TOPIC:

William Solomon

Corporal, Imperial Light Infantry – Anglo Boer War
Leading Aircraftsman, Royal Air Force (Home Service) - WWI

- Queens South Africa Medal with clasps Tugela Heights, Relief of Ladysmith, Transvaal & Laing’s Nek to 347 CORPL. W. SOLOMAN, IMP. LT. INFY.

William Solomon, thanks to a speech he gave on his return to England, is one of those rare chaps who we can confidently place atop Spioenkop during the battle that raged there.

Born on 7 April 1869 in Anthony, Cornwall, Solomon was the son of George Solomon, a Police Constable, and his wife Eliza.
At the time of the 1871 England census, just over a year after he was born, Solomon was a 1-year-old infant living with his parents in St. Mellion’s Village, Cornwall. Three-year-old Elizabeth was his only sibling at the time.

Times for the family must have been tough, for, ten years later, during the 1881 England census, Solomon, at the tender age of 11, had already left school after what could only have been a rudimentary education, and was a Farm Servant in nearby Bealbury. He was the only Farm Servant in the employ of Mr. Henry Wilton who farmed 36 acres.

What happened to him thereafter is not recorded but, as has been alluded to above, we know that he set course for South Africa at some point which is where we find him on the eve of war. In order to get a better picture of quite how he occupied himself, we turn to the press who, in a fortunate turn of events, attended a ceremony in his honour on his return home. It is to them we owe gratitude for that all too rare occasion - a glimpse of what the soldier actually faced in battle.

Solomon attested at Durban on 12 November 1899 for service with the Imperial Light Infantry. Assigned no. 347 and the rank of Private, he confirmed that he had never served in the military before. Physically, he was described as being 5 feet 9 ½ inches in height with a light complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. Aged 29 he weighed a respectable 160 pounds.

The Imperial Light Infantry unit that he joined was raised in Natal and was largely re¬cruited from those who had lost their employment through the outbreak of hostilities. The command was given to Lieutenant Colonel Nash and by the end of December 1899 the regiment was ready for active service. Solomon’s early attestation date makes him one of the first to enlist.

As part of Buller’s army to relieve Ladysmith – a very ponderous and slow-moving undertaking – the I.L.I. played an important, if not pivotal role in the actions that followed. Initially the unit had comparatively little training and no fighting until they were thrown into the awful combat on Spioenkop on 24th January 1900.

About 1000 strong, distributed among eight companies, they paraded at 10 pm on 23rd January, and, as ordered, took up positions from which they could reinforce General Woodgate, who commanded the force detailed to capture the Hill which was to gain notoriety. Sir Charles Warren visited the regiment early on the morning of the 24th, and asked the officers if they had seen anything of a mountain-battery which he was expect¬ing. They had not. He requested that 2 companies be sent forward to a specified point to be ready to escort the battery to the summit. Ominously, he appeared anxious as to its non-appearance.


Imperial troops rushing the summit of Spioenkop

The companies of Captains Champney and Smith moved out at 6 am and waited as ordered for the battery, but about 9 am a staff-officer told them to reinforce immediately on the summit. The 2 companies advanced and reached the top shortly after 10 am. At this hour the enemy's fire was appalling, the hail of bullets and shells being ceaseless, but these untried (and untrained) volunteers are said to have pushed up to the shallow trench and the firing-line beyond it without flinching. They at once commenced to suffer very severe losses. These 2 companies were the first reinforcements to enter the firing-line, and their arrival proved most opportune, some Lancashire companies being very hard pressed at this time and at this part of the position.

About mid-day Colonel Nash was ordered to reinforce on the summit with "every available man". About 2 pm he reached the top with his remaining companies, who at once bolted out from the rocks at the head of the ascent and fed the firing-line, pushing forward fearlessly across the open.

Throughout the afternoon and evening the firing was unceasing, and often at very close quarters; after dark it had died away. A field-officer of the Imperial Light Infantry who was present, has stated that about 8 pm it was whispered a retirement was contemplated, and that about 9 o'clock Colonel Nash intimated that he had got a message to get ready to move off the hill.

These hours are uncertain, and might be put some¬what later. The regiment having been collected, fell in and marched off. They had barely gone 200 yards, however, when an officer asked Colonel Nash where he was going. The latter replied that he had been ordered to take down the regiment. The other officer then said, "I am Colonel Hill of the Middlesex; not a man or regiment is to leave the hill".

The officers of the Imperial Light Infantry then said to their men that a mistake had been made, and the column 'about turned', marched back to the place they had come from, put out pickets, and lay down among the dead and wounded. The worst feature of this very trying experience was the ceaseless crying of the wounded for water - there was none on the hill. During the night a staff-officer informed Colonel Nash that he had better bring down his men before dawn if no fresh troops or orders came up. Between 3 am and 4 am the regiment was again collected and finally left the hill. No Boers had ventured on to the hill up to that time.


