13 MAY 1901 - DOORNHOEK

[archie777]

“To continue the survey of the operations in the Cape, the first point scored was by the invaders, for Malan’s commando succeeded upon May 13th in overwhelming a strong patrol of the Midland Mounted Rifles, the local colonial corps, to the south of Maraisburg.

 

Six killed, eleven wounded, and forty-one prisoners were the fruits of his little victory, which furnished him also with a fresh supply of rifles and ammunition”.

Arthur Conan.Doyle’s “The Great Boer War” 1902 edition.
This skirmish took place on the farm Doornhoek. In the SAFF Casualty Roll the men taken prisoner are not recorded, and 3 names of wounded are listed under Komgha Mounted Volunteers.

 

Robert Marshall was severely wounded in the skirmish at Doornhoek. Although this was recorded under Komgha Mounted Volunteers, his QSA was issued off the roll of the Midlands Mounted Rifles.

 

During WWI he enlisted in the 2nd SA Infantry at East London on 10 August 1915 with an entry “2 bullet wounds 1901” on his Medical History Form. After the Senussi Campaign in Egypt (Jan – March 1916) his unit disembarked at Marseilles on 20 April 1916.

 

Three months later, on 18 July 1916, Marshall was killed at Delville Wood. On that day an estimated 600 German guns blasted the Wood and its occupants for eight hours with high-explosive shells: at times the rate of shelling reached seven per second and it is estimated that more than 200 000 shells fell in an area of less than a square mile.

 

Like so many of his comrades Marshall has no known grave, but his name is recorded on the Thiepval Memorial.

Edited June 3 by archie777