TOPIC:

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One of 50 KSA’s to the unit, and of 4 QSA’s named to Bombardiers.

A regiment strength of about 125 officers and men.

QSA (Cape Colony, Orange Free State) -
295 Bombr. G. Kimber. - Prince Alf. O. Cape. A.

KSA (both 1901/1902 date clasps) -
295 Bomb. G. Kimber. - P.A.O. Cape. Art.

The KSA ribbon is reversed, but as it came like that I do not intend on changing it.

The unit saw it’s beginning’s in the year of 1857, during the early stage of the Indian mutiny in which a number of Sepoys rebelled against the East India Company’s rule in India, who had acted on behalf of the Crown, as a result of social reforms, taxation, as well as scepticism of British improvements.

The mutiny saw troops being sent to India from all corners of the empire, who were mobilised for service against the sepoy rebellion. Sir George Grey, who was Governor of the Cape at the time, was informed of the mutiny, he readied all available troops in the Cape and sent them off to India. The resulting effect left the Cape severely depleted of manpower, and the strategic importance of the Cape to trade routes to and from Europe and Asia caused the Cape Royal Corps to be stationed on the guns in Table Bay.

The Corps' work on the batteries led to the creation of the Cape Town Volunteer Artillery on the 26th August 1857, from the Old Townhouse in Greenmarket Square. The unit’s first commanding officer was Major Chevalier Alfredo Duprat. A notebook named the Volunteer Artillery was sold by AntigaurianAuctions.com on the 22nd August 2023 and contained a number of regimental orders written by Major C. A. Duprat between 1859-1862.

The Duke of Wellington was very impressed with these Volunteer Artillerymen, so much so that on the 3rd of October 1867 the unit was redesignated Prince Alfred’s Own Volunteer Artillery, of which was confirmed in Government Notice No.318 shortly after the Duke gave to effect the title to the volunteers themselves. The “Cape Town” was later dropped and the name was changed to Prince Alfred’s Own Volunteer Artillery, reflecting those who composed it.

The unit’s namesake was Alfred Ernest Albert (6 Aug 1844 - 30 July 1900), who was the sovereign Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 1893 to his death. The second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, he held the title of Duke of Edinburgh from 1866 until he succeeded his uncle Ernest II. The Cape Artillery were one of three units named after Alfred. This list included the obvious of the bunch, being the Prince Alfred’s Own Cape Artillery, as well as Prince Alfred’s Guards Mounted Infantry, and Prince Alfred’s Volunteer Guard. All of the medal rolls for these units are included in WO 100/264 in the collection of the UK National Archives.

The next few decades saw a number of conflicts on the plateau of which the Prince Alfred’s took their fair share of war. The 9th Frontier War (1877-79), as well as the Tambookie and Bausoltland Rebellions (1880-81), and the Langeberg Campaign (1896-1897) It was during the latter campaign that the regiment were again subjected to a name change, designated Prince Alfred’s Own Cape Artillery in respect to their origin.

The aftermath of the Jameson Raid caused a rippling effect in the relationship between the Crown and Afrikaan speakers. The raid caused significant embarrassment for Westminster, and gold mines which the British had set their sights on were strengthened in Boer dominance as a result of the raid, worsening political tensions. This “private war” as it was dubbed, encouraged the native Ndebele, from the Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces, and the Shona people to rebel against Imperialist rule. The lack of ready men in Rhodesia contributed significantly to the Second Matabele War, with Rhodesia and Bechuanaland being swiped by the Imperial Government.

January 1899 saw the regiment be reduced to just one partially-paid battery, and by the declaration of war on the 11th October 1899, the PAOCA was under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel T.J.J. Inglesby, son of the former regiment’s commanding officer and Mayor of Cape Town. His staff officer’s included the Captain and Brevet-Major F.W, Divine, and four Lieutenants. The other ranks also included a Battery Sergeant Major and two Battery Quartermaster Sergeants. The unit was composed of one battery, later split into two sections, one spending a portion of the war on supportive artillery roles in the Cape, and the other later seeing more action under Brabant as part of the Colonial Division, becoming involved in relieving the besieged Wepener.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported on the 14th October, 3 days after the declaration, the “Strength of Forces in the Field” , Around 16,000 troops were under the command of Sir George White in Natal at the week’s commencement, two battalions were at sea on the Monday, and were presumed as having arrived at Durban by the 14th, making the total count under White at 18,000.

