TOPIC:

I can't help wondering if these two men had been drinking in Picquetburg beforehand. Would the families of the two men have been told exactly how they died?


The last South African mail brings details of a terrible veldt tragedy in a letter from Trooper Tom Price, Rhosymadre, Ruabon, who joined Sir Watkin Wynn's Welsh Yeomanry, and is now with the 18th Company.

It happened on March 19th at Picquetburg. Price says: - "I and five others were allowed to ride into Picquetburg to buy some stores. When we got there we separated and agreed to meet in the evening to return together. This we did. It happened that three - Hodges, Houslopps, and Phillips - had been larking about in a merry mood. We went on together half the way, and then we three cantered on and left Hodges, Houslopps, and Phillips to come on by themselves.

"We had just arrived in camp when Phillips came galloping in and said that Hodges had killed Houslopps. A troop of men were at once despatched to the spot, and found both men dead. Hodges had blown his own brains out as well.

"It appears that Hodges said he could hit Houslopp's hat off at a distance of twenty yards. He tried, with fatal result. Both were brought into camp and buried next day. I was bearer for each of them."

Virtually the same article as above appeared in the following three newspapers: -
Dundee Evening Telegraph, Tuesday 29th April 1902
North Wales Express, Friday 2nd May 1902
Manchester Courier, Saturday 3rd May 1902

The birth of an Albert John Henry Houslop was registered at Edmonton, North London, third quarter of 1873.

Berenice
Palmer has it that "18020 Pte. A.J.H.Houslop" of 25th IY was "Killed in Action - shot by comrade" on 20/3/1902 at Piquetberg and that "18027 Pte. Hodges R.J." of the same unit was "Killed in Action - Self Inflicted GSW" on same date at same place.
It is indeed highly likely that an excess of alcohol and a lack of firearms discipline was the root cause of this waste of two young lives. Perhaps boredom had contributed as well.
Best regards
IL.

I'd be very interested to know exactly where these two were actually buried and in particular if their graves were marked whether or not they remain extant.

Thank you for the report on the deaths of Houslop and Hodges. I can shed some light on Richard John Hodges. He was born 16 March 1872 in Millbrook, Cornwall. His father was in the royal Navy but he died when Richard was 4 yrs old. Richard was sent off to the R. N. Greenwich Hospital School and officially entered the R. N. in 1890. His 3 elder brothers were also in the R. N.. His eldest brother, my great grandfather Thomas William Hodges was transferred to Sydney in 1895. Richard found himself in Australian waters in 1897 and 1898. He was a Ship Steward on HMS Torch. He would have been able to visit his eldest brother in Sydney during this time. However on 28 March 1898 he deserted from the Torch in New Zealand. A notice of his desertion was posted in the various Australian Police Gazettes with a reward if he was apprehended within 2 years. He made his way to Sydney where he was a witness at the marriage of his eldest brother on 4 July 1898.
After this he made his way to South Africa where on 4 Jan 1901 he enlisted in Kitcheners Horse under an alias, Thomas Mitchell which happened to be the name of one of his cousins. His service number was 23203. By the time of his discharge in July 1901 he was known by his real name. He wrote a letter to his brother in Sydney dated 29 May 1901 from Klerksdorp, Transvaal giving his name as T Mitchell. I am happy to share this letter if anyone is interested. It does contain some interesting information.
He returned to England at the end of his service in Kitcheners Horse but he soon re-enlisted, this time in Exeter on 6 Nov 1901 in the imperial Yeomanry. I think Houslop enlisted at the same time so they possibly knew each other from their time in Kitcheners Horse.
The story handed down in the family concerning Richard's death was that he was shot by a Boer sniper when he was on his way to post a letter to his mother. Whether his mother and his siblings knew the truth is a probably something we will never know. His family were living in Plymouth by this time.
Details of Richard's grave are on the Find a Grave website:
www.findagrave.com/memorial/187533609/richard-john-hodges
There is an inconsistency with the account from the newspapers, in that it is stated that both men died at the scene whereas Richard's death report ( also on the Find a Grave post) states he was in the hospital at Piquetberg for about 16 hours. Maybe Phillips being the only witness did not tell the true story.

cherilynt,

Thank you for a very detailed and informative addition to this thread.

Hi cherilynt, and thank you very much for adding so much to the back-story. I'd love to see what's in the letter, if possible.

It would be interesting to see if the original press story appeared in a Plymouth newspaper at the time.