TOPIC:

Edward McKenna fought with the 1st I.L.H. in the Boer War and went on to serve with "C" Battery of the Natal Field Artillery in the Bambhata Rebellion.

Edward McKenna

Trooper, 1st Battalion, Imperial Light Horse – Anglo Boer War
Driver, “C” Battery, Natal Field Artillery, - Bambatha Rebellion

- Queens South Africa Medal with clasps Transvaal, South Africa 1901 & 1902 to 1046 Tpr. E. McKenna, Imp. Lt. Horse
- Natal Rebellion Medal with 1906 clasp to Dvr. Natal Field Artillery

Edward Mckenna’s antecedents are a bit of a mystery. Where he was born we know not but it can be supposed that he was of Colonial birth and living in or around Pietermaritzburg when we first encounter him. Born in 1883 he was 17 years old when Boer and Brit faced off against each other in what became known as the Anglo Boer War. This conflict started on 11 October 1899 and a number of significant setbacks were initially encountered by the Imperial troops tasked with keeping the Boers out of Natal and ensuring the safety of the local population – almost all of whom were subjects of the British Crown.

Reversals such as that experienced atop Spioenkop on the way to liberate Ladysmith had frightened the Colony’s population who, unsure as to whether or not Buller had the wherewithal to keep the Boers at bay, were enlisting in steady numbers with the many locally raised outfits to fight alongside the Imperial forces although Natal was no longer a theatre of war when McKenna completed the Attestation papers to join the ranks of the 1st Imperial Light Horse at Pietermaritzburg on 14 September 1900. Physically he was described as 5 feet 6 inches in height, weighing 140 pounds and with a fair complexion, dark brown eyes and light brown hair. His boot size was a “7” and he claimed to be 18 years of age. His next of kin was his mother, Mrs E. McKenna of 361 Commercial Road, Pietermaritzburg.

Assigned no 1046 and the rank of Trooper McKenna took to the field with this illustrious unit. On 29th September the regiment entrained for Pretoria and it was most likely that McKenna had joined them by this stage. On 18th October Colonel Woolls-Sampson with the Imperial Light Horse joined Barton at Frederickstad, and on the 20th the camp was attacked, and an engagement ensued. The 2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers had one officer and one man killed, and the Imperial Light Horse 12 men wounded. Barton's force had further heavy fighting on the 23rd, 24th, and 25th, which resulted in the thorough defeat of the Boers, who were driven across the Vaal River. The actual losses of the regiment at Frederickstad were 2 men killed and 8 wounded. The regiment remained for the following eight months in the south and southwest of the Transvaal.

In December 1900 and January 1901 the 1st Regiment was operating south of the Magaliesberg under Babington. On 31st December Lieutenant D Magwell and 1 trooper were wounded at Hartebeest, and on 6th January there was severe fighting at Naauwpoort in which the regiment lost 20 non-commissioned officers and men killed, and 27 men wounded.

On 7th January 1901 Major C J Briggs, King's Dragoon Guards, assumed command of the 1st Regiment. Throughout January and February the regiment was constantly in touch with the enemy, and frequently suffered some losses. In March there was some very heavy fighting. On the 22nd March a strong patrol of the 1st ILH, consisting of 200 men and a pom-pom, was attacked near Geduld by General Delarey with 500 men and 2 guns. The enemy, of whom 11 were killed and 13 wounded, were completely defeated. Commandant Venter was found among the dead, and Field Cornet Wolmarans, who was severely wounded, “fell into our hands". The ILH lost 6 killed and 18 wounded.

On the 23rd and 24th March General Babington followed up this action and inflicted a severe defeat on the enemy, capturing 140 prisoners, 3 guns, 6 maxims, many waggons. 22 dead and 32 wounded Boers were found on the field with ILH losses being 4 wounded. In both these affairs the regiment did splendidly, and many mentions were gained. McKenna, who spent two spells in the I.L.H. took his discharge on 30 March 1901 just after this only to rejoin on 24 April 1901.

The 1st Regiment continued to do much trekking and skirmishing in the Western Transvaal under General Babington and other commanders. On 17th July a strong force of the enemy, well posted, were attacked, 1 officer and 5 men gaining mention on this occasion for great dash and courage. On the 31st of that month Lieutenant L. S. Sanders and 1 man were killed near Lichtenburg.

