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On 13 June the newly appointed General (Rev) Paul Roux with the Senekal Commando, another 200 men of the Ladybrand Commando, Capt John Hassell with his American Scouts, two pom-poms and a field gun advanced towards the British post at Virginia to destroy the important railway bridge over the Sand River.

Lt -Col Capper, RE, in command of 730 men (mainly Railway Pioneer Regiment and Royal Lancaster Militia), had been warned of the impending Boer action by a “hensopper” and the British positions on both banks of the river which had been well entrenched. 

Early on the 14th the Boers advanced, chiefly under cover of dongas and scrub on the east and west and initially wasted time and ammunition firing on empty tents left by Capper when he shifted camp. Although the nature of the ground gave them excellent cover and a potential advantage, the Boers retreated by noon, after some hours fighting, when a body of some 170 Yeomanry appeared on the scene.

Major L.I. Seymour, Rly. Pnr. Rgt. 

Louis Irving Seymour was born in Whitney Point, New York in the USA in 1860 and came to South Africa in 1889 to work as a Mechanical Engineer with De Beers in Kimberley. In 1896 he was appointed Chief Mechanical Engineer to Rand Mines and other companies in the Eckstein Group.

He left Johannesburg via Delagoa Bay on 14 October 1899. Arriving in Cape Town he was instrumental in the formation of the Railway Pioneer Regiment which recruited mainly from engineers and mechanics of all kinds from the Rand.

Major Seymour was killed in the 14 June action at Sand River. Lt Col Capper, in his despatch of 15 June 1900 (LG 8 Feb 1901, p904), stated:
“I especially deplore the death of Major Seymour, whose loss will not only be felt by us as a regiment, but by the whole of South Africa. He was killed while advancing with the extended line through the bush, to clear out the snipers.”

His memorial stone stands in the small military cemetery near the old railway station at Virginia. In July 1900 his friends and colleagues decided to establish a technical library in his memory. A sum of £11 477 was collected and the Seymour Memorial Library was opened in 1905. It is now one of the special libraries falling under the Johannesburg Public Library

After receiving Botha’s negative reply to his offer to negotiate, Roberts attacked Botha’s new position at Donkerhoek on 11 June where Botha had formed a line from south of Donkerhoek, north-eastwards to Doringfontein along the beginning of the Magaliesberg.

The Boers were well protected by the sandstone ridge while the British were forced to advance over open veld. The battle was concentrated on the road to the east and went on throughout the day. To the north [Kameelfontein] De la Rey was engaged with Gen. French’s cavalry.

Night set in and Roberts returned to Pretoria without much to show for the day. The fighting continued from 03h00 on 12 June. The British under Pole-Carew waited for Inigo Jones’ guns to arrive while Botha fights them from the crest of the hill. At 15h00 the British forces took the ridge but could not continue over the crest before dark set in.

To the north De la Rey nearly encircled French, but Botha could not supply him any aid. British numbers were once more difficult to repulse and during the night of the 12th the Boers withdraw to the east.

The two days had come to good use in getting the ZAR government away from Pretoria and to make further plans. Botha’s force also regained much of its pride and the decision was that the war will continue, albeit by smaller groups.

On 11 June Maj-Gen Lord Dundonald’s 3rd Mounted Brigade discovers Gen Joachim Fourie’s burghers preparing trenches on both sides of the Vrede-Volksrust road where it passes through Alleman Nek and initiates a preliminary skirmish, but they are stopped by shelling from four Boer guns and pom-poms.

Gen Hildyard postpones his attack until the Infantry Brigades are in position. At 14h30 the British frontal assault starts, but the men of the 2nd Infantry Brigade, forming the front ranks, are pinned down in a dry gulley by Boer crossfire from the heights.

However, the burghers in their half-completed trenches are subjected to a heavy barrage from more than 30 guns and when Maj-Gen Coke’s 10th Infantry Brigade joins the action, Fourie’s men start falling back. At 17h00 the infantrymen charge the heights commanding the pass, but skilful rear-guard actions by the Boers prevent the cavalry from overtaking them.

British losses were 26 killed and died of wounds with 126 wounded. Boer losses are not known accurately but are believed to be less than 10 men killed.

Although the British had taken Pretoria two days earlier, the Orange Free State forces remained very active, blowing up bridges and ambushing supply convoys. As a result, Roodewal Station, which had been taken by the British on 23 May and garrisoned with men of the 4th Derbyshires, was the temporary railhead where goods were off-loaded until the railway to the north could be brought back into commission.

De Wet captured a wagon train en route to Heilbron from Vredefort Road Station at Zwavelkrans, near the Rhenoster River on 5 June. It surrendered without resistance as the 200 men on board were outnumbered three to one. Fifty-six wagons of supplies were taken. On 6 June, still undetected, De Wet returned to the railway line where he divided his force into three.

The first (300 men and one 75mm Krupp under Steenekamp) had to deal with Vredefort Road Station at sunrise the next day: they took 38 prisoners with ease.
The second (another 300 men, two Krupps and a Pom-Pom under Froneman) were ordered north to attack the 

British camp at Rhenoster River bridge: in heavy fighting 36 men were killed, 104 wounded and 486 officers and men surrendered to the Boers. De Wet himself, with eighty men and one Krupp, headed for the station at Roodewal itself. The British, who were attacked at dawn, resisted fiercely and De Wet’s men were pinned down until the northern party had succeeded at the camp and brought two more 75mm Krupps south to help. 