Exact strength of the British forces under the command of Sir. F. Forester were also estimated at the time, it included the volunteer artillery of which the Prince Alfred’s Own Cape Artillery was numbered at 250, alongside the Cape Garrison Artillery at 500 strong.

In reality the PAOCA only had a force of 125 strong in its ranks.

The regiment was mobilised for active service on the 16th October, encamping at Green Point Common in their native city of Cape Town. Their armament consisted of 6 15-Pounder guns but lacked the horses to pull them, not particularly useful for an artillery unit. The solution was to pull them by hand to the goods station in the city from which roughly 120 troops met them.

On the 20th of November, the advance party, a force of 20 men, and the main body of the PAOCA had reached De Aar, a railway town in the Northern Cape province, of which was of great strategic importance to the British. It sits on the line between Cape Town and Kimberley, vital in the effort to relieve Kimberley and as a supply line to imperial and colonial forces across the Cape Colony. It continued north to Mafeking and Rhodesia, with the line to the south-east going towards Naauwrpoort and on to Port Elizabeth and Stormberg. De Aar was the centre of Kitchener’s operations against Cape Rebels in March the following year.

It was at De Aar where the battery was separated into two sections, Left and Right, Lieutenant Janisch being placed in command of the latter. Two guns were ready for the departure to Naauwpoort and the remaining troops of the Left Section in positions around the hills of De Aar.

Right Section soon received orders to move and were ready to entrain with the Black Watch towards Naauwpoort. The guns had been loaded onto the train after a great effort by the men, having had no provisions put in place to alleviate this process. French’s forces at Naauwpoort were under threat from Boer forces of De Wet and De La Rey. From here, the section would see a long stay of over four months at the encampment there.

Concurrently, the left section had been left back in the northern Cape, assigned to “lines of communication duties”, these would involve guarding vulnerable strategic railway points, operating in a roving capacity alongside Scott’s Railway Guards. Two guns were made available for the defence of Koffiefontein and Jacobsdal.

After a long wait, the 6th April 1900 saw Right Section assigned to the Colonial Division under Brabant in the march towards Wepener. They passed through the railway station and town of Aliwal North, eighty miles east of Norval’s Pont, and made their advance through the Free State, where late at night on 21st they were presenting themselves in the engagement at Bushman’s Kop (Boesmanskop), a steep, flat hill some 20 miles from Wepener, of which Brabant’s Horse had difficulty taking; The Mounted Infantry were given the task of bringing back the wounded. The PAOCA guns were not called up and subsequently remained at the rear. The museum in Johannesburg lists least one Boer was killed during the taking of the Kop, Jan Johannes Dry of Rouxville Commando, whose address is listed as ‘Quaggafontein, Rouxville’ and was subsequently buried at Trianon Farm.

Boesmanskop is a Kopje in the former Orange Free State, now the Zastron district in the modern Free State Province. It is 1,698m high, 30km north of Zastron, and was later the name, from 15th October 1934, of a nearby railway station on the line to Wepener . In April 1900 Bushman’s Kop was held by a force of around 600 Burghers, under Senior Commandant C.C. Froneman.

The unit's first action actually came just a few days later, where a skirmish at Commandant V.D. Fouche’s Farm, lasting around six hours, where the unit fired approximately 160 rounds at the enemy, sustaining no casualties.

V.D. Fouche was Kommandant of Rouxville Commando, and was responsible for the shooting of two private soldiers of F Company 1st Connaught Rangers, who were executed under suspicion of espionage on the 16th November 1901.

The garrison at Wepener had been under siege for 17 days before its relief on the 25th April, a force of around 1,500 men and 13 guns. The Colonial Division numbered 7,000, a minute number of which included Right Section PAOCA. They had travelled approximately 320 miles (515km) from Naauwrpoort to Wepener.

The following is a number of excerpts from an article written by the special correspondent for ‘The Standard’ taken from page 3 of the 31st May edition. The article is an extensive account of the ‘March to Wepener’ and discusses the action and Boer positions at both Bushman’s Kop and Fouche’s Farm. The following excerpts are only those related to the PAOCA.