In the third quarter of 1901 many troops were taken from the Western Transvaal to other districts; a movement which doubtless contributed to the disaster suffered by Lord Methuen's slender resources in February and March 1902. The 1st ILH were taken to the north-east of the Orange River Colony but by this time McKenna had taken his discharge from the regiment for the last time – on 1 February 1902. For his efforts he was awarded the Queens Medal with clasps to the Transvaal and the date clasps South Africa 1901 and 1902.

For McKenna the war was over and he returned to civilian pursuits.

Natal in the years immediately after the Boer War was an unhappy place financially – the war had been a huge drain on the meagre resources of the Colonial government and many and varied schemes were looked at to increase the Colony’s revenue. One such was a hut tax to be imposed on all black males over the age of 18 and which was to be collected by the various Magistrates spread throughout Natal with the assistance of the Natal Police, should any trouble arise, and the help of the Zulu Chiefs who would be required to collect the tax and bring it in to the Magistrates.

Implementation of this scheme came in early 1906 and there were problems from the outset. A particularly truculent young Zulu Chief, Bambatha of the Zondi clan in the Greytown/Kranskloof area was unhappy with the arrangement and openly went about the land fomenting resistance. This overflowed into open rebellion and the Natal Militia, the Natal Field Artillery among them, were called out to quell the uprising. By this time McKenna had joined the ranks of the Natal Field Artillery as a Driver.

On 9 February, the Governor, Sir Henry McCallum, proclaimed martial law. On that day, the left and right wings of the Natal Carbineers (NC), 2 squadrons of the Border Mounted Rifles (BMR), 1 squadron of the Natal Royal Regiment (NRR), 2 sections of 'C' Battery Natal Field Artillery (NFA) – McKenna’s outfit -, and detachments of the Natal Medical, Telegraph and Service Corps - some 1 000 men in total - were mobilized. These units were commanded by Col Duncan McKenzie.



A portion of this force closed on 'Trewergie', arrested the two culprits held responsible for the murder of a policeman and, at a hastily convened court martial, found them guilty and immediately executed them in the presence of their Chief, Mveli.

Whilst the crisis was in progress, the Natal Militia continued with demonstrations in southern Natal and the North Coast/Mapumulo/Greytown area. By the end of March, the situation seemed to have stabilized sufficiently for Col McKenzie's force to be demobilised.

Unrest was not confined to McKenzie's operational area, however. Incidents of unrest occurred in Chief Ngobizembe's ward, resulting in the mobilisation of the Umvoti Mounted Rifles (UMR) in Greytown, 'C' Battery NFA in Pietermaritzburg, and the Durban Light Infantry (DLI), who were sent by train to Stanger on the Natal North Coast. This column was placed under command of Lt Col G Leuchars and was also demobilised at the end of March.

Then, a minor chief in the Mpanza Valley between Greytown and Keate's Drift added fuel to the fire, and precipitated an uprising which later spread into the heart of the colony. He was chief of the amazondi, who occupied areas of Mvoti, New Hanover, Umgeni and Lions river magistracies. His name was Bambata. Bambata had a bad reputation and had been convicted on numerous occasions for debt, cattle theft and, early in 1906, for his participation in a faction fight. When the time came for the amaZondi to pay their taxes, one of Bambata's indunas, Nhlonhlo, informed him that he refused to pay and would resist any attempts to enforce payment with force.

On 9 March, Maj W J Clark of the Natal Police (NP), with 170 Natal Mounted Police (NMP) and a squadron of the UMR, left for the Mpanza valley to arrest Bambata, but failed to find him. On 11 March, Bambata crossed the Tugela River and made his way to King Dinizulu's Usutu kraal, where he was given shelter (in accordance with Zulu tradition) and arrangements were made to accommodate his wife and children - as it turned out, for the next 14 months. According to Bambata's wife, Dinizulu instructed Bambata to return to Natal, commit an act of rebellion, and then to take refuge in the Nkandla Forest where he would be joined by the Zulus, a claim vehemently denied by Dinizulu at his subsequent trial. Bambata returned to Mpanza on 31 March, accompanied by one of Dinizulu's personal attendants named Cakijana (who was destined to play an important part in the coming events), and another.
But where were the Militia troops deployed?

At Dundee: The TMR, Royston's Horse (RH) (550), NFA (25 men with two pom-poms), half a company of DLI (55), and detachments of the Medical, Veterinary, Signalling and Service Corps.