The increased artillery fire forced a British surrender. De Wet observed that their fortifications were constructed of bales of clothing and blankets, which kept British fatalities down to twenty-seven men, while 200 or so were captured. The richness of the prize was beyond Boer powers to exploit, for they lacked the transport to carry it away. The post-bags were opened and looted by Boer and British alike and what the commando could not carry off was to be burnt.

De Wet had to work hard to ensure a place for rifle ammunition among the goods his men took, then, according to De Wet: 
“When the sun set, the burghers were again on the march. But what a curious spectacle they presented! Each man had loaded his horse so heavily with goods that there was no room for himself on the saddle; he had, therefore, to walk, leading his horse by the bridle.”

At this point in time here is much uncertainty in Pretoria about continuing the war. Kruger has left Pretoria to the east, but on 30 May gold, cash and government papers are still in Pretoria. (State Attorney Jan Smuts and Gustav Preller handle the clearing up).

Botha forms a thin defensive line with some 3000 Boers along the Hennops River from Irene station to Swartkop. One Long Tom and other heavy guns are used but some 
withdraw before British arrive. Roberts rests for a few days in Johannesburg and then advances to Pretoria.

On 4 June he launches small attacks on the Boers along the Hennops River with skirmishes along the whole drawn out front. Although De la Rey holds a strong position on the Quagga Poort Ridge, he is forced to 
fall back during the afternoon: the Boer aim changing from stopping the British to delaying them while Smuts and officials continue clearing Pretoria.

Roberts stays for the night at Six Mile Spruit and advances the next day to ‘Roberts Heights’ while the Boers leave Pretoria, retreating to the east. Roberts triumphantly takes Pretoria on 5 June.
 
DTD: Veldkornet M.H.O. Preller; with a length of Wound Riband (LvW) 

Mauritz Preller served as Field Cornet in the Pretoria Commando, seeing action in the Colesberg vicinity (Arundel Station 13 Dec 1899, Suffolk Hill 6 January 1900) and Sannas Post. He suffered a serious headwound, resulting in the loss of his right eye, at Quagga Poort but from that point onwards his Boer War record becomes murky.

When he applied for the DTD, ABO and LvW in March 1921 Preller stated that he was taken Prisoner of War on 4 June 1900. However, in the official “List of Burghers who have Surrendered their Arms in the Transvaal and OFS”, Preller is recorded as 
surrendering without arms in Pretoria on 29 June 1900.

The application was turned down with a note written on Vorm “A” by a member of the Medal Advisory Commission pointing out that Preller could hardly claim exemplary war service if he took parole in Cape Town with his wife for the duration of the war. In August 1924 Preller re-opened the matter. His Boer War C/O, Commandant Liebenberg, stated in a letter that, due to the loss of his eye “I consider that he was rendered totally unfit for further military service”.

Eventually, in February 1925, the award of 
Preller’s DTD was approved with a Notice in the Government Gazette. 

It is a pity that the whereabouts of the Minutes of the meetings of the Medal Advisory Board are not known as it could make for some very interesting reading!
Preller has an entry in the SA Who’s Who of 1908: on the accompanying photo his right eye is not visible. He died in 1926 (Transvaal Estate No 59109).

Thomas Morgan was born in Nottingham in May 1861. He enlisted in the Grenadier Guards in May 1880 and served in South Africa from November 1884 to November 1885. This was followed by service at home till July 1890, during which he was promoted to Corporal and eventually Sergeant.

His next posting lasted some 10 years: in Bermuda on garrison duty. In October 1898 he was awarded his LS&GC Medal and advanced to Colour-Sergeant. He embarked for Boer War service in South Africa with the 2nd Battalion in March 1900. Soon after, Morgan saw action in the engagement at Biddulphsberg on 29 May 1900, when the Grenadiers were badly mauled.

On that occasion, he assisted in the rescue of his C/O, Lt-Col F Lloyd who was wounded and caught behind the flames.

Lt-Col Lloyd takes up the story: “I managed to struggle for 300 yards or so, when Colour-Sergeant Morgan came up and helped me. He was one of the few unhit. Bullets were falling thick, but I reached a wire fence where I lay down behind a stone post for a minute or two.

Colour-Sergeant Morgan and another man then came and insisted on pulling me along, while others received like aid, those who could walk helping those who could not. Some 200 yards further on I was put on to a Scots Guards stretcher. I asked Gilmour to mention the following who came under my notice: Lieutenant E. Seymour, 2nd Lieutenant A. Murray, and Colour-Sergeant Morgan.”

Morgan was duly mentioned in despatches by Lord Roberts (LG 10 Sept 1901, p5936) and the award of his DCM followed 2½ weeks later (LG 27 Sept 1901, p6310).

Meanwhile, he had been invalided, and was discharged as ‘medically unfit for further service’ on his return to the UK in July 1901. He was then employed as a Gatekeeper at Windsor Castle until his retirement, except for a period during WWI when he served as RSM on the Military Prison Staff at the Aliens Detention Camp, Douglas, Isle of Man.

