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The war was a conflict between black Africans and white settlers. Today in Zimbabwe it is call the First Chimurenga and it is a source of pride. In Britain it is hardly remembered. Fighting was on two fronts, against the Ndebele in Matabeleland (featuring Robert Baden Powel, founder of the Boy Scouts) and in the north, against the Shona in Mashonaland. Shona raids on isolated farms and travelers began early in 1896. The British South Africa Company appealed to London for help. In May four companies (English, Scotch, Irish and Rifles) of mounted infantry, altogether about 500 men, were sent. The mounted infantry section of 2 Bn, Norfolk Regiment, 30 men and Lt RW Hare (Table 1 and 2, Figure1), along with sections from the Hampshire, Lancashire and Derbyshire Regiments together formed 6 (English) Coy. In command of the entire mounted infantry force was Major EAH Alderson (Royal West Kent Regt). He was from Gorleston in Suffolk and had begun his military career as in the Norfolk Artillery. By 1896 he was an early exponent of mounted infantry. En route to Cape Town he was promoted to Brevet Lt Col and given command of the entire Mashonaland Field Force (MFF), consisting of his mounted infantry, some other British troops, the paramilitary British South Africa Police (BSAP) and Volunteers, some black troops and armed white settlers.

The Norfolks went into action only once during the campaign. Early in October they joined a large patrol lasted until 24 October. It was the biggest of over 30 patrols during the Mashonaland campaign. Alderson took 355 European and 100 African troops, two Maxim guns and a seven-pound field gun with 28 days rations into the Hartley Hills. Aside from the gun crews, most of his men were used as mounted infantry. Their aims were to burn down Matshyangombi’s and Chena’s Kraals and to take the Shona’s cattle. They left Fort Salisbury [now Harare] on 7 October, reaching their goal two days later. On 10 October they were reinforced by Maj Jenner’s column of 150 men, another Maxim and another seven-pounder.

On 11 October, the strongly fortified Chena’s Kraal on the south bank of the Mupfure River was shelled and then assaulted. A white man was killed and four wounded. Cattle were captured and kraals burnt but Alderson thought few Mashona had been harmed as they had taken refuge in the safety of caves within the kopjes. Pte Perry, whose grammar and punctuation I have not changed, gives a snappy and colourful description of the action. “We out spanned about 2 miles from his crawl [kraal] we stopped here for the night [9/10 October] & in the morning reveille went as usual & about 7 o’clock we paraded & marched off & carried 140 rounds of ammunition per man after marching about on hour we drew nearer the kopje which was the enemies position a few minutes later firing commenced from the kopje no sooner than the firing commenced we were ordered to form up & dismount & prepare for attack the enemy still firing & they kept firing all day after about 4 hours hard fighting we managed to drive the enemy back & then we started for going up the kopje we were still fired upon but we got up all right & we set fire to all the crawls we could see & took all the cattle & mealies we could find which we found very acceptable as we got none too much for our horses after we got the cattle & mealies we retired with them & took them to the wagons as we were retiring we met Major Jenners Column in which had come from fort charter they had been attacking some part of the kopje the night before they arrived they out spanned about 4 Mile from the kopje after having brought the cattle we were ordered to mount our horses & go round the outside of the kopje & to take all crawls & anything we could get the enemy still firing on us after having gone round several miles we retired home as it was getting near night & have done a good days work we found we had about 3 natives 1 wounded, 1 Captain wounded 1 Private & Volunteer killed after seeing after our horses & finished with them for the night we had our supper which was bully beef & bread after we finished we had our pound of flour served out to us & We had to bake it without baking powder we used to call it hard bake after we finished we retired to rest for a few hours next morning [11 October] reveille as usual marched of at day break we marched to Major Jenners column where we all formed up ready for attack about 8 o’clock we were all told off to different places & we made a start we went about 2 miles before we see or heard anything of the enemy as soon as we got near they opened fire, as usual keeping up fire all day firing anything they could get held of pot legs or led balls of any kind & any old iron but nearly all shots were high as they used to put their sights up as high as they could get them because they thought the higher they put their sights up the harder they would hit you as we were fighting the bullets wized passed us right & left & all directions the day passed away fighting all day we Captured about 20 Women & Children but we Captured no men the women told us we had killed all the men we brought these women & Plenty of cattle with us night coming we have to retire after a hard days fighting. About 5 natives killed & 3. Mounted infantry wounded we finished our day’s work as usual by cooking our Pound of flour into hard bake.”

The next day, 12 October, infantry and mounted troops crossed the Mupfure River at the drift to the east and moved to attack the kraal from the south. The Mounted Infantry were to make the attack. The seven-pounders across the river started things off with a ten minute barrage. When it stopped, the Norfolk and Hampshire MI who had been under cover began to scramble up into the kopjes on the south side of the kraal (Figure 5). They were fired on from a line of kopjes to their right forcing them to dismount and to seek cover. A section under Lt Harland was detached to counter this flank fire. This incident delayed the advance for nearly five hours. The remainder, possibly under Lt Hare, advanced into the kopjes before occupying and burning the kraal. One man was killed and Private Charles Grapes, 2 Bn, Norfolk Regt received a serious wound from a home made “family gun” thrust upwards through a crevice in the rocks and fired possibly from little more than 5 yards away. Surgeon-Captain Saw, the columns senior medical officer, felt confident enough to amputate limbs the evening of the fighting, but judged for whatever reason that surgery was not appropriate for Grapes. He says the bullet entered “the upper part of the underneath side of his