“General Hart and General Brabant left Aliwal on Monday, the 16th April, for Wepener, to relieve the force of 1800 men cut off and surrounded by some 8,000 Boer’s at Jammersberg Drift”

“General Brabant’s force consisted of half-regiments of Border Horse, Brabant’s Horse, Kaffrarian Rifles, Queenstown Volunteer Rifles, and New Zealand Roughriders, with two guns of Prince Alfred’s Cape Artillery”

“Next morning reports were brought in again by the scouts that the enemy had taken up a position at Fouche’s Farm, notwithstanding their heavy defeat of the previous day. It may be mentioned that in going over their position undoubted evidences were found of numerous casualties. The march was resumed, abundant supplies of forage being obtained from the farmhouses along the way, many of which were altogether deserted. General Brabant pitched his camp in the after-noon on the northern slope of the rise near the kopje’s occupied by the Boer’s at Fouche’s. Pickets were posted on all the commanding kopje’s around. General Hart’s Infantry came up later and camped alongside.”

The attack on the farm began at ten o’clock the following morning, with a company of Roughriders being sent to occupy a large kopje which faced towards the Boer defensive line. The rest of Brabant’s forces utilised the same tactics they had used at Bushman’s Kop, making a wide detour to the east of the farm. Two guns of the Cape Artillery accompanied them. The distance between the New Zelanders, and a company of the Border Horse on the hill crest, from the Boer’s was around 1,800 yards. They were then taken by surprise, when a party of Boer’s, who had concealed themselves in the rocks of the southern slope, opened fierce fire on the Kopje. The Boer officer immediately ordered them to wheel to the left, galloping behind a small isolated kopje at the base of the high one occupied by the Roughriders. The fire became general, the Boer’s “poured in a fierce and heavy fusillade of Mauser rifle fire, sweeping the front lined by the New Zealanders”. They had however taken cover splendidly and suffered no casualties.

The two Cape guns had advanced far forward on the extreme right, alongside a small river course, protected by Boer marksmen by a small ridge. The greater part of Brabant’s Division, and a company of Roughriders, advanced in a sweeping line, the Boer’s seen rushing behind a crest to the north-east so as to prevent a flank attack. No.8 Battery arrived on the crest, now held by the New Zealanders, and shelled the entire Boer position.

The flanking party, on nearing the crest of the rise up of which they advanced on, were met with terrific rifle fire from 600 yards. Brabant ordered his men to retire some 300 yards to the right, with them taking cover in a field of mealies. This proved to be an brilliant tactic, as the mealies had grown above a man’s head, providing excellent cover and preventing the Boer’s from taking accurate aim.

The two Cape guns were unlimbered and opened fire on the Boer’s from a range of 750 yards, their horses placed in safety behind a small rise. The rapidity and accuracy of the artillery fire unnerved the Boer’s so much so that it caused their rifle fire to become disorganised. The gunners had a narrow escape, however none were hit, with only an officers servant shot in the head and killed.

The combination of precise shelling by the Cape guns, and rifle fire from the mealie fields, silenced the Boer position in half an hour. They fell back to the other ridges 1,000 to 1,800 yards away. Gary readied the Infantry, who took the place of the New Zealanders on the Kopje facing the Boers. Meantime, the NZ took position undercover in the valley where they resided themselves to charge the enemy position. The Cape guns opened fire on the northern crest of the Kopje, forming the original Boer position, in conjunction with No.8 battery, who shelled the other side. This was the “final blow” that resulted in the Boers disappearing over the hills and down the slopes towards a farmhouse and then to Wepener Road. Brabant ordered his men to move forward, and they rushed in extended order, the New Zealanders in the valley doing the same. One of the guns were brought forward, only possessing a magazine of 13 rounds, however the Boer’s retreated in a speedy fashion, concluding the battle. During the action, a number of Basuto’s came down from the mountains east of Basutoland, watching the fight whilst clad in red blankets. Some reports state that they fired on an advance party of Boers, but this remains unconfirmed.

After the engagement concluded, Lt Janisch wired the following message to O/C Lieutenant-Colonel T.J.J. Ingelsby:

'Our first engagement 24th, lasting six hours.
Fired about 160 rounds, men behaved quite splendidly under very heavy rifle fire at close range. No casualties'

Interestingly, all applications for the Wepener clasp were struck off on the medal rolls, as someone initially may have interpreted Army Order 94 wrong, which stated that the clasp would be issued to troops engaged in the DEFENCE of Wepener.

