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The following letter has been received by His Worship The Mayor, Ald. Tillotson: Dear Sir, - It is with great pleasure I write thanking all you kind gentlemen for your goodness and kind generosity which you have shown towards myself, my wife, and child, during the short time we have been in Clitheroe. It made us feel proud of the Borough, seeing such a large gathering of ladies and gentlemen. I am very pleased to acknowledge the handsome sum of £9 3s. subscribed for us, and my wife joins me in hearty thankfulness to you and the kind gentlemen of Clitheroe. At present I am waiting further orders, and hope soon to be among the Boers.
Clitheroe Advertiser, Friday 19th January 1900

The monthly meeting of the Clitheroe Town Council, was held on Thursday, the Mayor (Alderman H. Tillotson) presiding. It was decided that the post of P.C. Little, a reservist, should be kept open, and that his wife be allowed 12s. per week with an allowance of 2s. per week for her child.

Burnley Express, Saturday 20th January1900

A letter has been received at the Police Station this week, in which it is stated that Pte. Little is still at Hull, on furlough, and it is not certain when he will be called up.

Clitheroe Advertiser, Friday 26th January 1900

In the letter received on Tuesday by P.C. Taylor, Pte. Little says: -
"I received your kind and welcome letter, and am pleased to hear from you. I cannot understand how Mitchell has seen me, for I have never seen Aldershot yet. I was three days in Beverley, but the remainder I have been in Hull only. I have not seen anybody belonging to Clitheroe since I left.

"I am very pleased to read of the grand send-off to Dick Read [Richard Read, 32nd (Lancashire) Company Imperial Yeomanry]; it was a credit to the Old Borough. I have received orders to join my Depot at Beverley on Monday, the 31st inst., and we leave there for Aldershot on Friday, 2nd February. That is all I know up to now, so my next letter will be from Aldershot. All the people talk about here is the War, and the losing of Spion Kop has knocked everyone aback.

"I see at Clitheroe they have done very well at the Mayor's Ball to clear £58 for the War Fund. I hope all the men in the Force are all well and all right. I suppose you will all be waiting to see me with the V.C., for when I get the chance I am going "slap-bang" in for something."

The writer concludes with the best respects to P.C. and Mrs. Taylor, and all the members of the Force, as well as the town at large.

*In reference to the first paragraph of the letter, it is perhaps necessary to state that it deals with a notion which gained currency in the town over a week ago, with reference to Pte. Mitchell, of the Ambulance Corps, having been in company with Pte. Little. - Ed.

Clitheroe Advertiser, Friday 2nd February 1900

The six months leave of absence granted to P.C. Little, who is now in South Africa, was extended for a further period of six months.

Burnley Express, Saturday 23rd June 1900

Dear Friends, - I am pleased to tell you that I am very well and enjoy the best of health up to now. I suppose you will have read all about what we are doing and where we have been. We have fairly dropped in for it since we have been out here - marching and chasing the enemy all over the Free State. The old saying is yet that the war is nearly over, and I believe it won't be very long now. There seemed to be in everybody's mouth before we came out that the war was nearly over, but if they had suffered the same as we have their minds would have changed. There were twelve men selected from my regiment to join the Driscoll's Scouts and I being a company scout was selected as one. We have some very dangerous work to do but we are all mounted and lightly equipped so that we can slip and hide the same as the Boers. We expect to get 5s. per day. We live much better and have new clothes, extra blankets, and are more comfortable generally. Our work is chiefly done at night. We joined them on the 9th inst. so we are just nicely used to horse riding, what I have never done before. Several of this corps are transferring to the police that is forming, so we take their place. I have not met any other Clitheroe men, bar Whittle, since we left the train some weeks ago. I don't think it is any use grumbling for we are all tarred with the same brush, knocked out with hard work and little food. I hope everything and everybody is all right at Clitheroe. I intend to have a good beano when I land back again. I will make up for this lot or it won't be my fault. I am used to the Boers continually firing, bad food, sleeping on the veldt, rain, cold, and everything else, so when I return I shall have to get used to forgetting it all. I now conclude with best wishes to all members of the police force.
Clitheroe Advertiser, Friday 27th July 1900

East Yorkshire Regiment. - 2853 Private A. Little, near Harrismith, on 15th June, 1901, when a scout, observing 40 Boers making for a kopje, anticipated them and kept them off.

Hull Daily Mail, Wednesday 21st August 1901

At the Watch Committee meeting the Chief Constable read a letter from P.C. Little, formerly police constable at Crewe, forwarding a copy of the General Commanding-in-Chief in South Africa, for July 16th, 1901, notifying the promotion of P.C. Little to the rank of corporal for distinguished gallantry in the field.

Burnley Express, Saturday 21st September 1901

P.C. Little, of the Clitheroe Police Force, returned home on Saturday after over two years' absence in South Africa on active service. little, who was a member of the East Yorkshire Regiment, has spent most of his time in South Africa as a scout with Driscoll and Tempest.

On Driscoll's Scouts being disbanded, P.C. Little was transferred to Tempest's Scouts, with whom he remained to the end of his service. On June 15th of last year, whilst operating near Harrismith with four other members of Tempest's Scouts, Little, suspecting the presence of Boers on an adjacent kopje, gave the alarm, and spurred on his horse and gained the summit. This he held against the Boers for three-quarters of an hour, until the arrival of reinforcements. Little pointed out the direction in which the enemy had retired. They were pursued, and two of their waggons captured. The Commander-in-Chief, Lord Kitchener, in a despatch published on August 8th, 1901, commenting on P.C. Little's action, said: - "Private A. Little, on the 15th June, 1901, when a scout, observing 40 Boers making for a kopje, anticipated them, and kept them off."

A large crowd gathered to welcome him, and to the strains of the Borough Band, and escorted by the members of the Town Council, other representative gentlemen, and the police force, he was conveyed to the Town Hall, where Councillor Garnett, chairman of the Watch Committee, welcomed him on behalf of the townspeople in a short but felicitously-worded speech. After the cheering had subsided, Councillor Garnett wished the returning soldier long life and health. Private Little suitably responded.

Burnley Express, Wednesday 9th April 1902

Alfred Little returned his duties as a police constable in Clitheroe until at least the end of 1904.

Very interesting, thanks Berenice. There is no indication in the medal rolls Little served with such an "illustrious" unit as Driscoll's Scouts - I suspect very few today would imagine a British infantry soldier being seconded as a scout to a colonial unit; turns the tables.

So he kept his East Yorkshire Regimental number while serving with Driscoll's Scouts, but was paid by Driscoll? I've never heard of this before; Little's letter says that there were twelve men from the EYR selected for Driscoll's Scouts - are there other examples of this happening during the war?

BereniceUK wrote: So he kept his East Yorkshire Regimental number while serving with Driscoll's Scouts, but was paid by Driscoll? I've never heard of this before; Little's letter says that there were twelve men from the EYR selected for Driscoll's Scouts - are there other examples of this happening during the war?

Driscoll's Scouts was an imperial unit, so funded by Britain.

A number of cavalrymen and some IY were attached/seconded to colonial units to provide specific skills like blacksmithing and farriery, although some are just private soldiers. I don't know if these men received the higher colonial rate of pay.