This did not qualify him for any WWI medals, but he was awarded his MSM in 1933 (Army Order 122).

He died in Nottingham in September 1944, aged 84 years.

The Battle of Biddulphsberg was fought near Senekal, a small town of about 25 houses and a church. As the Grenadier Guards and Scots Guards advanced on the morning of the battle, they could see no sign of the Boers, but they soon came under a hail of bullets.

They lay down on the ground but, being still visible on the open veldt, were an easy target for the enemy. With many men already wounded, the long dry grass suddenly caught fire behind them, the result of a match dropped by a careless Imperial Yeomanry officer.

The wind quickly fanned the flames and produced a high wall of fire and smoke. Faced with a hail of gunfire from the unseen Boers in front of them, the Guards were forced to retreat through the flames carrying their wounded, 
with the result that many of the men were badly burned. Any wounded men who could not be carried were horribly burnt to death where they lay.

The disaster at Lindley was a telling humiliation for the British. The 13th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry, under the command of Lt-Col Basil Spragge, had been ordered to join the 9th Division under Maj Gen Sir Henry Colville at Kroonstad. 

Due to a mix up in communication (Spragge claimed he was sent a telegram, Colville denied sending one) the battalion instead headed for Lindley where the Boers were waiting for them. 

On the afternoon of 27 May 1900, the 13th Battalion rode into Lindley and were shocked to find that it was not Colville but a large contingent of the enemy that met them. Spragge made the decision to hold his ground in a group of hills to the north west of Lindley and await help.

Messages were sent but they did not contain the required tone of urgency. After choosing his ground the situation for Spragge and his battalion grew rapidly worse: they were surrounded by a numerically superior enemy who also had artillery (it arrived on 29 May under the command of De Wet). 

By the morning of 31 May the situation had become almost untenable and the final outcome was sealed when the party of the 47th Company commanding a critical position surrendered. With no chance of holding out, Spragge surrendered early in the afternoon, having lost an officer and 16 men killed while another officer and 3 men died of wounds.The Boers captured more than 400 men: a huge shock, especially to the public back in Britain. To make matters worse, the men of the 13th Battalion were the Duke of Cambridge’s Own and the three Irish companies: symboluzing the wealth and power that had been associated with this corps. 

The D.C.O. had been nicknamed the “Millionaires’ Own” because of the number of hugely wealthy men in its ranks and the Irish companies contained large amounts of money and title from the landed families of Dublin and Belfast. However, within a few months of arrival in South Africa the elite yeoman had been given a bloody nose.

F H Hopland, an American War Correspondent for the London Daily Mail and the Providence Journal offered the following basic version of the Lindley Affair in his book “The Chase of De Wet”:
“That corps of Imperial Yeomanry known as the Duke of Cambridge’s Own, and, unofficially, as “The Millionaires,” were gathered in by De Wet outside of Lindley because their Colonel didn’t know how to select a tenable position nor how to make it more secure, and because, lacking good military judgment, he sent word to Lord Methuen, advancing to his relief after General Colville had declined to turn back, that he could easily hold out for three days longer.

Lord Methuen timed his arrival accordingly; but De Wet brought up a couple of guns two days earlier, and the Colonel surrendered just that much ahead of time. Lord Methuen arrived to find nobody to relieve and no captors to attack.”

Roberts’ Despatch of 14 August 1900 (LG 8 Feb 1901)
“In the western districts of Cape Colony Lieutenant-General Warren and Colonel Adye have operated against the rebels with considerable success. On the 21st May Warren surprised the enemy at Douglas, capturing their wagons, tents, and cattle.

The Boers retreated northwards. On the 30th May (sic) Adye had an engagement near Kheis in the Prieska district, our casualties being 1 Officer and 3 men killed and 4 Officers and 16 men wounded. On this occasion over 5,800 head of cattle and sheep were captured with large number of wagons and tents and much personal property.”

“Kheis: Northern Cape, 115 km west of Griekwastad. The pont at Kheis was ordered to be sunk in March 1900 by Brig-Gen H.H. Settle. In May 1900, about 400 rebel burghers formed a laager on the farm which is on the northern bank of the Orange River.

Making a forced march from Prieska, Col J Adye reached the drift opposite Kheis on 26 May with a detachment comprising four guns, a company of the Gloucestershire regiment mounted infantry, the 32nd (Lancashire) company of the 2nd Imperial Yeomanry from Draghoender and the 5th
(Warwickshire) company of the 2nd Imperial Yeomanry from Kenhardt.

Leaving the latter with his guns to demonstrate at the drift, Adye took the remainder of his force to another drift eight kilometres upstream and came down the north bank to surprise the laager completely. All the women and children, many prisoners and thousands of head of cattle were taken.”
Jones’ Gazetteer

James McDonell served in the 32nd Coy. 2nd Imp. Yeo. From 25 Feb 1900 and was severely wounded in the action at Kheis on 28 May. He took his discharge on 26 November 1900, joined the Orange River Colony Provisional Mounted Police and subsequently transferred to the SA Constabulary. He was slightly wounded at Driefontein on 12 January 1901.

