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Ewan Billson of the Port Elizabeth Town Guard 6 years 6 months ago #55836
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Ewan Billson
Private, Cyclist Section, 1st Battalion, Port Elizabeth Town Guard - Queens South Africa Medal to 6 Pte. E. Billson, P. ELZBTH.T.G. Ewan Billson was born in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape on 30 January 1881 to William Robert Billson and his wife Louisa Elizabeth born Storey. Christened at St. Mary’s Church he was to spend his entire life in the city of his birth. As a young man Billson worked for Balchin & Clarke Sports in Main Street and, so family legend has it, whilst working at the shop he would be given a brand new bicycle to participate in a race. The problem was this bicycle would be sold by the end of the day. Whatever the case may be his cycling prowess was to put to good use in the Boer War which started in October 1899. This date saw the outbreak of war between the two Dutch Republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State and Great Britain. Initially this conflict was confined to the Western Cape and northern Natal colonies but Boer incursions into the Eastern Cape became more pronounced as they sought a way to the coast. Many towns, Port Elizabeth included, mobilised their citizens into newly formed Town Guards - by 17 January 1900 the local Harbour Board had formed a company for the defence of its own area coinciding with a call to Major Herbert M Smith to form a Town Guard – he called a meeting on 5 February for this express purpose. This meeting was held in the Feather Market Hall and attracted no fewer than 900 volunteers who sent in their names – they were a motley assortment – clerks, shop keepers, business men and artisans alike came forward. Billson was one of the first to volunteer and was assigned no. 6 and the rank of Private with, aptly, the 1st Battalion’s Cyclist Section. These men were formed into eight companies of 100 men each and it was explained to them the conditions under which they would serve – that they would be a purely voluntary organisation under the command of an efficient officer. It was also stated that their services would most likely not be required but that they must stand in readiness for any eventuality and were to be issued with a rifle and ammunition. The eight Companies were designated by the letters A to H – the E and F Companies comprised of Harbour Board employees with G Company being Cape Government Railway employees. No uniforms were provided but the men were informed that these could be purchased from the Ordnance Store. Throughout 1900 regular drills were held in the Feather Market Hall but interest dwindled – the war was now seen to be going well elsewhere in the country but then things took an alarming turn with the Boers resorting to guerrilla tactics. Infiltration by small Boer commandos became commonplace leading to the Town Guard being sworn in on the same basis as troops on active service. A special parade of all Companies was called on 14 January 1901 where a call was made for volunteers to go out to Van Staden’s to guard the Waterworks. The Cyclists Corps to which Billson belonged, were used mainly for carrying messages between the various units. His daughter, Louisa would tell the story that during the war he carried ammunition in a basket on his bicycle and delivered this to the troops and town guard members at night. The Town Guard continued its duties until the signing of the peace on 31 May 1902 – these included providing guards for the concentration camps, for military, railway and harbour installations and also providing escorts for armoured trains. The Town Guard was disbanded at a Grand Parade held in the Feather Market Hall on 23 October 1902. As for the Boer threat – it proved to be very real with Smuts’ Commando coming as close to Port Elizabeth as the nearby hamlet of Kirkwood. Billson married very late in life having fixed his attentions on a widow, Thelma Louise, born Zimmerman. Her first husband had passed away in 1928 and Billson married her shortly thereafter – at which pint he was 21 years older than her. There were two children born of the marriage – Louisa Mildred who never married and Ruth Joan who first married a Bernard Kingsley and then a Bernard Pennacchini. What sort of man was Billson? Well here we have a first-hand account from a Thomas Horne who grew up in Ivy Street, Port Elizabeth and wrote the following: “Mr Billson, a rather grumpy old man, always watching two houses below in Victoria Street which he owned. Mrs Billson was always friendly and chatty. We passed their house walking to and from school and she, standing on the front veranda, used to chat to all and sundry and would ask about the family or what we had done. As children we spoke about a vintage car being stored in their garage, but never ever saw it. Ewan Billson passed away in Port Elizabeth on 12 December 1968 at the age of 87. 
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Ewan Billson of the Port Elizabeth Town Guard 6 years 6 months ago #55842
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