TOPIC:

Frederick James Pye

Trooper, British South Africa Police – Anglo Boer War
Private, 2nd Imperial Light Horse – German South West Africa
Company Quartermaster Sergeant – 1st S.A.I. Brigade
Conductor, (S.A.S.C.) South African Service Corps – WWI

- Queens South Africa Medal to 1455 TPR. T. (sic) J. PYE. B.S.A. POLICE
- 1914/15 Star to PTE. F.J. PYE, 2ND I.L.H.
- British War Medal to C.Q.M.S. F.J. PYE. 1ST. S.A.I. BGDE.
- Victory Medal to CONDR. F.J. PYE. S.A.S.C.

Fred Pye had a rocky start to his career in uniform. Born in the Municipal Borough of West Ham in Stratford, Essex on 16 September 1882, he was the son of William Pye, a Railway Engine Driver, and his wife Anna, born Hull.

Our first glimpse of a young Pye came courtesy of the 1891 England census where, at the age of 8 he was the youngest in the family living at 6 Castle Street, West Ham. Others in the house, aside from his parents, were older siblings William (23), Thomas (21), Harry (19), Kate (14) and George (10). His mother, aged 52, would have been 44 years old when he was born – risky by Victorian standards.

For reasons known only to himself, a young Fred sought greener pastures, sailing for South Africa towards the end of the 19th century, and working his way up to the largely unexplored territory of Rhodesia which is where he was when he enlisted for service with the British South Africa Police on 4 June 1901 with the rank of Trooper and no. 1455.

The Anglo Boer War which had been raging since October 1899, was still in full swing when Pye walked through the recruiting office doors in Bulawayo to sign up for the Matabeleland Division of the B.S.A.P. The pitched battles that had characterised the first phase of the war had long given way to the guerrilla phase where the Boer Commandos, now broken up into small, highly mobile mounted units, were being harried and harassed from one corner of the country to the next as the net closed in on them.

The fact that Pye’s Queens medal is a confirmed no-clasper tells the reader, unequivocally, that he never strayed foot outside of Rhodesia and would, thus, not have partaken in any of the later actions in which elements of the B.S.A.P. were involved. He was, most likely, confined to guarding the Rhodesian border against possible Boer infiltration as the Boers were edged further and further into the remote areas of the Transvaal.


BSAP men leaving Salisbury for the war

There may well be another reason why Pye didn’t see much action – this is revealed by the comment in the Remarks column of the medal roll – it states that he was discharged for insubordination on 19 February 1902. He was entitled to the date clasps, South Africa 1901 and 1902 but these don’t appear to have been issued to him, in fact, another more sinister annotation reads, “Recover medal issued from 1/2375.” This was obviously not done as the medal is part of his group.

Pye, his role in the war over, remained in South Africa taking himself south to the Transvaal where he secured employment as a Barman in a hostelry. The Great War which burst onto the international stage on 4 August 1914, a mere 12 years after the cessation of hostilities in the Boer War, did not leave South Africa unscathed. Botha and Smuts, so recently enemies of the Empire, agreed to intervene in German South West Africa where they were asked to neutralise the German threat there – this being a powerful radio transmitter which could be used by the Axis forces to interfere with Allied shipping in the Atlantic.

But first came the no small matter of having to suppress an internal rebellion. Not everyone was happy to side with the British and old foes in parts of the Orange Free State and Western Transvaal came out in force against Union troops sent to suppress them. Eventually, after a period of bloody confrontation, the rebels were put to flight and South Africa could go about the business of sending men to the German territory on their western border.

Pye, fuelled no doubt with enthusiasm to redeem himself in the eyes of the authorities – and a good deal older and more mature at 33 – enlisted for service with the 2nd Imperial Light Horse (aka 5th Mounted Rifles), a Kimberley-based regiment, on 25 October 1914. As next of kin he provided the details of brother, George, of 46 Spencer Road, Seven Kings, Essex, England. Assigned the rank of Private with no. X 435 he was mustered with F Company.


A postcard of Gibeon

Sailing for the front aboard the S.S. Glenorchy on 9 December 1914, Pye and his 2nd I.L.H. comrades were part of the Central Force under General Duncan McKenzie. Having disembarked at Luderitz Bay they hadn’t long to wait before, on 13 December 1914 the Central Force made its next advance. Three battalions of infantry were brought up to Tschaukaib in preparation for a raid on Garub. The raiding party encountered a well-entrenched German position which included two Maxim guns and a Pom-Pom. With no artillery, the raiding force could not dislodge the Germans and a stalemate ensued until a large force was seen leaving Aus. As it was likely that this force included artillery, the South Africans decided to withdraw and to consolidate the Tschaukaib position. Difficulties in providing water forced the replacement of the mounted rifle regiments with infantry. The Tschaukaib garrison also had to deal with intense heat, prolonged sandstorms, and intermittent air attacks.

The Germans retreated northwards and the scene was set for a prolonged pursuit. It took nine days before the wells at Aus were able to support Central Force’s mounted troops. On 14 April a flying column was formed, consisting of three brigades of mounted rifles (two regiments per brigade) and one field gun battery. Leaving Aus on 15 April 1915, it covered 185km in four days, the mounted brigades having to move at intervals of a day to conserve water. The column followed the railway line to Kuibis, after which it cut across country to Bethanie and on to Besondermaid, where it surprised a group of six German soldiers. After a six hour rest, the advance continued, Berseba being reached at dawn on 22 April 1915.

