TOPIC:

A 6-clasper to the South African Light Horse - Vincent Job Brooks 3 years 9 months ago #70199

Rory
Topic Author
Offline
Senior Member
Posts: 3343
Thank you received: 2149

Vincent Job Brooks

Private, Leicestershire Regiment and Kings Royal Rifle Corps – Pre Boer War
Trooper, South African Light Horse and
Lance Corporal, 12th Company, Imperial Yeomanry – Anglo Boer War

- Queens South Africa Medal with clasps Cape Colony, Tugela Heights, Orange Free State, Relief of Ladysmith, Laing’s Nek and Belfast to 201 Tpr. V. Brooks, S.A. Lt. Horse

Vincent Brooks had an interesting military career – from signing up with the Regular Army in 1897 – to serving with the S.A. Light Horse in the Boer War. He then returned home to England before returning to the field of combat with the Imperial Yeomanry, with whom he saw out the remainder of the war.

Born in March 1879 in Bolton, Lancashire, he was the son of Job Brooks, a Cotton Merchant, and his wife Jane. According to the 1881 England census, the family were living at 69 Arkwright Street in Little Bolton. Apart from a 2 year old Vincent, other siblings at home were Percy Heywood (15), Emmeline Agnes (13), Jane Heywood (10) and George (7).

Ten years later, at the time of the 1891 England census, the Brooks family had moved to Nottingham where they were resident at 168 Noel Street, Hyson Green, Notts. The make-up of the family was little changed with most of the children still at home. 8 year old Sarah Ellen had been added to the brood, whilst George had disappeared from the scene. Vincent was a 12 year old schoolboy. Mr Brooks was a Cotton Yarn Agent for his own account.

Whilst the sun still rose on the British Empire in late Victorian times, there wasn’t much in the line of decent employment for lower middle class families. Being the youngest son, an obvious choice for Vincent was to try his hand at soldiering and this he did, completing the Short Service (One year with the Colours) Attestation Forms at Nottingham on 2 March 1897, just after his 18th birthday. Enlisting with the Leicester Regiment. Claiming to be “in the Militia” (3rd Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment), he was in the Grocery trade and had been, according to his submission, rejected for service 10 months earlier because he was underweight.

Physically he was 5 feet 5 ½ inches, weighed 118 pounds and had a fresh complexion, brown hair and brown eyes. The number assigned to him, 4929, was to change to 216 on 13 April 1897 when he was transferred to the 3rd Battalion of the Kings Royal Rifle Corps. Having served 1 year 295 days with them at home, the 3rd Battalion, with Brooks among their ranks, were deployed to South Africa, sailing for Cape Town at the end of December 1898.

All went well with Brooks until that dreaded word “Deserted” appeared on his service sheet with a date of 3 July 1899. To this day we know not what had occasioned this behavior. What is sure is that the first salvo in what was to be a protracted conflict known as the Anglo Boer War was about to be fired not many months later. In fact, on 11 October 1899, Great Britain and her Dominions found themselves at war with the two Dutch-speaking Republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State.

Brooks’ desertion could not have come at a more inopportune time but, all was not lost, on 10 November 1899. Less than one month after hostilities commenced, he completed the attestation papers for enlistment with the newly-created South African Light Horse. Careful not to bring attention to himself and painfully aware that he was sought by the authorities for desertion, Brooks used a non-de-plume – he enlisted under the name of Charles Withers and was, along with his regiment, despatched to the Natal theatre of the war where Buller was doing his level, at times incompetent, best to relieve the town of Ladysmith to which the Boer forces had laid siege.

The S.A.L.H. was raised in Cape Colony in November 1899 and the command given to Major, the Honourable J H G Byng. Eight complete squadrons were raised by an early date in December. A portion was employed for a short time on the De Aar line, but three squadrons of the regiment were, on formation, taken round to Natal and, with other mounted troops, were employed under Lord Dundonald on the right flank at Colenso on 15th December 1899. (Brooks or, shall we say Withers was part of this contingent – their first taste of action coming literally, in the case of Brooks, 4 days after his attestation.)

