Natal Mounted Rifles Officers Siege of Ladysmith

Acknowledgements:
Brian Kaighin

Christmas in Ladysmith: Boer War 1899 5

View of Ladysmith from a sandbagged position

CHRISTMAS

Anniversaries relieved the monotony of the siege and were opportunities for celebration. Despite furious bombardment on the Prince of Wales’s birthday, 9 November, a 21-gun salute was fired and a tot of rum issued. Perhaps the salute was unnecessary additional noise. Herbert Watkins-Pitchford remarks that nearly a thousand Boer shells were directed at the town, ‘and the crash of our answering artillery, and the shatter of bursting shells, together with the incessant crackle of rifle fire, made the day a memorable one’.

With the approach of Christmas everyone pushed aside the depressing reality that they were still under siege and rose to the occasion, collecting whatever could be found to contribute to the festivities.

The Border Mounted Rifles staged a concert on 22 December, using improvised instruments such as a drum made of a flour cask with sheepskin stretched over it; the ensemble’s wind section included several tin whistles. Some officers organized a party for the town’s 200 children, providing toys, cake and ginger pop. There were four decorated Christmas Trees at this gathering, representing South Africa, Britain, Australia and Canada.

 

The Australia Christmas tree

Members of the Natal Mounted Rifles built a large brick oven to cook chickens bought at exorbitant prices - 5/- to 7/6. Plum cakes were on sale at 30/- and plum puddings at 40/-. The nurses at Intombi hospital weren’t forgotten: White himself sent each one a parcel with port wine, lime juice, currants, cornflour and tinned tongue. Kate Driver wrote that these items were put into a common fund for use throughout the hospital and that ‘later, when our sick nurses were in great need of such things, we wished we had all taken our parcels!’

Siege Menu

On Christmas Eve there were church services and carol-singing. The Boers started Christmas Day off with a bang, shelling beginning at 5 a.m. and continuing for three hours; there were no casualties. One 15 pounder shell didn’t burst and when examined was found to contain not explosive but plum pudding, and a message, ‘With the compliments of the season’.

Natal Carbineer Arthur Crosby attended Communion at All Saints and later reported, ‘Our dinner consisted of soup, stewed goat and baked beef, both very tough, and plum pudding, very elastic’, but there was rum to wash it down. Cecil William Park of the Devons did rather better ‘with tablecloths and real wine-glasses’ and a menu comprising hors d’oeuvres, soup, beef, olives, roast chicken, plum pudding and figs. Park had just been promoted Lieutenant Colonel and, after the loyal toast to the Queen, the men drank his health, with further toasts to sweethearts, wives and absent friends, followed by a singsong and hot rum punch.

The best Christmas present would have been the arrival of Buller’s army, but news of his disastrous defeat at Colenso on 15 December, with the loss of over a thousand men and ten guns, had put paid to that hope.

Saving the guns at Colenso: Freddy Roberts, son of Lord Roberts,
was killed in this action; he was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously.

Captain W Arnott, Adjutant of the Border Mounted Rifles, who had been wounded at End Hill, kept himself occupied during his convalescence by writing a serial letter to his wife mentioning that he’d had a very pleasant Christmas, but a note of foreboding crept in:

‘We got a present of some potatoes from Mrs Tatham and some jam. We managed a very good plum pudding and with a ration of rum instead of brandy or whisky we did very well. We had sports in the afternoon and a concert later in the week. Xmas week and New Year week were extremely wet and uncomfortable and with the wet we got a lot of sickness’. 

Sugar in Natal: the Pioneers – Vacy-Lyle

William Bray Lyle started business as a sugar merchant in Durban in 1864.  By 1874 he was managing the Kirkly Vale Sugar Estate; described by John Robinson in 1870 as ‘the last sugar plantation to the northward’ Kirkly Vale was near the Umvoti River between the coast road and the sea.

Natal sugarcane fields: green gold

The estate was sold in 1877, and Lyle took it over, ploughing up the cane and planting tea. By 1888 the Kirkly Vale Tea Estate was reportedly owned jointly by Arthur T Reynolds (son of Thomas Reynolds, M.L.C.) and W B Lyle. The old sugar mill had been converted into ‘a large and commodious tea-house.’ Sir Liege Hulett later purchased the estate.

William Bray Lyle was manager, in 1886, of the Glendale Sugar Estate (which belonged to Arthur T Reynolds); the Glendale mill was put up in 1880. In 1890 the estate was sold to G Nicholson, and in 1920 was bought by the Paruk family.

W B Lyle had two sons, John C Vacy Lyle and Leonard Vacy Lyle.

John Vacy-Lyle, D.S.O., M.C., was a medical doctor and sugar planter who served as a founder member and Captain of the Victoria Mounted Rifles and later as Colonel in the Natal Mounted Rifles. He founded the Fenton Vacy Sugar Estate at Verulam in 1860. By 1870 600 of its 1400 acres were under cane. A popular product of this estate was Fenton Vacy Rum, advertised in local newspapers at the time. The estate was sold in 1878 to Arbuckle and again to Tom Milner who added it to his adjoining estate, Redcliffe.