Imperial casualties strewn over the battlefield

From the reports of Colonel Thorneycroft and General Talbot Coke one would gather that all the troops left the hill together, the Scottish Rifles bringing up the rear, but in the darkness the absence of the Imperial Light Infantry from the main body might escape notice. The account given above is confirmed by the terms of a message published in the Spioenkop despatches as follows:

"Officer commanding Imperial Light Infantry. Withdraw and at once. 2 a.m., Brigade-Major". No explanation of any kind is given as to this message, although it is appended to a report by General Talbot Coke the text of which gives the impression that the troops were all down the hill before midnight.

The losses of the Imperial Light Infantry, as published at the time, were: killed—2 officers, and 29 non-commissioned officers and men; wounded—3 officers, and 110 non-commissioned officers and men; missing—19 men. Most of the latter were afterwards found to have been killed or wounded.

After the army had recrossed the Tugela, General Warren visited the camp of the Imperial Light Infantry and congratulated them on the splendid fight they had made.

Coke's Brigade (and thus the I.L.I. as well) was not engaged at Vaal Krantz in the beginning of February 1900 and when General Buller gave up his efforts against the enemy's right and took back his army to the position opposite Colenso, the Imperial Light Infantry were left, with Colonel Burn-Murdoch's cavalry, to protect the left rear of the Natal army, but, before the close of the fourteen days' fighting, all available troops were needed about Colenso.


The dead lying where they fell - clogging the trenches

The regiment marched to Chieveley, arriving there on the 22nd at noon. Four companies, under Major Hay, were now ordered to Colenso, where they were to report to General Hart. It was thought that their duties would be the off-loading stores at the railway bridge which was broken. As soon as they had their dinner the 4 companies entrained for Colenso, but on arrival there found the army was across the river, very heavy firing going on upon the north side.

They crossed in a pont, this operation taking two hours. Major Hay endeavoured to find General Hart's where¬abouts while there was still some light; a staff-officer pointed to some hills. After a short sleep and a fatiguing and anxious march, for the enemy's lines were close at hand and the ground broken, Hart's Brigade was found as reveille was sounding on the 23rd. The 4 companies were put into the Irish Brigade, their companions being the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, Connaught Rangers, and Royal Dublin Fusiliers.

On the afternoon of the 23rd February the Brigade assaulted Hart's Hill, one of the strongest of the many immensely strong positions north of the Tugela. The Imperial Light Infantry were directed by General Hart to move down the river to the right; they then moved up a ravine, turned to the left and assaulted the left of the Boer position on that hill, but a very heavy fire struck them from trenches on the east or opposite side of the ravine, which trenches seemed to be receiving no attention from any one.

Major Hay, who was said to have behaved with great gallantry at Spioenkop and on this occasion, fell badly wounded. His men never reached the top of the hill. The Irish regiments in the frontal attack also failed to reach the top. General Buller said the troops failed to carry the top of the hill, but they established themselves in the lower sangars and other positions, "which ensured our ultimate success".

The casualties of the brigade were very heavy. There was some confusion about the losses of the Imperial Light Infantry. Lieutenant Blake Knox of the RAMC, who made up the return, says: "The Imperial Light Infantry had Major Hay wounded, and among the men 19 were killed, 105 wounded, and 8 missing—some of these casualties occurring on the 24th", but an officer of the corps says the losses were not so great, and that these figures must have included some men not belong¬ing to them. The 4 companies took part in the further operations which on the 27th were crowned with success, the whole Boer position being captured and the road to Ladysmith opened.

In mentioning Lieutenant Colonel Nash in the despatch of 30th March General Buller said: "Commanded the Imperial Light Infantry. The extremely good work done by the Battalion is due to the excellent manner in which it was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Nash". Of course the material must have been very good, otherwise the best of regimental officers could not have got a hastily raised body of untrained men to do this good work with the very limited preparation possible.

After the relief of Ladysmith, the regiment was mainly employed in the Greytown district under Colonel Bethune where they performed valuable service until General Buller moved forward to clear the Biggarsberg in May. Colonel Bethune's force co-operated with General Buller, and joined him near Helpmakaar about the 14th. From June to October the regiment did garrison duty about Newcastle and Volksrust.

In his final despatch General Buller, in referring to the regiment, said: "This battalion, which was raised at a time Natal was short of troops has done good service". Solomon took his discharge from the regiment on 16 November 1900, after seeing much fighting. For his efforts he was awarded the Queens Medal off the roll dated at Newcastle, Natal on 31 July 1901.

Solomon returned home and was, according to an article in the Royal Cornwall Gazette of 14 February 1901, given a royal reception. The story, which quotes him extensively, ran as follows:

‘A ST MELLION VOLUNTEER’S RETURN – HONOURED IN HIS NATIVE VILLAGE

When Mr William Solomon, after serving a year with the Imperial Light Infantry in South Africa, returned to his native village of St. Mellion, a greater amount of enthusiasm was aroused in the locality than the memory of the oldest inhabitants can recall.