General Buller issued orders, on 14th December 1899 as follows: - "The Officer Commanding mounted brigade will move at 4 am with a force of 1000 men and one battery of No 1 Brigade Division in the direction of Hlangwane Hill; he will cover the right flank of the general movement, and will endeavour to take up a position on Hlangwane Hill, whence he will enfilade the kopje north of the iron bridge. The Officer Commanding mounted troops will also detail two forces of 300 men and 500 men to cover the right and left flanks respectively and protect the baggage".

Lord Dundonald and the mounted irregulars, Brooks and the S.A.L.H. among them, did attack Hlangwane (the battle of Colenso) and made good progress towards its capture and, if the General had been able to send adequate infantry support the capture would have been almost certainly assured and the bloodshed of Spion Kop averted, but the entangle¬ment of the guns rendered such support impossible. In his despatch, General Buller said: "I cannot speak too highly of the manner in which the mounted Volunteers behaved". The S.A.L.H. lost 4 men killed, 2 officers—Lieutenants B Barhurst and J W Cock— and 19 men wounded, while 2 officers and 11 men were returned as missing.

When the move to turn the Boer right on the Tugela was commenced, four squadrons of the regiment accompanied Lord Dundonald, marching on the 11th January via Springfield and Potgieter's, but a portion remained at Chieveley with General Barton to watch the Boer position at Colenso. In order to keep the enemy engaged there, frequent reconnaissances and demonstrations were made in which the detachment several times had sharp casualties. On the 11th Lord Dundonald seized the bridge at Springfield over the Little Tugela, and pushing on hard, before dusk, secured heights on the right bank of the main river which commanded Potgieter's Drift. Some volunteers from the S.A.L.H. on the 11th swam the Tugela River, got into the ferry-boat, and brought it to the right bank.

For five days the mounted troops did reconnoitring and outpost work. On the 16th they were ordered to march that night to Trichard's Drift. On the following day they and Warren's troops crossed the river, and on the 18th Lord Dundonald was sent off to the left flank. The Composite Regiment, 1 squadron Imperial Light Horse, 1 company of Mounted Infantry, regulars, and 1 squadron Natal Carbineers, managed to cut off about 40 Boers near Acton Homes, and before dusk these surrendered after the S.A.L.H. had come up in support.

On the 20th Lord Dundonald ordered Colonel Byng to seize Bastion Hill. Two squadrons of the regiment were dismounted and ascended the steep ascent, the two others supporting. The Boers fled from the crest, and it was taken with little loss, but the hill, like Spion Kop, was exposed to the enemy's fire, and Major Childe was killed by a shell fragment after the crest had been occupied, and 4 men were wounded. At nightfall 2 companies of the Queen's relieved the regiment. During the following days, until the evacuation of Spion Kop, the regiment held posts on the British line. Between the 19th and 27th the regiment had about 60 casualties.

During the Vaal Krantz combat, 5th to 8th February, the mounted troops were mainly on the flanks; but in the earlier part of the fighting which took place between 13th and 27th February, the mounted irregulars, including the S.A.L.H., which had been strengthened by further squadrons from the Cape Colony, the whole brigade being under Lord Dundonald, took a most important share of the work. The regular cavalry had now been put into a separate brigade under Colonel Burn-Murdoch, and were left in the Springfield neighbourhood to secure General Buller's left rear.

Between 9th and 11th February the army marched back to Chieveley, Lord Dundonald covering the left flank. On the 12th, with the South African Light Horse, the Composite Regiment, Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry, and the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, he thoroughly reconnoitred and examined Hussar Hill with the view to its being used as a stepping-stone in an attack on the Boer left. The force was ordered to retire in the afternoon, and had a few casualties in the retirement. Lieutenant John Churchill and 7 men of the S.A.L.H. were wounded.

On the 14th Buller decided to occupy Hussar Hill, and the regiment, being the advanced screen, successfully seized the Hill with but slight loss. On the 15th and 16th the fighting was chiefly confined to the artillery. On the 17th the attack on Mount Cingolo was developed. Dundonald's Brigade struck away to the east, through very broken and wooded country, and ascending an almost precipitous face seized the summit, the 2nd Infantry Brigade assisting on their inner flank.

The work of the S.A.L.H. was specially commended by some of the correspondents present. The casualties were not serious considering the formidable nature of the task. On the 18th the 2nd Infantry Brigade attacked the summit of Monte Cristo, making a fine advance along the Nek between that mountain and Cingolo. Dundonald's men were again out on the right, and worried the enemy by a flanking fire at long ranges. On the same day the Fusilier Brigade carried another hill. On the 19th heavy guns were got into position on Monte Cristo, and on the 20th it was found that the enemy had left all their positions on the south side of the Tugela. Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry swam the river, but were driven back.