Leonard Vacy-Lyle, John’s brother, was a sugar planter at Inyoni. He served as Lieutenant in the Natal Mounted Rifles 1889-1892 and also in the Matabele campaign. From 1893-1897 he was a transport rider in Rhodesia, returning to Natal to serve during the Anglo-Boer War. He married Emma Farthing in 1892 and the couple had four sons and two daughters. In 1929 he married Emily Faram.

The compound surname, Vacy-Lyle, originated with the marriage of Mary Ann Vacey to William Lyle in 1825, at Whitstone, Cornwall. The spelling of Vacy/Vacey varies depending on date and source as does the use of the hyphen. William Bray Lyle included neither Vacy nor the hyphen.

A civil marriage declaration is held at Pietermaritzburg Archives Repository for Mary King Vacy-Lyle to Bartlett Little, 6 November 1876. (CSO 22286 p 298)

Boer War: Natal Mounted Rifles Part 2

WITH BULLER'S RELIEF FORCE

Sergeant
L Castera
Corporals:
A Austin (W)
H Bristow
Troopers:
H Austin
HG Bazley
WA Bird
HW Church
BC Davey
CH Gibb
G Gray
FW Higgins (W)
TR Harbottle
T Leech
S Bennett
FW Burke (W)
PAM Cox
L Caster
FF Churchill
G Caray
FW Roberts
PE Smith (W)
E Stephenson (W)
JF Thring
HK Vere-Hodge
P Wilson
CT Young

RECRUITS SINCE THE SIEGE
Troopers:
WJ Andrews
J Abraham
O Angus
WC Alder
CJ Arundel
J Burns
RW Beall
E Bristow
C Burrus
JA Burrus
JN Brown
G Brown
EW Burton
M Carroll
J Dunwell
J Davidson
W Eeles
WJ Freeman
SA Fraser
HP Forster
RE Garbutt
W Griffis
H Granger
GV Grice (D)
CA Howroyd
WT Howell
HW Hunter
JW Huntley
GO Hunley
E Holgate
J Herrick
WH Harber
W Jones
GE Jones
CR Jones
HA Joel
RV King
J Lloyd
H Lace
GA Logan
WH Moore
WB Millar
W Mitchell
CC Murchie
GF Morley
EE Nuttall
F Nicks
E Owen
G Olsen
EM Olsen
RT Paterson
DC Phillips
GH Perrin
L Price
S Robbins
FC Ruysch
G Rogers
TL Ruston
P Starling
GA Sefton
A Stewart
HAJ Scruse
T Sim
J Shields
H Thomas
D Tweedie
J Vincent
M Watson
GG Watson
HLR Watt
F West

H O N O U R ' S     R O L L
KILLED IN ACTION
Lieutenant
WJ Clapham, at Lombard's Kop
Trooper
G Schram, at Ladysmith
Trooper
JR Crickmore, at Ladysmith

DIED OF DISEASE
Corporal
J Parkhill, at Durban
Troopers:
VG Ash, at Ladysmith
GV Grice, at Maritzburg
PE Inman, at Maritzburg
S Harrop, at Ladysmith
G Thomas, at Ladysmith

WOUNDED IN THE FIELD
Sergeant-Saddler
H Bull, at Tinta 'Nyoni
Corporal
A Austin, at Tinta 'Nyoni
Troopers:
H Cullingworth, at Tinta 'Nyoni
AF Sander, at Lombard's Kop
Corporals:
P Lloyd, at Lombard's Kop
H Silburn, at Bester's Hoek
Troopers:
PE Smith, at Colenso
G Brauel, at Ladysmsith
Lieutenant
HWA Richardson, at Caesar's Hill
Corporal
PN Field, at Caesar's Hill
Trooper
P Addison, at Ladysmith
Lieutenant-Surgeon
RW Hornabrook, at Caesar's Hill
Troopers:
FW Higgins, at Acton Homes
E Stephenson, at Spioen Kop
FW Burke, at Spioen Kop

INVALIDED, BUT RETURNED
Captain
R Noble
Lieutenant
FO Stiebel
Sergeant-Saddler
H Bull
Trooper
H Cullingworth

GRANTED EXTENDED LEAVE
S: Sick
Lieutenant
J Abraham (S)
Sergeants:
AF Turner (S)
E Hillary (S)
Corporal
AJ Harvey (S)
Corporal-Trumpeter
AE Mears (S)
Troopers:
S Bennett
RE Garbutt
AH Johnson (S)
HD Matson (S)
C Sander (S)
FW Sander (S)
E Vall (S)