His QSA with clasp CC was issued on 15 July 1901 and it would seem that the OFS clasp for service with the ORC Provisional Mounted Police never reached him. He was Mentioned by Kitchener in the rank of Superintendent. (LG 29 July 1902, p4857)

In August 1905 he was appointed as a Justice of the Peace for the Lydenburg District.
In 1914 he joined Botha’s Natal Horse as SgtMaj of B. Squadron. He was promoted 2/Lieut.

On 19 January 1915 and served until 13 Aug 1915.

At the age of 42 he joined up again on 23 April 1917 and sailed for British East Africa with the rank of Acting Sergt, later rising to the rank of Acting RSM. He returned to Pretoria after his spell with the SA Service Corps, Mechanical Transport, and was discharged on 20 December 1917.

The day after his discharge he was appointed Temp/Lieutenant and Road Officer, Mechanical Transport Depot, Roberts Heights. His task was, inter alia, to supervise the Bus Service between Roberts Heights and Pretoria which duty he carried out till his release as Transport Officer on 17 September 1919. 

While Lt Boyes and 17 men of the Border Horse were out near Hammonia, they heard firing. They proceeded to the spot and were surrounded by about 80 Boers. 

They fought for 3 hours and then, their horses having been captured and their ammunition nearly expended, Sergeant-Major Bull decided to surrender. Lieutenant Boyes was not near Sergeant-Major Bull at the time and Lieutenant Boyes was still in the hands of the enemy when the Court of Inquiry was held in September 1900.
WO 108/372 “SA Surrenders”.

Hockin was one of the men taken prisoner in the Hammonia incident and subsequently released, more than probably minus horse, rifle and ammunition. He subsequently served as Captain & Adjutant in Ashburner’s Light Horse: on the unit’s supplementary QSA roll he is shown as not entitled to a KSA, but only to a SA’01 clasp.

However, he seemed to have been issued with a KSA off the roll of the Field Intelligence Department, (fraudulently) claiming previous service in Rimington’s Guides (there is no trace of his name on the relevant Nominal or QSA roll). 

The KSA roll of the FID has the following remarks against Hockin’s name: “This man was accused of embezzlement & fraud. He was not tried but released by the Civil Authorities at Johannesburg. His (un-convicted) crime was that of selling cattle, belonging to the Government”.

On 20 May 1900 Maj Gen Sir H E Colvile received an order from the Chief of Staff: “From Ventersburg the Highland Brigade march to Lindley and thence to Heilbron… Brigade will be concentrated Ventersburg twenty-third, reach Lindley twenty-sixth, and Heilbron twenty-ninth.”

Colvile’s force (the Highland Brigade, Commander Grant’s 2 Naval 4.7-inch guns, 5th Battery, RFA, 7th Company RE and 100 Eastern Province Horse) set out on 24 May for Lindley. 

He realised that to reach Heilbron on 29 May he would have to make forced marches all the way: it turned out that 16 miles per day was quite the norm. His first encounter with the enemy was on 25 May at Spitz Kop, some 12 miles from Lindley when he lost 1 killed and 7 wounded (mainly Eastern Province Horse).

The next day, 26 May, he had a sharp encounter at Blaauwberg Ridge on the approach to Lindley, losing 7 
men killed, 1 died of wounds and 14 wounded. Grant’s Guns played a prominent part by shelling the ridge at 3700 yards and Colvile was sufficiently impressed by the Colonials to write: “The Eastern Province Horse, whose scouting was very bold, suffered much more heavily in proportion, losing 4 men killed and 8 wounded and 6 horses, nearly all in the first fusillade.”

On 28 May there was again heavy fighting at Roodepoort in which Colvile lost 2 killed and 33 wounded. 
He wrote:
“The day had been a trying one, and with less trustworthy troops may have ended badly for us, but the Highlanders, who had always been ready to go ahead against any odds, had by this time picked up a good many wrinkles from their enemies, and were as clever as the Boers in making the best use of ground.

The excellent practice of the two batteries had enabled us to clear Roodepoort with hardly any loss, and later the naval guns had kept those of the enemy at a distance, while the while the Field Battery had removed the pressure on the Seaforth and materially helped the Argyll and Sutherland to hold their own.

The Eastern Province Horse, by this time reduced to 35 mounted men, had enabled us to seize the advanced position.” On 29th May, the day on which Colvile had been ordered by Lord Roberts to be at Heilbron, he occupied that town. There are some errors/discrepancies in the SAFF Casualty Roll, as well as in the section dealing with the Eastern Province Horse in Stirling’s “The Colonials in South Africa”. 

SAFF Casualty Roll: Argyll, Sutherland Highlanders & Royal Highlanders: Casualties for “Bloemberg 26 May” to read “Blaauwberg 26 May”. Eastern Province Horse: Casualties for “Roodepoort 28 May” to read “Blaauwberg 26 May”.
Stirling: The sentence “At Roodepoort the tiny mounted force…” on p181, should read “At Blaauwberg the tiny mounted force…” It refers to the men mentioned by General Colvile on p180.

The corrections are confirmed by the QSA roll for the Eastern Province Horse, Colvile’s “The Work of the Ninth Division” and the “List of Graves in the Orange River Colony” (1904).