Right section continued their advance and crossed the Vaal at Scandinavian Drift, south of Potchefstroom on August 9th with the division, under Colonel Dalgety.

The section saw action at various engagements over the next few weeks, including Magatoesnek, Doornhoek, Vlakfontein, and Kwaggafontein.

The rest of the battery had not been left inactive, The Left Section, for almost a year had faced the boredom of garrison duty at Jacobsdal, where very little happens to break the monotony. Driver Tomlinson had however, warned the Royal Humane Society Bronze Medal for his courage in saving two men quite nearby on the 21st April 1900, Gunner Sutcliffe of Prince Alfred’s Own, and Private McArdle of the KOSB and a native, when their wagon capsized in a 10-foot flooded deep dip in the road, near Guards Drift on the Modder River. The dip was 30 yards wide, and Tomlinson first took McArdle out and returned to rescue Sutcliffe, who apparently could not swim and had only managed to keep himself almost by clinging to a mule.

At last the Battery was concentrated at Kimberley and Left Section was able to say farewell to Jacobsdal and to entrain for Cape Town and home on the 19th January 1902.

Of the original officers, who still remained on service with T.J.J. Ingelsby - now a Lieutenant-Colonel - who had been presented with the Volunteer Decoration on 14th January 1901 - Major F.W. Divine, who was in charge of the battery on the journey back to the coast, C.H. Divine, who had been promoted to captain, and Lieutenants F.R. Day and J.W. McKenna. With the men, they looked forward to a pleasant reception in Cape Town after more than two years on full-time service, but, as it happens on railways, there were delays.

The troop train finally pulled into the goods yard at Cape Town in the very early hours off the morning, long after well-wishers had retired to bed. The men had to spend the rest of their first night back sleeping as best they could in the Drill Hall.

At 11 O’Clock the next morning there was a full parade of headquarters and both sections. Gen. Sir H. Settle, under whom part of the battery had served at Orange River early in the war, paid fulsome tribute to their honour, their gallantry and their glory in the accepted manner of the day; the mayor, Mr. W. Thorne praised everyone in equally extravagant terms, adding that “It may be somewhat invidious of me, as Mayor of Cape Town, to make special reference to any of our Volunteer Corps, but in the case of the Cape Artillery I may claim a little license owning to its close association with the city and corporation. No less than five ex-Mayors of the city of Cape Town have passed through its ranks, while two of them, Colonel Philip John Stigant and Colonel Thomas James Campbell Ingelsby, father of three present commanding officer, became Colonels of the Corps”.

The Dean of Cape Town, and other distinguished guests cheered lustily before the parade dismissed, and later drivers were specially entertained with wives and families, this signalling the end of the South African War as far as the Prince Alfred’s own Cape Artillery was concerned.

While on active service the unit had lost its Honorary Colonel, Sir Richard Southey, who had died at his home in Wynberg on the 22nd July 1902, and was buried the following day at St. John’s Church, near the military camp, where the remains of P.J. Stigant also lay.

Shortly after the regiment’s return to Cape Town, the P.A.O.C.A. provided a gun carriage and escort for the funeral of Cecil John Rhodes, a former Honorary Member of the regiment, who died on the 26th March 1902. After lying-in-state at Groote Schuur, his funeral service took place on April 3rd. Major Sydney Cowper, C.M.G., the units paymaster who was also Secretary to the Prime Minister, was responsible for the entire funeral arrangements and Lt-Col Ingelsby was one of the Marshals. Among the pall bearers was Dr. W. Smartt; M.L.A., who had been the units Doctor during the Transkei Campaign of 1880/1881.

Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be any indication as to who G. Kimber was, it definitely requires some digging.

References:

The South African Gunner - Major D. Coetzee.
PAOCA Medal Rolls - The National Archives UK (WO 100/264) pg. 34-44.
The Funeral Ceremonies of the Late Rt Hon Cecil John Rhodes - Window On Rhodesia.
Various named articles from the collection of Newspapers Ancestry.
The First Volunteer Units of the Cape - By Major G. Tylden.
Encyclopedia of the Boer War, 1899-1902.
Jones, Huw M. and Meurig G. M., A Gazetteer of the Second Anglo-Boer War 1899–1902 (Milton Keynes, The Military Press, 1999).
The National Library of Australia.
Gunners of the Cape, 1965 - Neil Orpen.