28 JULY 1901 - NONDWENI

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Early on the morning of 28 July 1901, near N’qutu, a 400+ Boer commando made a determined attack on a column consisting mainly of the Natal Volunteer Composite Regiment (130 men) and the 8th Hussars (70 men) and accompanied by 3 guns of the 67th Bty, RFA under command of Major Jervis-Edwards.

 

The Boers made desperate efforts to capture one of the guns but did not succeed. In the end six men were killed/died of wounds and three were wounded. The enemy was driven off with much loss.

 C.C. Murchie. Natal M.R. Murchie was attached to the Natal Volunteer Composite Regiment when he was killed at Nondweni. An eye-witness account of his demise is given in “War with Johnny Boer”, p482-483:

“Just before the gun was so determinedly attacked, Major Jervis-Edwards (our commander), a sergeant of the Hussars and four men left our place to go and see where they could take up another position, but as they did not return, Major Henderson came to where we were, and said he was very anxious about Edwards, and called for four volunteers to go with him to look for the commander.

 

Sergeant [C.C.] Murchie, myself and another young fellow named Lewis stepped out. [One of the lieutenants also seems to have volunteered]. The firing at this time was the heaviest of the day. We advanced up the ridge, taking what cover we could behind anthills.

 

When we had gone 60 or 70 yards, we saw two Boers on top of the ridge, and the lieutenant gave the order to drop. I took one anthill and Murchie another, about five yards away. Just as we dropped there were two reports. I thought they had passed between us, and turned to Murchie and said, ‘That was close’, when to my horror I saw he had received one of the bullets and was lying on his back.

 

I called him by name, asking him where he was hit, but he never spoke, groaned or moved. Major Henderson was the only one of us that could see the Boers, so he fired four shots at them. The lieutenant and myself got up alongside Murchie and found that the poor fellow was shot through the heart, so I took his watch, ring and money, and then we retired, rolling over anthills and crawling on our bellies, for the Boers were firing all the time”.