TOPIC:

I've just acquired a Boer War/WWI group to 6057 Pte. H Hunt who saw service in SA with the Middlesex M.I. Is there a list or a way of determining whether or not my man was one of the following who, according to Conan-Doyle, fought at Fort Itala:

These two so-called forts were posts of very modest strength, a chain of which had been erected at the time of the old Zulu war. Fort Itala, the larger, was garrisoned by 300 men of the 5th Mounted Infantry, drawn from the Dublin Fusiliers, Middlesex, Dorsets, South Lancashires, and Lancashire Fusiliers--most of them old soldiers of many battles. They had two guns of the 69th R.F.A., the same battery which had lost a section the week before. Major Chapman, of the Dublins, was in command.

Of course, if these chaps earned the Natal clasp then my question is irrelevant.



Any pointers?

Regards

Rory

The battles at Fort Itala & nearby Fort Prospect occurred on 26th September 1901.

The rules for the Natal Clasp read as follows:

A clasp inscribed "Natal" will be granted to all troops in Natal at any time between October 11th, 1899, and June 11th, 1900 both dates inclusive, who receive no clasp for an action in Natal nor the "Cape Colony" clasp as already specified.

So it would appear being involved in the action at Fort Itala & Fort Prospect in September 1901 would not have gained them the Natal clasp despite both forts being in Natal. Private 4167 George Duckworth, born & raised in Smethwick but served in the S Lancs Regt, was the only man to die at Fort Prospect on that day and his posthumous QSAM did not have a "Natal" clasp attached to it.

Apologies if I have misunderstood your thinking regarding your "Of course, if these chaps earned the Natal clasp then my question is irrelevant." comment.

HI Rory,
I was able to locate this news article which gives you a better breakdown of the Regiments and Battalions that defended Fort Itala. Hope that this can be of some assistance.




London, October 4, 2.15 p.m.
Lord Kitchener has forwarded to the War Office a detailed report of the engagements which took place on Thursday, September 26, between General Botha's commando and the British at Fort Itala and Fort Prospect, on the border of Zululand.

The garrison of Fort Itala consisted of three companies each, drawn from the First Battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, the Second Battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers, the Second Battalion of the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex) Regiment, the Second Battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment, and the First Battalion of the Prince of Wales's Volunteers (South Lancashire Regiment). They had with them two 15-pounder field guns and a Maxim, the whole being under the direction of Major-General Bruce Hamilton, commanding the 21st Brigade of the South African Field Force.

As General Botha was known to be in the neighborhood, and an attack was anticipated, Lieutenant Harold Robert Kane, of the South Lancashire Regiment, with Lieutenant Bertram Percival Lefroy, of the Dublin Fusiliers, and eighty men were placed as an outpost on the top of Itala Mountain.

A force of 700 Boers attacked this outpost at midnight, but in spite of the tremendous odds against them the gallant little band fought for an hour before their position was captured. The heroic defence was conducted at close quarters, the Boer dead being piled up in heaps around the body of the British commander. Lieutenant Kane refused to acknowledge himself beaten, and he died at the head of his men, shouting "No surrender." Lieutenant Lefroy, who also displayed signed courage, was likewise badly wounded. The survivors of the men who formed the outpost having lost both their officers, fell back on Fort Itala, which was then surrounded by the Boers.

A determined fight was kept up during the whole of the succeeding day, and it was not until 7 p.m., or nineteen hours after the assault began, that the enemy were finally beaten off. When the Boers retired, the garrison, who were short of ammunition and water, fell back in good order on N'Kandha, in Zululand. The Boer casualties, which were altogether out of proportion to those of the British, were exceedingly heavy, both in killed and wounded.

Simultaneously with the attack on Fort Itala, the Boers made a fierce attempt on the adjacent garrison of Fort Prospect, which was held by 65 men with one Maxim gun. The fight lasted for ten hours, and once more the assault of the enemy failed, 60 of the Boer dead being left on the field when the commando retreated.

Commandants Opperman, Scholz, and Potgieter, who were with General Botha, were killed.


Trev

Thanks Trev - The trick is to determine if my chap Hunt was one of the Middlesex chaps referred to as being there. I read somewhere, but now can't put my hands on the article, that the Middlesex M.I. chaps (who numbered 50 in toto and of whom Hunt would have been one) were the Middlesex men at Itala.

Worthy of more research, methinks. Until then the elusive proof is wanting.

Regards

Rory

Hi Rory
Not sure if this is relevant?
Your man was in the 2nd Battalion Middlesex.
His medal roll mentions him serving in the 3rd and 4th Mounted Infantry.

For What it is worth Rory, I have a fort Itala casualty:
4578 Pte J Saunders, Royal Lancaster Regt.
His QSA has the Transvaal clasp but I believe entitled to SA01 as well. i believe he was 1 of 2 casualties from the regiment on 26th.