TOPIC:

After helping to set up the ILH and then acting as a guide for the Imperial forces, Wools-Sampson was well rewarded with a KCB for his long and varied services during the Boer War.

Wools-Sampson evidently excelled in his role as guide for the Imperial forces, but he was much less successful in a leadership role in the ILH. His friend and colleague, Major Karri Davies of the ILH, also had shortcomings as a military leader, although both these men were leading lights in the business and social life in Johannesburg before the War.

It is probably true that, as a rule, the Imperial command distrusted Colonials as leaders of their regiments and, consequently, in the case of most irregular regiments raised during the War, Imperial officers were appointed to lead them. The brief periods when Wools-Sampson and Karri Davies commanded the ILH revealed their weaknesses as field commanders. The experienced Imperial regimental commanders appointed to the ILH did, however, contribute a great deal to the success of this regiment.

Brett