TOPIC:

Arthur Lewis Haden

Private, Ladysmith Town Guard – Anglo Boer War
Trooper, Durban Light Infantry - 1906 Natal (Bambatha) Rebellion
Staff Sergeant, 5th Field Ambulance, South African Medical Corps (S.A.M.C.) - WWI

- Queens South Africa Medal with Defence of Ladysmith clasp to Pte. L. Haden, Ladysmith Town Guard
- Natal Medal with 1906 clasp Tpr. A.L. Haden, Durban Light Infantry
- 1914/15 Star to Staff Sgt. A.L. Haden 5th Field Ambulance, S.A.M.C.
- British War Medal as above
- Victory Medal (bilingual issue) as above.
- 1911 Coronation (unnamed as issued)

Arthur Lewis Haden (or Lewis as he was known to all of his acquaintance) was born in Ladysmith, Natal on 4th December 1882 to Charles Henry Haden, a Clerk by occupation, and his wife Florence Beatrice Haden, born Bainbridge. He was baptised in the All Saints Church in that town on 24 December 1882. George Frederick Tatham and Frances Tatham were witnesses to his baptism. George Tatham was one of Ladysmith’s most prominent citizens – as a Land Surveyor, Solicitor and Captain in the Natal Carbineers.


Haden at 15 (1898) - the year before he enlisted in the Town Guard

Little if any thought would have been given to the events that were to unfold as he went about his schoolboy pursuits in the run-up to the end of the 19th century. Aside from being kept busy with his schoolwork, he would have been enthralled by the tales of the varied travellers and guests staying at his mother’s boarding establishment in the town as they sat around the dinner table.

By the middle of As 1899 the threat of war between the two Dutch-speaking Boer Republics of the Orange Free State and Oom Paul Kruger’s Transvaal and the might of the British Empire drew ever nearer. The belligerents were inflexible and unwilling to accommodate the demands made by either side and, on the expiry of an ultimatum on 11 October 1899, the southern tip of the African continent found itself at war.

Sir George White, garrison commander of the 12 000 odd men, both regular army and colonial, that found itself besieged in Ladysmith by the encircling Boers on 2 November 1899, had made it obvious that, after an initial but disastrous effort to prevent the investment of the town at Nicholson’s Nek on 30 October, he would sit out the siege until Buller’s relieving force came to his rescue. He wasn’t to know that that worthy would be repulsed on no fewer than three occasions before meeting with success.

In the meanwhile, in the run-up to the siege, it had become imperative to create a Town Guard to ease the burden on the thinly stretched men in uniform whose numbers were shortly to be decimated daily by illness and disease. Members for the Ladysmith Town Guard were then enrolled from 19 September 1899, all members taking the Oath of Allegiance.

At the age of 16 Lewis, like many of the good citizens of Ladysmith was called upon to join the ranks of the newly formed Town Guard. He was allocated No. 76 and was assigned to Ward 1 which was headed up by Sergeant W.G. Hiscock. In several circles he is reputed to have been the youngest member.


Members of the Ladysmith Town Guard

In order to obtain a glimpse of what life was like and what the duties of the Town Guard were at the time it is useful to include the following information, taken from the Synopsis of proceedings of the Ladysmith Town Guard 1899 - 1900 which is held at the Ladysmith Siege Museum.

Daily drills were at once inaugurated, whilst the members were allowed to practice at the rifle ranges of the Klip River Rifle Association. Nightly patrols were instituted in the town and guards posted on Convent Hill to give the alarm of the approach of the enemy.

On the night of 12th October, Colonel Know, the man charged with the responsibility of the Guard, ordered the men to guard all the roads leading into the Borough, to prevent anyone from entering or leaving the town. Up until this point, the Boers, many who were residents of the town, had freedom of movement with many guilty of acting as spies and feeding their comrades with information.

On and after the 18th of October the Guard took duty at the Railway Bridge Defences.

In secret Divisional Orders dated the 23rd of October, the Guard was ordered to muster on the sound of the alarm at the New Supply Store and the Railway Bridge Head. On the 28th the entire guard mustered in the defences at 4.30 am and remained under arms till 7 am. The men were on duty at the Bridge Head and adjacent defences during the engagement of Lombard's Kop on the 30th of October.

On November the 5th, the 3rd day of the siege, the Commandant was sent to the neutral zone at Ntombi Spruit to take charge of the New Camp. From this date till the 12th of December the services of the Guard were not made use of. The situation in the town of Ladysmith was growing more desperate by the day. Food had run short, the length of the siege being impossible to gauge, and cavalry horses were slaughtered for meat and the making of chevril – all necessary to sustain the local inhabitants – both military and civilian.

