1901, Thaba 'Nchu
ROGERS, JAMES, Sergeant, was born in Riverina, New South Wales, Australia, on 2 June, 1875. He served in the South African War of 1899-1902, and was awarded the Victoria Cross [London Gazette, 18 April, 1902]: "James Rogers, Sergeant, South African Constabulary. On the 15th June 1901, during a skirmish near Thaba 'Nchu, a party of the rear-guard of Captain Sitwell's Column, consisting of Lieutenant F Dickinson, Sergeant James Rogers, and six men of the South African Constabulary, was suddenly attacked by about sixty Boers. Lieutenant Dickinson's horse having been shot, that officer was compelled to follow his men on foot. Sergeant Rogers, seeing this, rode back, firing as he did so, took Lieutenant Dickinson up behind him, and carried him for half a mile on his horse. The sergeant then returned to within 400 yards of the enemy, and carried away, one after the other, two men who had lost their horses, after which he caught the horses of two other men, and helped the men to mount. All this was done under a very heavy rifle fire. The Boers were near enough to Sergeant Rogers to call upon him to surrender; his only answer was to continue firing". He joined the Australian Expeditionary Force on 6 December 1914, and was attached to the same Brigade as Lieutenant Colonel Maygar in the early days of the European War. He was wounded 4 August 1915, at Gallipoli, and returned invalided to Australia on 10 June 1916. Lieutenant Rogers' appointment terminated in Australia 31 December 1916.
