TOPIC:

Picture courtesy of Noonan's

BSACM Matabeleland 1893 (1) Rhodesia 1896 (Trooper S. G. Greer Victoria Column.)

Roll confirms 1893 Medal, Trooper, Victoria Column; 1896 Clasp, Trooper, “C” Troop, Bulawayo Field Force.

Stuart George Greer was killed in the rearguard action on the Tuli Road on 10 April 1896, when on the Gwanda Patrol, near Fort Umlugulu.

‘On Thursday, April 2nd, a force consisting of 50 mounted men Bulawayo Field Force, 50 of the Afrikander Corps mounted under Capt. Van Niekerk, one Maxim gun and detachment, and Dr. Levy with ambulance, left Bulawayo at 5 p.m. -the whole under command of Capt. Brand, to proceed to Manzi-Izama in Gwanda district. His orders were to bring into Bulawayo the white population of Manzi-Izama, if still there. They had been warned to leave eight days previously, but had stated they wished to remain where they were. Matters, however, becoming so critical, and their force so small, a relief party was deemed necessary. No opposition was met with on the march down, and the people were found to have retired on Tali. Capt. Brand had been instructed to report on the road, particularly with reference to suitable sites for fortified camps, water supply, &c., with a view to future operations by a detached force. Manzi-Izama is 80 miles distant; the road is practically a defile, commanded on either hand from Spargo's store, 12 miles from this town, to Manzi-Izama. On the return march, opposition was first met with seven miles this side of Spiro's store, the force being fired on from kopjes commanding the advance. The flanking parties became at once engaged, pushing the rebels before them, and occupying flanking positions as they advanced. On reaching the point almost parallel with Latijan's farm, between the two hills shown on may, the dissel boom of the wagon broke. Firing recommenced and continued till more open ground was reached. The Matabele then appeared in considerable force, and Capt. Brand determined to take up a position on the left of the road on a hillock with about 50 feet command. The Maxim was placed on the salient commanding the road to the east, the Afrikanders on the right, and the remainder under Lieut. Pursell on the left. Fair cover was obtained for the horses; the scrub came pretty well up to the position on the south and east faces. A determined attack then developed on three sides of the position, the rebels being. in possession of a large number of guns of sorts, and running up with great determination, some reaching to within 30 yards of the firing line. The Maxim opened early, and did good execution, but the thickness of the bush prevented full use being made of the longer ranges. The attack was successfully repulsed on the south and east faces, largely due to the action of the Maxim, whose fire was then turned on the north attack, which was making considerable headway, but which immediately slackened. Capt. Van Niekerk then mounted 25 of his men, who made a counter attack on the thick bush into which the rebels had retired, their right being safeguarded by the fire of the guns. The rebels were pushed through the bush on to open ground beyond, where the Afrikanders inflicted heavy loss on them. By this time the remainder of the force was mounted and proceeded, as shown on map, to avoid the kopje and thick bush commanding the road, which was struck 300 yards further on, the Afrikanders forming the rearguard. Casualties: five killed, 15 wounded, 30 horses lost. The dead had to be left.’

Trooper Stuart George Greer was buried in one grave with Trooper Christopher John Packe, also of “C” Troop, in the small cemetery at Umlugulu.

Picture courtesy of City Coins

BSACM Rhodesia 1896 (0) (Troopr R.V. Lovett Greys Scouts)

Rowland Joseph Venables Lovett was wounded in action 25 April 1896 and died 29 April 1896. He is buried in Bulawayo Cemetery. He is mentioned in Selous’ Storm over Rhodesia.

The BSACM to Rowland Lovett sold for a hammer price of R 36,410, approximately £1,600 ex commission and VAT.

Picture courtesy of C&T Auctions

BSACM Matabeleland 1893 (“TRPR W P DEVAS SALISBURY H”.)

Described as:

The Rare and Historically Important British South Africa Company Medal for Matabeleland to a Trooper in the Salisbury Horse Who Was One of the 34 Men Killed in Wilson’s Famous Last Stand at the Shangani River in December 1893.

Noted on the medal roll of the British South Africa Company for Matabeleland as Trooper Philip Wouter De Vos (Dead) with a subsequent comment, ‘one of Wilson’s party’. The Shangani Patrol (or Wilson's Patrol) was a 34-soldier unit of the British South Africa Company that in 1893 was ambushed and annihilated by more than 3,000 Matabele warriors in pre-Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), during the First Matabele War. Headed by Major Allan Wilson, the patrol was attacked just north of the Shangani River in Matabeleland, Rhodesia. Its dramatic last stand, sometimes called "Wilson's Last Stand", achieved a prominent place in the British public imagination and, subsequently, in Rhodesian history, similarly to events such as the Battle of the Little Bighorn and the Battle of the Alamo in the United States. The patrol comprised elements of the Mashonaland Mounted Police and the Bechuanaland Border Police. Scouting ahead of Major Patrick Forbes’s column attempting the capture of the Matabele King Lobengula (following his flight from his capital Bulawayo a month before), it crossed the Shangani late on 3 December 1893 and moved on Lobengula the next morning but was ambushed by an estimated 3000 Matabele riflemen and warriors near the king's wagon. Surrounded and outnumbered about a hundred-fold, the patrol made a valiant last stand as three of its number broke out and rode back to the river to muster reinforcements from Major Forbes’s column on the south bank of the river. However, the Shangani had risen significantly in flood, and Forbes was himself involved in a skirmish near the southern bank so was unable to send help; Wilson and his men therefore remained isolated to the north. After fighting to the last cartridge, and killing over ten times their own number, they were annihilated. What happened to the Shangani Patrol is known only from Matabele sources. Witness accounts were slowly gathered over three decades following the affair and various versions of events were offered. According to these accounts, the warriors offered the remaining Troopers their lives if they surrendered, but Wilson's men refused to give up. They used their dead horses for cover and killed more than ten times their own number (about 500 was estimated), but they were steadily whittled down as the overwhelming Matabele force closed in from all sides. The Company soldiers continued fighting even when grievously wounded, to the astonishment of the Matabele, who thought the soldiers must be bewitched: "These are not men but magicians," said one Matabele induna. The remains of the patrol's members were buried on the battle ground and were later moved to be interred at Worlds View, in the Matopos Hills, alongside the body of Cecil Rhodes as per the request in his will.