On the 12th December, the men were again called out, and with the members of the Natal Government Rifle Association, placed under the command of Captain Young R.E., Railway Staff Officer. At this point their strength was 157 men, exclusive of those on the sick list.

The primary duty assigned to them was to guard the Klip River’s bank on the South side of the town nightly. Captain Molyneux, of the Natal Volunteer Staff, assumed command on the 23rd of December, a system being arranged that each man should be one night on and two nights off.

During the Boer attack on Wagon Hill on the 6th of January 1900 the whole of the Guard lined the defences from daybreak till 10 am, being under fire early in the morning. On several subsequent occasions the men were roused in the night to help to repel an expected attack.
Free rations were issued on the 29th of December and each succeeding day throughout the siege. This meant that the men, all civilians and townspeople, could go about their daily occupations and pursuits when not on duty. This didn’t carry much weight as most shops and places of business were shut up with no customers or clients to attend to.

On several subsequent occasions the men were roused in the night to help to repel an expected attack. With Buller’s final attempt to relieve Ladysmith successful, the Town Guard was disbanded for all Defence purposes on the 1st of March 1900.

With the disbanding of the Town Guard, Haden’s military role came to an end and he continued learning the trade of Carpenter in Ladysmith. He was awarded the Queens South Africa Medal with Defence of Ladysmith clasp.


Haden in D.L.I. uniform sporting his Queens medal with Defence of Ladysmith clasp

Peace reigned in the Colony of Natal and people began to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives. But sinister was afoot not many years later which would put Haden and thousands of others back into uniform. This was none other than the outbreak of what became known as the Bambatha Rebellion. In 1906, post-war Natal’s finances were in a parlous state and the fiscus was desperate to find additional monies to ward off the threat of depression.

The Colonial government hit upon an ingenious (but contentious) scheme where every male aged 18 and above would have a poll tax of £1 levied against his head. This was accepted grudgingly by most Zulu tribal Chiefs and Indunas but there were exceptions, the chief among them being a vocal and stroppy young chap from the Zondo clan in the Greytown/Kranskop area. Bambatha, for such was his name, went about stirring up trouble and inciting others to follow his lead, refusing to pay the tax when the magistrates charged with the task of collecting it called round.

This in itself was unacceptable to the authorities but Bambatha went one step further and called upon his followers to take up arms and openly rebel against the white man and his rule. Initially the Militia were called out in early 1906 but the strife fizzled out and they were disbanded. Several months later trouble flared up again and, with the blood of several citizens and Natal Policemen on his hands Bambatha was actively pursued.

Haden, finding himself in the catchment are for the Durban Light Infantry, enlisted as a Trooper with them. On 24 February 1906 178 of all ranks of the D.L.I. entrained at Camp Siding and steamed out for Stanger followed by a further 67 men on the 5th March. After a show of force at Mapumulo the natives threw in the towel before much action was seen and the Regiment returned to an enthusiastic reception in Durban on 17 March 1906. However, hardly had the troops returned to their homes when trouble with Bambata, a native Chief of some influence, which had been long developing, led to open rebellion of a most serious nature.

This led to the mobilization of yet another field force of which the D.L.I. was an integral part with various companies being called out at various times from 19 April 1906.

By the 1st of May the D.L.I had half a company (55 members) at Dundee; 2 companies (185 men) at Eshowe and half a company (55 men) at Gingindhlovu. Further calls were made on the D.L.I. when another detachment was sent to Mapumulo and another company left Durban on 11 May for Pomeroy. After many scrapes and skirmishes the rebellion was crushed and Bambata, who had initially fled, was captured and executed in Mome Gorge in the heart of Zululand. The Regiment, Haden included, was back in Durban on the afternoon of 20 December 1906.

For his participation in the Rebellion, Haden was awarded the Natal Medal with 1906 clasp.

Haden was present at the Ladysmith Relief Celebrations of 1908 and was awarded a medallion issued to commemorate the event. He must have retained links with the D.L.I. as he was the recipient of the 1911 Coronation medal off their roll, travelling to London to attend the coronation of H.M. George V.

Just before this, in 1910, he joined the employ of the South African Railways in Ladysmith, with whom he was to remain until retirement.

With the outbreak of war in South Africa on 4 August 1914 many able bodied men answered the call to arms and Haden was to be no exception, attesting for service with the 5th Mobile Field Ambulance (Ladysmith) of the South African Medical Corps on 6 January 1915. He was allotted No. F 2864 and the rank of Sergeant. He provided his mother, Mrs. F.B. Haden of P.O. Box 97 Ladysmith as his next of kin.
Haden’s outfit formed part of the 9th Mounted Brigade and saw service in German South West Africa, embarking on 5 February 1915 aboard the “Ebani” for the theatre of war and commencing operations on arrival there. The campaign was remarkable for the long route marches the men had to undertake in pursuit of the fleeing enemy. Dust, desert sand, the lack of water and the fact that the lines of communication with all the food and supplies was continually lagging behind proved to be more of an adversary than the Germans.