After collecting forage, a party under Lieut. Lloyd, ASC, which included several privates as escort, were returning with their wagons when they were surrounded by large numbers of Boers and had to surrender. 
WO 108-372 (SA Surrenders).

George Eady, a Stockbroker from London, enlisted in “A” Squadron of Loch’s Horse on 26 March 1900. 

He was one of the men under Lt Lloyd taken prisoner and held in the Waterval PoW Camp north of Pretoria. After his release on 6 June 1900, he re-joined his unit only to die of enteric at Kroonstad on 10 
November 1900.

Colonel Bethune and about 500 men were ordered to march from Dundee to Newcastle. Although the Boers had evacuated Dundee, scattered groups remained in the vicinity and on 16 May 1900, Bethune was ordered to pursue some of these who were reported to be near Nqutu.

His mounted infantry found no Boers at Nqutubut hearing of a commando in the Blood River valley, moved off northwards in pursuit. By 20 May he was in the vicinity of Scheepers Nek where a small force of Boers (Vryheid and Swaziland Commando’s under Commandant Blignaut) was concentrated in a valley behind the nek. 

Capt Goff, who was in command of “E” squadron, was considerably in advance of the rest of the force and rode into Scheepers Nek. They approached the Boer position without noticing the guards, giving them the opportunity to disperse before the British could attack.

The squadron found itself in an exposed position on a slope where ant heaps formed the only cover. The Boers deployed to the ridges and opened fire, creating havoc amongst the British squadron’s horses.

The dismounted infantry replied as best they could and made good use of their maxim gun. However, the hot Boer fire forced the British to withdraw before the main body arrived. Very few of the men managed to escape. 

British losses were 28 men killed (including Capt Goff and 2 subalterns), 30 were wounded and 6 were taken prisoner. The Boers captured a machine gun and 26 horses, while losing one burgher killed, one wounded and one taken prisoner. As a result of the action Bethune fell back on Nqutu and eventually to Dundee.

DCM (Edw VII): Sq.S.Mjr J.H. McBeath. Bethune’s M. I.;
QSA, 6 clasps CC, Tug H, OFS, RoL, Tvl, L Nek: 726 T.S.Mjr. J.H. McBeath. S.A.C.; 
KSA, 2 clasps SA’01, SA’02: 726 T.S. Mjr. J.H. McBeath. S.A.C.

John Home McBeth (as per DCM Issue Register, Nominal and QSA rolls for Bethune’s M.I. & the QSA 
roll for the SAC); McBeath (as per KSA Roll for the SAC) and as Macbeth (as per Roberts’ Mention in Despatches in LG of 8 February 1901, p965) had an interesting career in the late 1890’s and early 1900’s. 
The following comes from his extensive file under surname McBeath for service in “A” Division, SA Constabulary.
December 1897. Sgt McBeth deserts from 2nd Btn, KRRC at Wynberg, taking about £21 from the Sergeants Mess Funds, he being caterer at the time.
20 October 1899. McBeth enlists in Bethune’s Mtd Infy with rank Squadron Sergeant-Major.
20 May 1900. McBeth in Scheepers Nek engagement. Ken Gillings, in an article “The Helpmekaar Duel” states that McBeth’s DCM was awarded after this action.
6 October 1900. McBeth discharged from Bethune’s MI.
22 October 1900. McBeth attests in the Transvaal Constabulary.
14-23 November 1900. Correspondence: Chief Staff Officer, SAC and O/C 2nd KRRC: McBeth exposed as deserter and thief. 
10 January 1901. Letter from Baden-Powell to Chief of Staff, Pretoria, forwarding McBeth’s confession and expressing hope for a pardon.
4 April 1901. McBeath attests in SAC, back dated to 22 Oct 1900.
LG 19 April 1901. Award of DCM to McBeth.
1 June 1901. Note on McBeath’s SAC Record of Service, congratulating him on having been awarded the DCM for distinguished gallantry in the field on the Natal side when serving with Bethune’s MI. It would therefore appear that he was pardoned.
21 April 1902. Another note on McBeath’s SAC Record of Service, recording his gallantry and good work in the action at Spion Kop on 11 March 1902.
31 August 1907. Discharged at own request from SAC with character noted as “Exemplary”.
3 December 1908. Medals lost.
4 January 1912. Medals replaced on repayment.
An interesting man: brave but with a (temporary?) criminal streak. Worthy of further research.

At daylight on 16 May Mahon’s north-bound Relief Column made contact with Plumer’s south-bound Relief Column at Jan Masibi’s on the Molopo River, some 18 miles east of Mafeking.

At 7:30 am the combined force, numbering some 2000 troops with 14 field-guns, set out on the last lap to relieve Mafeking.

Shortly before 2 pm the Boers made a last attempt at Israel’s Farm to block the relieving force, but the demoralized burghers retired early despite Generals De la Rey and Liebenberg’s utmost efforts.

The Boer losses: 1 killed and 8 wounded with British losses 32 wounded and 7 killed.

On 15 May Lord Roberts telegraphed as follows:
“Two officers and 6 men of Prince Alfred’s Guards were out foraging a few miles from Kroonstad. They had visited a farm flying the white flag, the owner of which surrendered himself, his arms and his ammunition. 