At Helpmekaar: Virtually the entire complement of the NC were encamped at Fort Murray Smith (a total of 596 men).

At Fort Yolland (between Eshowe and Nkandla): Natal Naval Corps (NNC) (106) under Commander F Hoare; 1 section, 'B' Battery NFA (35); NP (200) under Lt Col G Mansel; The Zululand Native Police ('Nongqai') (90) under Insp C E Fairlie.

On 3 May, the Dundee-based troops left the town and proceeded to Nkandla. The route taken by the troops followed the road past Sibhudeni store (which had been looted) below Sibhudeni peak, and along the forester's path on to the Bope ridge with its spectacular view of the Nsuze River Valley, and beyond it, the Tugela River. The troops had been fired upon by snipers in the forest, the rebels having used a variety of weaponry and shot ranging from bullets to iron pot-legs. Incredibly, only one man was wounded! The column left the road and moved in single file along the forester's path to the Bope ridge. As they commenced their descent of the ridge, the advance guard, consisting of a troop of the NMR under Lt A H G Blamey, and the Nongqai were charged at by about 200 rebels, who came to within a few metres of the men's rifles.

Col McKenzie then decided to follow up his operations with an attack on the Mome Gorge. As he deployed one of the NFA's guns on a hill overlooking the Mome Valley, a message reached him from one of his spies that there was a general desire by the rebels to surrender. Proceeding to the gun position McKenzie met with the rebel messengers and informed them that he would give Sigananda until 11h00 on Sunday 20 May to surrender. Col McKenzie agreed to meet him at 11h00 on 24 May.

The time for the surrender came and went, and it became apparent to Col McKenzie that Sigananda had been playing for time. Col McKenzie issued orders for the men to prepare for a night march to Ensingabantu in order to encircle the rebels. They had to travel through very difficult terrain, and their objective was reached at 04h00, but mist delayed any further movement and by 07h00 when it lifted, the rebels had escaped. The exhausted troops returned to Nkandla, having travelled about 90km in two days.

On 1 June, two guns and two pom-poms of the NFA were deployed on what has since become known as Gun Hill. From 06h30 they poured continuous shell-fire into the Mome Gorge, concentrating on the area around the 'Stronghold'.

Col Barker set out at 02h00 with 'B', 'C' & 'D' Squadrons, TMR, 90 NP, 1 section (2 guns) NFA; one Maxim gun, one Colt gun; 100 Nongqai and about 800 Native levies under Chiefs Mfungelwa and Hatshi. As he continued along the track at the mouth of the gorge, Col Barker noticed some 60 fires burning in the mealie field in the loop of the Mome River. Moving to higher ground, he confirmed that the rebels were encamped there, and commenced the deployment of his troops. What of the rebels, and why had they chosen to enter the Mome Gorge?

At 03h00 the Natal Rangers under Lt Col J Dick, left camp with Lt Col Shepstone as guide. They took the Eshowe road, then branched off near Mabaleni Hill, on to the Bonvana ridge. At the same time, 140 men of the DLI under Lt Col J S Wylie marched along the Nomangci ridge towards London Kop, a prominent hill overlooking the plain just before it drops into the Nsuze River Valley. Half an hour later came 'C' Squadron, NC under Capt G R Richards, as Col Mckenzie's bodyguard, followed by 100 NDMR under Maj Abraham, 100 ZMR under Maj Vanderplank, one 15-pr and two pom-poms, NFA, a Maxim detachment and RH, under Lt Col Royston himself, took the same route as that of the DLI, Col McKenzie gave instructions for the searchlight at Nomangci to remain in operation, as a ruse for making the rebels believe that the camp was still occupied.

Col Barker's orders were that no shots were to be fired until daybreak, when a round from one of the 15-prs on the koppie at the entrance to the gorge was to be taken as a signal for a general fusillade. Col Barker decided to remain at the gun position, from which, despite the misty conditions, he had a good view of the rebels' camp site and his own troops dispositions. It will be recalled that Insp Fairlie had been allocated the task of occupying the high ground overlooking the neck. On arrival at his position, he found the rebels bivouacked immediately below him, and accordingly detached 20 Nongqai and some 400 levies and ordered them to occupy the ground north of him, and opposite where the Dobo Forest (the so-called 'pear-shaped forest') meets the Mome River.