From the 21st to the 27th, when the very strongly fortified positions on Pieter's Hill, Railway Hill, and Terrace Hill were, carried, the fighting was mainly done by the infantry and guns. On the 28th Lord Dundonald's Brigade had the honour of being chosen for the direct advance on Ladysmith, and in the evening he galloped into the town with a squadron of the Imperial Light Horse, and one of the Natal Carbineers, and some representatives of his other irregulars.

With Ladysmith relieved, the Natal Field Force, which included the S.A.L.H., had a comparatively easy time until Buller started on his next great movement with the object of clearing Natal. On the 2nd of May General Buller received Lord Roberts' instructions to occupy the enemy's attention on the Biggarsberg. On the 7th he set out first towards Elandslaagte to deceive the enemy as to his real direction. General Buller then swept away to the south-east. Lord Dundonald's Brigade, now called the 3rd Mounted Brigade, was chosen to accompany the turning force. On the 13th General Buller arrived at the Helpmakaar road at a point near Uithoek on the left flank of the enemy's position.

Here he joined hands with Colonel Bethune, who had been occupying Greytown. The mounted men seized the hill commanding the Pass, and the enemy retired. From this point to New¬castle it was an almost ceaseless pursuit in which the mounted irregulars did splendid work. The Boers lit grass fires, but Dundonald's men dashed through the smoke, and at times over the burning vegetation, and unweariedly drove the enemy before them. On the 15th the whole force was at Dundee, on the 18th at Newcastle, and the enemy had been driven from his carefully entrenched position on the Biggarsberg at a cost of 7 wounded.

After the occupation of Newcastle General Buller sent a portion of his troops to the Utrecht district, where there was some skirmishing towards the end of May, in which the S.A.L.H. suffered several men wounded.

The railway having been repaired and supplies got up, General Buller prepared to turn Laing's Nek, and on the 6th June the S.A.L.H. and other troops seized and occupied Van Wyk Mountain. The regiment lost 6 killed and 4 wounded in the process.

General Buller said "the occupation was well carried out", although a resolute attack was made on the force under cover of a grass fire. On the 7th an advance was made on Yellowboom. On the 8th the regiment occupied another hill, Spitz Kop, near Botha's Pass. On the same day the Pass was carried. "The S.A.L.H. got up the Berg to the left of Botha's Pass and pursued for some miles, though they were not able to come up with, a party of the enemy who retired to the westward".

On the 10th the advance continued. The regiment was in front and cleared the enemy off a mountain without difficulty. They found the enemy moving in strength from east to north, and the regiment pushed forward two miles to some kopjes. Three squadrons were closely engaged with the enemy until dusk. the casualties were 6 killed and 7 wounded, all of the S.A.L.H. Twenty-two of the enemy were found killed. On the 11th the enemy made a stand in a very strong position at Alleman's Nek, but after severe fighting was driven out by the 2nd and 10th Infantry Brigades, Lord Dundonald's men ably assisting against the enemy's left flank.

In his despatch General Buller said "the S.A.L.H. acted as an independent unit, and performed its duties exceedingly well throughout. Lieutenant Colonel Byng proved himself as usual a valuable commander".

During the remainder of June and the month of July the Natal Army was employed in occupying and fortifying posts on the Pretoria-Natal railway and the south-east portion of the Transvaal. In his telegram of 13th July, Lord Roberts mentions that on the night of the 11th the S.A.L.H. by good scouting had prevented the Boers from destroying the railway near Vlaklaagte, and that Lord Dundonald had captured a Boer camp. On 7th August General Buller commenced his advance from the railway to meet Lord Roberts' army near Belfast. On several occasions there was sharp fighting, in which the S.A.L.H. had a most prominent share.

