoted to Lance Bombardier (paid) and on 18 October to paid Acting Bombardier. The war over shortly thereafter he was sent back to South Africa disembarking at Cape Town ex “Gaika” on 1 June 1919 from where he was discharged on demobilisation on 2 July 1919. The British War and Victory Medals he had earned were sent to him on 3 March 1922.
Back in civilian life he resumed his previous occupation as a Commercial Traveller and, at St. Michael and All Angels in Sunnyside, Pretoria on 24 March 1925; married Marie Yvonne Granier, a 33 year old spinster of Mauritian descent. He was a respectable 43 years old at the time.

After a long and eventful life William George Mitchell passed away at the age of 88 in Durban where he had retired from being a Commercial Traveller on 8 July 1969. He had been resident at 33 St. Andrew’s Drive, Durban North at the time and was survived by his wife and three children, Joan Yvonne Michelow, Robert William Mitchell and Vernon George Mitchell. A canny investor with a large share portfolio he was able to leave his family the sizeable amount of R 31 342.

Thanks Rory......

Another great piece of research and gives me some more information on the NNC.......

Mike