They then approached another farm from which was also flying the white flag. When within 40 yards of the enclosure they were fired upon by 15 or 16 Boers concealed behind the farm wall. Pte A E Goldsmidt and Pte James Coltherd were killed. Lieut E B Walton received a slight flesh wound in the thigh and Lieut W B Everton, Cpl W B Sagar and Lance-Cpl E George were taken prisoner. 

The owner of the farm states that the Boers threatened to shoot him when he protested against their making improper use of the white flag.” 
Stirling (p140/1) refers

The Imperial Light Horse was part of the Southern Column under Col Mahon entrusted with the task to relieve the besieged garrison at Mafeking. On 13 May they formed the advance and flank guard and mid-afternoon the ILH .scouts reported a large body of Boers that seemed determined to head off and attack the column.

While moving through thick bush near the Maritzani River, the attack by Commandant Liebenberg and the Potchefstroom Commando materialised. A serious engagement, lasting some 45 minutes, ensued. When the column’s gunners found the enemy with their shrapnel, the Boers withdrew, but desultory firing still 
went on till after dark.

The ILH suffered the bulk of the casualties, with 7 killed and 14 wounded.

Boers’ attack, 12 May 1900. The enemy determined to make a final attempt to capture the town before the relief column could come up. “At 4 am, they opened a very heavy long-range musketry fire on the town from the east, north-east, and south-east.

I therefore wired to the southwest outposts to be on the outlook”.
The Colonel’s judgment was, as usual, correct. “At about 4.30 some 300 Boers made a rush through the western outposts and got into the stadt; this they then set fire to. I ordered the western defenders to close in so as to prevent any supports coming in after the leading body and sent the reserve squadron there to assist.

They succeeded in driving off an attack of about 500 without difficulty”. The upshot was that those who got in got divided into three parties.

“The first surrendered, the second was driven out with loss by three squadrons Protectorate Regiment under Major Godley, and the third, in the BSA Police fort, after a vain attempt to break out in the evening, surrendered. We captured this day 108 prisoners, among whom was Commandant Eloff, Kruger’s grandson. 

We also found 10 killed and 19 wounded Boers, and their ambulance picked up 30 men killed and wounded. 
Our losses were 4 killed, 10 wounded, including Captain Singleton and Lieutenant Bridges. 

Our men, although weak with want of food and exercise, worked with splendid pluck and energy for the fourteen hours of fighting, and instances of gallantry in action were very numerous”. 
Stirling in “The Colonials in South Africa”.

Artilleris D.A. Oberholzer 
David Andries Oberholzer joined the ZAR State Artillery in 1898 (Ledger Number 928) and was in action at the first battle of the Boer War (Kraaipan, 12 October 1899), Ramoutsa and the Tuli Block on the ZAR north-western boundary.

He was one of some 200 men under Commandant Sarel Eloff, a grandson of President Kruger, who, on 12 May 1900, made a last desperate attempt to take Mafeking. They succeeded in penetrating the outer defences of the town and captured the fort in which Colonel Hore had his headquarters.

However, they did not have backup and support from General Snyman and, although half of the men escaped, Eloff and 109 officers and men had to surrender. That night Eloff was invited to dinner with Baden-Powell!

The Official PoW list makes for some interesting reading. It contains names such as Capt Victor Albert Du Framond (French Army), Lieut Carlo Bruno (Italian Navy), Lieut Friedrich Reichard (German) and 
Burghers Antonin Francisco (Oporto, Portugal), Alfred Giradet (Berne, Switzerland), Barend Gyswyt (Leeuwarden, Holland) and Maurice Le Gall (Paris, France).

All the men taken prisoner were sent to St Helena.

Vredes Verdrag is a farm in the Orange Free State, 11 km west of Hennenman (Ventersburg Road). In the action on the Zand River on 10 May 1900, a squadron of the 6th Dragoons, one of the 2nd Dragoons, one of Australian Horse and two troops of the 6th Dragoon Guards were sent to attack Boer positions on a ridge which  commanded a wide area.

Although the crest of the southern end was gained, the force retired in the face of a strong counterattack. The position was taken later in the day when Maj-Gen Dickson’s 4th Cavalry Brigade turned its flank and the burghers were forced to retire. 

British casualties were high with at least 20 killed or died of wounds and some 30 men wounded.
Gazetteer; Jones & Jones.

Wellock was wounded in the Vredes Verdrag skirmish. Eighteen months later, on 14 November 1901, he was severely wounded at Rietfontein. 
 

WO 108/372 (SA Surrenders): When employed on Intelligence work, 3 men of Rimington’s Guides approached Winburg, which was reported clear of the enemy.

Suddenly “held up” by 14 Boers from behind a kraal wall and had to surrender. One man afterwards escaped.

Tpr. F.D. Marais. Damant’s Horse. Francois Duminy Marais left his Johannesburg legal practice as a refugee in September 1899 and enlisted in Rimington’s Guides 4 months later.

He was one of the men captured near Winburg by Boers from Gen Chris Botha’s Commando and sent to Waterval Camp, north of Pretoria. According to his biography in “Men of the Times” he eventually escaped, re-joined his unit and subsequently transferred to Lord Roberts’ Headquarters Staff as an interpreter with the rank of Lieutenant, for which service he reputedly earned a KSA.