On the 27th General Buller attacked the immensely strong position held by the Boers stretching across the Delagoa Railway. Bergendal was the point selected for the chief attack, and the 2nd Rifle Brigade deservedly earned the highest praise for their advance and final assault under a very heavy fire. The enemy was thoroughly defeated. On the 29th the S.A.L.H. drove the enemy out of Waterval Boven and captured five waggons. Buller's force now moved north of the railway and after some fighting occupied Lydenburg. Frequently the S.A.L.H. did particularly good service, as near Lydenburg on the 8th and 9th September, and they were often mentioned, as in Lord Roberts' telegram of 3rd October, when he said: "On the 28th Colonel Byng, by a well-managed night-march up the Groodenonein Berg, seized the top of Pilgrim's Hill with the S.A.L.H., forcing the enemy to retire hurriedly". The corps had 3 killed and 6 wounded.

Brooks, it seemed, saw plenty of action but his time with the S.A.L.H. was drawing to a close. By now his real identity would have been discovered although no documentation can be found which would reveal if he received any sanction for his earlier desertion. On 10 October 1900 he took his discharge in Johannesburg, joining the ranks of the Provisional Mounted Police – a unit formed in both Bloemfontein and Pretoria to protect loyalists and intimidate conquered Boers, just prior to the raising of the South African Constabulary. His stay with them was destined to be a very short one – less than a week in fact, as he left their service on 16 October. It would appear that quite a number of men “recently discharged and with time on their hands” were drafted into this body as a temporary measure.

For reasons unknown Brooks decided to leave the country and return to England. Meanwhile the war in South Africa raged on and, in an effort to augment the number of regular Imperial troops on the ground, an Imperial Yeomanry of three drafts had been raised. Having been home for scarcely more than a few months, Brooks entered the recruiting office of this body at Nottingham on 11 February 1901. It is here that we gain a possible clue as to what he had been doing in the period between deserting in July 1899 and enlisting with the S.A.L.H. in December 1899 – he provided his occupation as “Amalgamator” (this is a trade in the mining industry and points to Brooks having sought employment on the fast-expanding gold mines of the Witwatersrand.)

Confirming that he had served with the S.A.L.H. and that he was 22 years of age, he was described, physically, as being 5 feet 7 inches in height with a dark complexion, brown hair and brown eyes. He had a mole in the front of his left ear and, having been passed as fit for the army, was assigned no. 25858 and the rank of Private with the 12th Company (3rd Battalion) of the Imperial Yeomanry (his own request).

After 30 days at home he set sail for South Africa once more with his service reckoned from 14 March 1901. That he had been transparent with the authorities is evidenced by a note on his Statement of Services which reads “Enlisted with the S.A.L. Horse under the name of Chas. Withers.”

The 12th Company or South Notts. Hussars as they were also known, were operational in the Naauwpoort and Graaff Reinet regions of the Cape at the time Brooks joined them. Having served for 1 year and 141 days on the Regimental Staff and having been promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal, Brooks took his discharge at Green Point in Cape Town on 3 July 1902 – five weeks after the cessation of hostilities. He opted to remain in South Africa and seems to have taken a liking to Graaff Reinet, in the Karoo, where he had been based, providing an address c/o F. Zegels there. His conduct was rated as Very Good and his occupation described as a Clerk (he evinced no signs of wanting to return to work on the gold mines).

Another reason for his desire to remain in the small town became apparent with his wedding at St. James Church in Graaff Reinet on 8 February 1904, to Mary Vivian Harcourt, a 17 year girl. His address was given as Uitenhage and his occupation as Fireman with the Central South African Railways. That the family moved to Pretoria at some point is evidenced by the baptism of his third child in Turfontein, Johannesburg on 9 July 1912, by which time he was an Engine Driver by trade.

Brooks died relatively young – at the age of 47 years 3 months on 29 May 1926. At the time of his death he was a Meter Reader and living at 164 Fraser Street, Kenilworth, Johannesburg. He died at the Springhill Sanatorium in Germiston and was survived by his wife and three children.

Attachments:

The following user(s) said Thank You: djb

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

A 6-clasper to the South African Light Horse - Vincent Job Brooks 3 years 9 months ago #70201

QSAMIKE Offline Senior Member Posts: 5799 Thank you received: 1879	Thank You Rory..... A great morning read and research..... Mike Life Member Past-President Calgary Military Historical Society O.M.R.S. 1591
	Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

A 6-clasper to the South African Light Horse - Vincent Job Brooks 3 years 9 months ago #70204

djb Offline Administrator Posts: 31662 Thank you received: 4519	And evening read too! Dr David Biggins The following user(s) said Thank You: Rory
	Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.