Once again, it is necessary to return to Col McKenzie, who was about to deploy his troops in a sweep through the Mvalasango Forest, where he thought Sigananda to be hidden.

The ZMR, DLI and some levies were about to advance when firing was heard from the valley below. Col Royston suggested that the firing was coming from the direction of the Nsuze River, and that Col Barker had surprised the rebels before they had entered the Mome. Col McKenzie recalled the troops and started to gallop towards the Gcongco spur. However, as he was galloping along the ridge near Gun Hill, he observed the flash from one of Col Barker's guns through a slight clearing in the mist. He ordered 'fours about' and the force galloped up to Gun Hill, where the gun and pom-poms were deployed. Col McKenzie led his men in a gallop down the almost precipitous slope from Gun Hill to the upper edge of the Dobo Forest. The NC, DLI, NDMR and RH dismounted and Capt Bosman of Col McKenzie's staff was ordered to deploy some men from the NC, DLI and NDMR around the Dobo Forest to prevent the rebels' escape through that route. The remainder were positioned across the Mome at about the point below Sigananda's Enhlweni kraal.



They arrived not a moment too soon, because the rebels were starting to retreat up the Mome and into the Dobo Forest. Col Barker moved his guns at about 08h00 to the neck above the rebels' camp site, and searched the Dobo from top to bottom with heavy shell fire, whilst the gun and pom-poms on Gun Hill raked the valley in the vicinity of the 'Stronghold' with fire. The rebels lost heavily in the battle of Mome Gorge. Officially, about 575 were killed with the final “scalp” being that of Bambatha whose decapitated head was displayed on a stick to warn the rebels of what would happen should the violence flare up again.

The Rebellion over McKenna once more returned to his civilian occupation. On 9 May 1912 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church Pietermaritzburg and at the age of 29 he wed Sarah Josephine Knotwell, a 23 year old spinster. McKenna was a Store Assistant at the time.

Having later joined the employ of the South African Railways McKenna and his family moved to East London in the Eastern Cape where, on 19 March 1933, he passed away at the age of 50 from a carcinoma of the small bowel. He was a Yard Superintendent with the Railways living at 17 Tilney Street, East London

Hello Rory,
Now this was the pair you showed a week or so ago is it not, very nice indeed, lovely honest medals in super untouched condition, were they a local find?
Regards Frank

Yes they were Frank - I rather like this combination of medals - the "wars" were only 4 years apart and it is quite surprising that so few who served in the ABW didn't go on to serve in the Bambatha Rebellion but rather kept their powder dry until WWI.

Regards

Rory

Well, I think they are a most pleasing and handsome pair, I wonder how many more are tucked away in the drawers the recipients families, perhaps, long forgotten?

Frank
Many of those drawers have been emptied out during the past decade. That combination of medals is typical of many of Colonial Natal's soldiers. What is upsetting is to find one or other missing. I have hoped in vain for re-unites in my collection.
Regards
Brett

Hi Frank

To echo Brett's sentiments on two counts - the rise of the ubiquitous internet and the plethora of online auction sites now available has led to a scenario where people are rummaging through old tins and cigar boxes, long hidden from view, in an effort to find whatever they can to offload for cash. Whilst there is nothing intrinsically wrong with this - oftentimes medals are floated for sale with little or no provenance leaving the eventual buyers bereft of the opportunity to acquire paperwork,, photos etc. of the recipients.

The other danger is that the man in the street develops a false picture of the value of things with a common or garden WWII group (if there is such a thing) being touted as the answer to a family's financial woes whereas market forces apply a value of 20 GBP to a group - not what one wants to hear when one has set one's sights on educating the grandchildren with a standard group of 4 to East or North Africa.

Of course the reverse is also true where little or no value is attributed to e.g. a KIA with Thorneycroft's M.I. for Spioenkop - we speak glibly of caveat emptor but often it is the seller who should be more wary and circumspect.

The other issue Brett raised has been the bain of medal collectors the world over - the split group. I well recall (and I am sure we all have similar stories to relay) being offered a WWI pair to the Brands Free State Rifles - knowing as I did that this outfit only ever received a trio I described what a 1914/15 Star looked like whereupon the matron of the house promptly got up, left the room for a moment, and returned with the Star complete with box of issue. She had no idea that the medals were interrelated.

Collectors are doomed to forever scour the internet, auction and dealer sites in the hope that the elusive KSA to complete a pair will be on offer.

Regards

Rory