However, according to the QSA Roll for Damant’s Horse he was only entitled to a SA’01 clasp and his name is not found on the relevant KSA rolls. 

His escape is verified as his name is not among the Rimington’s Guides PoW’s released at Waterval early June 1900.

After the war, he returned to Johannesburg and was involved in lengthy procedures claiming compensation amounting to £66 for items stolen from his lodgings prior to the British Occupation of Johannesburg.

On 4 May 1900 some 150 men of the 5th Battalion Imp Yeo under Col Meyrick, including a Maxim detachment under Lieut Vaux, were sent forward from Windsorton to reconnoitre the hilly country in the vicinity of the farm Rooidam some 20 km south-west of Warrenton.

After coming under fire from two Boer guns, they withdrew, covered by their own Maxim guns. The Boer fire slackened after 3pm and finally ceased after 5 hours. The next morning, Meyrick was reinforced by Gen Hunter with the 2nd Royal Fusiliers, 1st Royal Welsh Fusiliers and artillery.

At noon they moved against the Boer positions on Rooidam. The Boers repulsed several British advances, but by 3 pm their resistance faltered when they could not get reinforcements from Gen A P J Cronje’s forces and they retreated towards Fourteen Streams, pursued by the Yeomanry for some 5 km. 

The Boers lost 11 killed and 17 wounded, while the British casualties were 7 killed and 38 wounded.

From the beginning of April 1900, the British garrison in the vicinity of Warrenton – Fourteen Streams received reinforcements virtually on a daily basis.

The Boer forces under General du Toit were attacked in an artillery battle on 6 April and this pertinently brought home to the Boers the danger posed by Lord Methuen’s forces on the Western Front. Three additional field pieces were sent to Du Toit, reaching him on 21 April, and the Krugersdorp Commando left Pretoria by train on 23 April for Fourteen Streams.

On 24 April the British lodged a heavy bombardment on the Boer position: according to one Boer source 6 guns were in action against the Boer trenches and the terrain was “ploughed up by the terrible lyddite bombs”.

Boer casualties were 2 killed and 8 wounded. The attack of 24 April was not followed up: Lord Methuen and Gen Hunter had no intent to cross the Vaal River prematurely but wanted to keep the strong Boer force bottled up until Lord Roberts had advanced to their right.

Nikolaas Cornelis Huysman was a Hollander who served in the Pretoria Commando under Field Cornet Boshoff from February to April 1900. He was dangerously wounded at Fourteen Streams on 24 April 1900. 

According to his Vorm “C” Application for the Wound Riband he had 4 wounds in his right arm, 1 wound in his left arm and a wound in his chest through one lung, all caused by an exploding lyddite bomb.

His name is noted in the ZAR Government Gazette of 2 May 1900, Casualty List No 84.
In supporting correspondence, Huysman gave a full account of what had happened to him:

“I did not serve until the end of the war, as I was dangerously wounded on 24 April 1900 during one of the skirmishes at Fourteen Streams (Cape Colony). I was then taken to the 2nd Dutch Ambulance Hospital at Christiana.

Due to the dangerous condition of my wounds, I was allowed to stay in hospital after the British occupation of Christiana. In July, the Dutch Hospital returned to Pretoria and I was put in care of the Superintending Doctor (Bierens de Haan) at the hospital in the ‘Staats Meisjes School’, which was then under British control.

After my discharge from hospital (end August 1900) I was considered a Prisoner of War. I then, on the advice of Dr Bierens de Haan, applied to the Military Governor to release me as PoW and allow me to go to Europe for an operation on my lung. After I was declared “medically unfit” by the British Doctor, my request to go to Europe was granted.

I had to undertake under oath that I would not do or say anything against the British while in Europe: this I agreed to. I returned to the Transvaal in 1903”.

In further support he appended a copy of a letter from Dr Bierens de Haan, which was sent in 1908 to the War Claims Commission in Pretoria:

“Herewith I, the undersigned Dr J C J Bierens de Haan, MD, declare that H K Huysman, Esq. was under my care in the Hospital of the Netherlands Red Cross, located in the “Staats Meisjes School” in Pretoria (July-August 1900). At that stage I was the “Chef” (Supervising Surgeon at the Hospital).

Huysman was still suffering severe after-effects of shell-wounds acquired some months earlier in a skirmish at Fourteen Streams. I strongly urged Mr Huysman to go to Europe for a lung operation: due 
to lack of facilities it could not be done in South Africa with a fair chance of success.

When I returned to the Netherlands after the war, Professor Dr Korteweg informed me that he had successfully operated on Mr Huysman and had removed a large fragment of a lyddite shell from his 
lung.

I am of the opinion that Mr Huysman owes his life to having followed my advice, and that he should be considered a partial invalid due to the war”.

After the war Huysman returned to South Africa and at the time of his medal application in 1925 he was employed by the “Nederlandse Bank voor ZA” in Cape Town. He died in 1951.

“Yorkshire Hussars were in the saddle at 05.30 in order to reconnoitre a Boer position. Most of the Yorkshire Hussars went out on piquet duty on a high rugged kopje about a mile and a half toward Boshof.