On 1 April 1915 Haden was promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeant which rank he held until the demobilization of his unit on 7 August 1915. (The war had effectively come to an end with the German surrender at Otavi on 9 July 1915.)

Lewis Haden returned home after this and took no further part in the war. For his services he was awarded the 1914/15 Star, posted to him on 17 February 1921, together with the British War Medal and Allied Victory Medal posted to him on 11 March 1922.


Haden with his dog "Blackie", outside the Charlestown Hotel

Back in civilian life once more he married Ethel Eliza Keppel a 25 year old spinster at the All Saint's Church in Ladysmith on 22 October 1917. He was described as being a Handyman Carpenter with the South African Railways and was 34 years old. On 25 February 1918 he signed his Last Will and Testament bequeathing all his worldly goods to his wife. They went on to have a son, Victor Lewis Haden who saw service in WWII.


Ladysmith Station as it was in 1918

1926 saw the passing away of Haden’s father in Melbourne, Australia on 12 November. Earlier that year, in May, he was transferred to Waterval Boven by his employers, the South African Railways – the staff magazine commented, “Mr. L. Haden our Works Foreman, has been transferred to Waterval Boven on promotion as Works Inspector. We congratulate Mr Haden on his well merited promotion. Mr Haden has been stationed at this depot for a good many years, where he gained the respect of his fellow workmen. Prior to his departure Mr Haden was presented with a suitcase as a token of the respect in which he is held. A few months later, in July 1926, approval was given for Haden’s appointment as a Lieutenant in the 10th (Transportation) Battalion of the Railways & Harbours “B” Company, Reconstruction.

His new post in Waterval Boven almost proved costly to his life – the same magazine reporting, in May 1927 that,

“A serious accident befell Major T.G. McEwen, Mr A.L. Haden, Works Foreman, and Mr J Titley when on an inspection run to Leydsdorp Road on the evening of 15th February. Near Klasserie Station the trolley became derailed and Major McEwen was seriously injured. Mr Haden was badly bruised and is suffering from shock, whilst Mr Titley came off lightly. Fortunately a goods train was following the motor trolley at a close interval and the injured men were quickly picked up.”

In April 1928 it was announced that he had been transferred to Pretoria in the capacity of Works Foreman. This was followed by a transfer to East London, on promotion as Works Inspector, in November of the same year.

Haden’s almost whistle-stop tour of the country continued with his transfer to Bloemfontein in the Orange Free State in May 1933. The S.A.R. Magazine informed its readers that,

“Mr Haden has been transferred from East London. He joined the service in Ladysmith as Chargeman. ”


Being presented to H.R.H. Prince George - no doubt chatting about the 1911 Coronation Medal

A proud moment befell him a year later, on the occasion of His Royal Highness, Prince George’s visit to South Africa. The staff magazine published a photograph of him being addressed by Prince George during his inspection of ex-servicemen in Bloemfontein. The Prince had, no doubt, noticed the 1911 Coronation medal sported by Haden – they had both attended the event, albeit in vastly different capacities.
Haden’s next and last move, in June 1935 was covered in their Staff Magazine as follows:

“Tributes were paid to Mr A.L. Haden, Works Inspector, Bloemfontein, on the eve of his departure for Ladysmith, on transfer. In the course of a speech, Mr T.C.C. Logan, Acting Systems Manager, said that he agrees with the staff of the Works Inspector that they could not allow Mr Haden to leave without expressing in tangible form their appreciation of his excellent services, and their personal regard. Mr Logan referred to Mr Haden as an officer of first-class ability and one who was “as straight as a die.”

In asking Mr Haden’s acceptance of a fitting dressing case for himself and a full hand-painted dinner service for Mrs Haden, Mr Logan voiced the good wishes of the staff for the future happiness and success of Mr and Mrs Haden. Mr Haden feelingly returned thanks. Mrs Haden and himself had “spent a happy time in Bloemfontein, he said.”

Lewis Haden was a Works Inspector with the S.A.R. at the time of his retirement. He passed away on 12th April 1955 at the Provincial Hospital, Ladysmith of a Coronary Thrombosis. His ordinary place of residence was a 10 acre farm, “Garthorne” in the Danskraal are near Ladysmith.



He left the handsome sum of £ 3 276.2.7 for distribution as well as his 1949 model Ford Coupe Registration number, NKR 480.

Hi Rory
Another whole life story in amazing detail and photos along the way. Great research, much appreciated
Thanks
Clive