After a month’s interval St. Mellion on Thursday evening again gave itself up to a demonstration in honour of its hero, the proceedings on this occasion taking the form of a supper and presentation in the school. Mr Digby Collins, who has been among the foremost in desiring that a fitting welcome should be accorded to Mr Solomon, and all like him who volunteered for active service, presided over an attendance of more than 100 – Callington and the district for several miles being well represented.

Mr Digby Collins said they were met that night to give to their old parishioner and neighbour, Mr William Solomon, the welcome he so richly deserved. They could give their guest credit for having cast aside his industrial tools for the weapons of war, not for the mere love of fighting, but solely for the love of his country. He would ask them to wish Mr Solomon a long and useful life and that he would return to South Africa to find his industrial tools buried as he had left them (applause).

Mr W. Solomon expressed his deep thanks for the honour and kindness they had done him, but he felt he had not deserved it at all. (Cries of “You have”). He happened to be in the Transvaal a few years before the war. He was getting his living there but if the capital were taken out of the country he would not be wanted there, so he felt it his duty to stick by his employer.

He was ordered out of the Transvaal more like a dog than a human being, and left in a coal truck, taking three days and three nights in the train to get from Johannesburg to Durban. They had to stand all manner of insults from the Boers. They were told it was no use going to Durban, as they would be driven into the sea like dogs.

At Durban he saw a chance of enlisting, and took it instead of coming home (applause), but he was sorry to see so many leave, instead of remaining to drive back the Boers (applause). He enlisted 10th October 1899 (sic), and, on January 24th following, they were in action at Spioenkop. He was also in the engagements at Pieter’s Hill and Laing’s Nek.

At the latter place he was under shell fire for four days – a very nice sensation (laughter). But still he pulled through, and after 12 months and 5 days service he took advantage of the Government’s offer, and returned to England. It was not from funk that he left, but 12 months sleeping on the ground, seven months of which were spent out of doors, with hoar frost on the blankets in the mornings, was enough for one man.

If sent for he would go back for service tomorrow (applause), but would like to take out as many volunteers from that district as possible (applause).’

So there it was – in his own words Solomon had been in the battle of Spioenkop and later actions.

Back in England it does not appear as if he ever returned to South Africa – perhaps his “buried industrial tools” were referred to in the figurative sense?

The 1901 England census sees him back under his father’s roof in St. Mellion’s Village. His widowed father had made a career change and was now a Licenced Victualler for his own account. His sister Elizabeth, now 33, was unmarried and looking after the household, and a younger brother Joseph was in residence. Solomon himself was still single and 31 years of age.

Life returned to normal and William Solomon took up his pre-war trade as a Carpenter. There was nothing on the international stage to disturb the equilibrium of his life and the 1911 England census shows that he had married (9 years earlier on 30 October 1901) and was at home at the “Sun Inn”, Callington, Cornwall where he was the Inn Keeper. Now 41 he and his wife Sophie had three children – William George (7), Gwendoline (6) and Donald Colenso (3) – one can’t help wondering if the “Colenso” stemmed from his time in battle near that town of the same name in Natal.

At the age of 44 Solomon could have been forgiven if he was to have stayed put when the “War to end all Wars” erupted on the world stage on 4 August 1914. This was not to be, realising that his particular set of skills as a Carpenter could be put to good use, he attested for service on 8 October 1914. Assigned no. 401134 he joined the Royal Flying Corps on 6 September 1917 and was transferred to the Royal Air Force (as the RFC became) on 1 April 1918 with the rank of 3rd Class Air Mechanic, being promoted to 1st Class Air Mechanic the next day (his carpentry skills being recognised).

Fortunately, under “Prior Engagement with H.M. Forces”, he confirmed his one year service with the Imperial Light Infantry, leaving no doubt that he was the same man.

He was transferred from 7 TDS to Midland Area HQ on 16 August 1918 (this was at Leamington Spa), and, having been reclassified on 1 January 1919 as a Leading Aircraftman, he went to Northern Area HQ on 19 October 1919 (the Midland area having been abolished the day before as part of a rationalisation). On 27 March 1920 he was sent to Spittlegate (also spelled Spitalgate, near Grantham in Lincolnshire) from where he was demobilised on 7 April 1920 at the age of 50.

William Solomon received no medals for his Great War service – he never left England in order to qualify. His years in uniform finally over, he and his family moved to Tavistock in Devon which is where we find him in the 1939 Register, living at 12 Station Road with his wife Elizabeth, at the age of 69.

He passed away in the early part of 1943 at the age of 73. His wife, I daresay not wanting to be alone (she was considerable younger having been born in 1888) remarried and became Elizabeth Cann on 28 November 1944.

A life well lived.

A fantastic write-up, Rory, and very nice to have that confirmation too. Many thanks