The 3rd Imperial Yeomanry convoy was attacked while returning to Boshof and faced the brunt of the following attack. The 
units were not marching regiment, and when descending from a kopje to the road, the Boers attacked from one of the kopjes to the east of the road.

The South Nottingham Yeomanry and the Yorkshire Hussars drove off the attack and were supported by the Kimberly Light Horse. They held their ground until the convoy was out of danger, and then retired.

Casualties for number 2 troop of the Yorkshire Hussars were the highest: 2 killed in action, 5 wounded and 11 were taken prisoner. The Boers shelled the convoy, but without effect. The convoy reached Boshof about 19:30.”

“With Methuen’s Column 1901”: Illingworth.

“The Boers remained for the greater part of the time very quiescent, and, except for a few affairs of outposts, there was only one break in the monotony of the long period of waiting. 

This was on April 10th, when the Boers brought seven or eight field-guns into position on the hills on the left bank of the Sunday’s river, and shelled Elandslaagte camp. Their fire was replied to by long-range guns, and a little musketry fire was exchanged between the reinforced outposts of the 2nd Brigade on the right bank and some Boers on the left bank of the river.

Firing was continued most of the day, but with very little effect, Clery’s force suffering seventeen casualties.” 
Times History, Vol IV, p169.

DCM (Edw VII): Serjt.-Maj. Roberts. Cape M.R. Art. Tr.;
1914/15 Star & BWM: Lieut. G.P. Roberts R.F.A. (Late issue small font naming);
AVM: Lieut. G.P. Roberts (original font naming). DCM: VF; Trio: 

George Peskett Roberts served in the Artillery Troop of the Cape Mounted Riflemen up to 13 November 1901 and from 14 November 1901 to the end of the war as Captain, “D” Squadron, Cape Colonial Forces.

He was awarded 4-clasp QSA off the roll of the CMR and a 2-clasp KSA of the CCF roll.

“During the stay at Aliwal North (Mid-March 1900) the Division was inspected by Sir Alfred Milner and at the inspection Brabant’s Horse was presented with a 14 pdr. Q.F. Hotchkiss gun, with ammunition, donated by Mr. A. Beit. Brabant’s Horse having no gunners the Hotchkiss was, at first, operated by the Artillery Troop of the C.M.R. Capt. Lukin immediately got busy and put Sgt. G P Roberts in charge, placing him and a squad of troopers from Brabant’s Horse through a course of instruction.

Capt. Lukin’s efforts paid good dividends for during the siege of Wepener some of the best shooting was the work of this detachment. Sgt. Roberts was a most efficient gunner and his work during the siege brought credit to himself and his detachment.” 

“A Story of the Cape Mounted Riflemen” by Major A E Lorch.

“Sergt.-Major G. P. Roberts was also awarded the D.C.M., not only for conspicuous gallantry shown on several occasions, but especially for the manner in which he handled the 13-pounder Hotchkiss gun of which he was in charge.”
“Record of the Cape Mounted Riflemen” by Basil Williams.

“I wish to bring to your notice the names of Sergeant Roberts, Privates Rawlings and Robarts, and Trumpeter Washington of the Cape Mounted Rifles, Private Thorn of the Royal Scots, and Private Anderson of 2nd Brabant’s Horse, who all performed acts of bravery in bringing in wounded comrades 
under a very heavy fire”.
Report by Lt-Col E H Dalgety on Siege of Wepener, LG 8 February 1901, p887.

A “double award” of the DCM to Roberts was published in the LG of 27 September 1901: viz. to Sergeant-Major Roberts, Artillery Troop as well as to Sergeant G P Roberts.

This mistake was later rectified. During WWI Roberts served as Lieutenant in 61 Howitzer Battery, RFA and died of wounds 
on 26 April 1916. His MIC makes no mention of a later duplicate issue of his WWI Trio.

“The enemy then occupied Dewetsdorp, while a considerable force attacked Wepener, where a column of Colonial troops, under Lieutenant-Colonel Dalgety had arrived a few days previously.

Retiring from the town to a defensible position 3 miles to the west, which commanded an important bridge over the Caledon River, Lieutenant-Colonel Dalgety entrenched his force and for 16 days he succeeded in keeping the Boers in check, despite the fact that they far outnumbered the small body of about 1,600 men under his command, and had also a considerable superiority in artillery, under pressure from the south and west caused them to withdraw northward along the Basutoland border.”
Roberts’ Despatch of 21 May 1900, London Gazette 8 February 1901.

The position assigned by Dalgety to the Cape Mounted Riflemen in the defences was the most exposed, facing an open plain. This was De Wet’s primary target with his attacks on 9 April, in which the CMR  suffered 6 killed and 25 wounded later in the evening of 10 April 1900 a further 5 killed and 27 wounded.

Pte Cornille (Corneville, as recorded in “Record of the Cape Mounted Riflemen” by Basil Williams and as Cornell in Orange River Colony Graves Register), was dangerously wounded on 10 April 1900. 

He died on 14 May 1900: according to Basil Williams this happened at Mafeteng, across the Caledon River in Basutoland. He is buried near Jammersberg Drift, Wepener.