At Berseba, the mounted brigades were united and the pursuit continued with the troops on short rations. On reaching Grundorn on 26 April, they found the telegraph line to be intact, enabling the interception of German telephone messages, which revealed that the Germans were unaware of the proximity of the South African flying column and intended leaving Gibeon that night. If the Central Force column moved fast enough, it might trap the German force. Scouts reported that a train was getting up steam in Gibeon Station and that there was much movement of supplies from the village to the station, but the Germans took their time leaving, not realising how close the Central Force was. The attack opened when a party of South African scouts and engineers was sent forward to blow up the railway line to Windhuk. Three mounted rifle regiments, the Umvoti Mounted Rifles, the 2nd Imperial Light Horse and Natal Light Horse, under the command of Col J P Royston, moved in after the demolition team.

Royston’s orders were to cut the German line of retreat, but he made several mistakes in deployment. The most serious of these was that he positioned his force too close to where the railway line had been blown up. A German patrol, sent to investigate the explosion, soon located his force, which was also unwisely deployed parallel to, rather than across, a possible German retreat. Poor reconnaissance on the part of Royston’s force also enabled a German machine gun to wreak havoc on the South African position from a nearby railway culvert. Inexplicably, too, Royston himself then went to the rear to bring up the Umvoti Mounted Rifles. In his absence, the commander of the 2nd ILH gave the order to retreat to the horses.


Captured guns at Gibeon

Pye’s outfit suffered a number of men killed and wounded in the action at Gibeon. After this, the 2nd I.L.H. moved steadily northwards in pursuit of the retreating Germans. The campaign came to a close on 9 July 1915 with the German surrender at Otavi. Pye does not appear to have been present for this, having been repatriated to South Africa on 12 June 1915.

Most of the returning men had a choice to make – either they went home, their soldiering days over, or they could enlist with the force being put together to take the fight to Otto von Lettow Vorbeck in German East Africa. Another option was to sail for England and fight the Germans in France and Flanders on the Western Front. After a decent period of rest at home, Pye attested for service with the Animal Transport section of the South African Service Corps, as a Conductor, for service in German East Africa. Completing the attestation forms in Pretoria on 23 November 1915, he provided his mother, Anna Pye, of 113 Calderon Road, Leytonstone, London as his next of kin.
Confirming prior service with the B.S.A.P and the 2nd I.L.H. he also stated that he was unmarried. Physically he was 5 feet 8 inches in height, had fair hair, brown eyes and dark brown hair. By way of distinguishing marks about his person he had a scar over his left elbow.

Having been passed as fit by the Doctor, Pye was assigned no. T603 and, on 15 January 1916, embarked at Durban for East Africa. The scourge of Malaria that affected almost all men of European descent in this sub-tropical wasteland took its toll on Pye as well. On 30 March 1916 he was hospitalised at Tavita with the complaint, returning to duty on 3 April. At Kilimatinde on 18 August 1916 he went down with a severe bout of Diarrhoea, undergoing treatment at the 2nd South African Field Ambulance. His woes were not yet over – on 2 April 1917 at Iringa the Malaria returned with a vengeance. Recovering from that he succumbed again at Dodomo on 19 May 1917 and was in bed at the Casualty Clearing Station until 10 June. This was followed by another attack at Kisigo on 31 August, being released to duty on 8 September 1917.

Eventually the strain of illness proved too much and Pye was repatriated to South Africa aboard the H.M.T. Gaika on 19 February 1918. He had stayed longer in the theatre than most Union troops who were sent back from January 1917 onwards. He was discharged at Robert Heights on 2 May 1918 – temporarily unfit for tropical war service. His discharge address was 173a Schoeman Street, Pretoria. His Proceedings on Discharge form, completed on 2 April 1918, rated his Military Character as Very Good and credited him with 2 years and 162 days service. He also claimed field and colonial allowances “whilst serving in East Africa as a warrant officer.”

Having been in combat with the Germans and their native allies in two theatres and having felt the full brunt of the ravages of malaria, Pye could be forgiven for calling it a day and hanging up his rifle. Not so, in his case, on 10 May 1918 at Pretoria, he completed attestation papers for the 1st South African Infantry Brigade. After the brigades numbers had been decimated at both the Delville Wood and Marrieres Wood debacles, there was an urgent need for fresh troops to be sent from South Africa. Scheduled to be one of the draft of 4 September 1918, Pye was mustered to 2nd S.A.I. with no. 20391 and the rank of Private. He was now 37 years old and no longer in the first flower of youth.

On 6 September 1918 he embarked at Cape Town for England aboard H.M.T. Willochra and was taken on strength at Perham Down on 5 October 1918, being granted leave from 10 till 13 October 1918. By the time Pye and his comrades were ready to cross the channel to France the war was over - 11 November 1918 being the date the last shot was fired and the guns fell silent. After whiling away his time in the United Kingdom he was demobilised there on 13 March 1919. For his efforts he was awarded the 1914/15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.

Having elected to remain in England, Pye sought employment with the Electric Tramways department of the Ilford Urban District Council. He was employed as a Tram Conductor. He had also, according to the 1921 England census, acquired a wife in the form of 26 year old Helen Jane. The couple were living at 46 Spencer Road, Seven Kings, readers will recall that this was the family home in 1914.

According to the 1939 Register (no census was taken in 1941 on account of World War II), Pye, his wife and son were living in Ilford, Essex. He was a Conductor with the London Passenger Transport Board, working out of The Nursery, one of the stops on route. He was 58 years old, his son, also Frederick, was an Apprentice Tool Maker born on 26 June 1923.

Frederick James Pye passed away in Ilford in the last quarter of 1957 ate the age of 75.