INVALIDED TO END OF WAR
Trumpeter-Major
P Carmont
Sergeants:
JP Griffiths
A Hilmer
J Whittaker
Corporals:
LE Knox
H Bellville
G Carmont
H Silburn
Trumpeter
R Rogers
Troopers:
GV Ash
LV Ash
CJ Allen
JA Airth
HV Adams
H Austin
E Agnew
CE Bryant
G Brauel
AC Brandon
BD Davey, Relief Force
HWM Gillespie
CH Gibb
W Hillary
JB Hobday
EL Jones
GS Jameson
P Kemp
J Koster
Kirby
E Lake
E Middleborough
HL Norton-Smith
LA Noel
A Nipper
GE Oddy
J Pittaway
WH Pay
HS Parkes
GH Perrin
C Pulford
JH Rode
W Rodgers
H Stuhr
AEO Schreiber
D Scully
A Sarsland
E Thompson
A Tomlin
A Theunissen
HJ Torlage

JOINED COMPOSITE REGIMENT
Major
RW Evans (promoted Lieutenant-Colonel)
Lieutenants:
FO Stiebel
D Brown
HWA Richardson
Leo C Adams
Q-M
AL Garbutt
R-S-M
GP Parry
Sergeant-Major
GT Hurst
Sergeant-Tailor
H Mulholland
Sergeants:
WA Russwurn
R Lyne
Corporal
ERH Lewis
Troopers:
BL Crawford
AW Evans
JB Grinstead
R Harger
O Nannestad
AG Redman
FW Higgins
T Leech
PE Smith
E Stephenson
J Abraham
CJ Arundel
M Carroll
SA Fraser
J Shields
J Vincent
F Eales
FW Burton
P Burns
G Jones
JD Lloyd
Mitchell
C Murchie
FA Routledge
GT Watson

IN CHARGE OF HEADQUARTERS
Bandmaster
GR Gibb

Relief parade, Ladysmith

For more on Ladysmith visit Brian Kaighin's pages at http://www.ladysmithhistory.com

Boer War: Natal Mounted Rifles Part 1

NATAL MOUNTED RIFLES - BESIEGED IN LADYSMITH - ANGLO-BOER WAR 1899-1902

Abbreviations:
K: Killed
W: Wounded
D: Died


Major
Robert W Evans, Commanding
Captains:
R Noble, Adjutant
J Ritchie
C Henwood
H Sparks, MLA
W Murray Smith
Lieutenants:
FO Stiebel
D Brown
WJ Clapham (K)
HWA Richardson (W)
WH Smith
J Abraham
CS Adams
AG Knox
Leo C Adams
Q-M
AL Garbutt
R-S-M-
GP Parry
Q-M-S
H Higgs
Sergeant-Majors:
GT Hurst
GR Payne
S Garbutt
J Tweedie
G Keal
Trumpeter-Major
P Carmont
Sergeant-Farriers:
WB Orchard
H Martin
J Dingley
Sergeant-Tailor
H Mulholland
Sergeants:
AF Turner
FL Kruger, jun
W Gibb
CJ Hurst
T Wright
AH Gillham
G Stewart
R Stewart
WAB Russwurn
JTK Eggar
W Schwegmann
HB Shire
R Lyne
F Werner
Corporals:
P Lloyd (W)
ERH Lewis
LE Knox
H Bellville
G Carmont
AJ Harvey
J Parkhill (D)
H Silburn (W)
H Purser
TJ Drew
CC Pietersen
Sergeants:
W Shoesmith
JP Griffith
E Hillary
WH Bibby
F Brophy
Sergeant-Saddler
H Bull (W) (not in Ladysmith)
Corporals:
FW Freese
PN Field (W)
HH Hurst
HR Tunmer
SS Waller
Corporal-Trumpeters:
AE Mears
WH Bibby
Corporals:
CJ Landsberg
GA Larkan
H Worthingon
SA Brown
A Chiazzari
Trumpeters:
R Rogers
GE Beater
A Currie
Troopers:
VG Ash (D)
GV Ash
LV Ash
CJ Allen
JA Airth
JW Alcock
HV Adams
WH Attlee
AB Alexander
P Addison (W)
CC Allsopp
F Abrams
JH Andrew
E Agnew
B Bond
DA Bell
CE Bryant
V Bazley
G Brauel (W)
AW Evans, DCM
GO Edwards
HG Finch
C Forrest
JB Grinstead
OE Garbutt
HB Garbutt
CJ Goodwin
WF Gann
GJL Golding
HWM Gillespie
L Handley
JP Howroyd
W Hillary
R Harger
P Hoar
CB Herns
JB Hobday
EA Hopkins
JH Harries
PE Inman (D)
F Jones
EL Jones
AB Jones
AH Johnson
GS Jameson
J Kurz
J Koster
P Kemp
AC Brandon
FW Bannister
TF Brickhill
AT Burne
AW Cox
RH Clarence
JR Crickmore (K)
L Colenbrander
H Cullingworth (W)
GH Chudleigh
AH Crawford
BL Crawford
CR Daniel
F Dawson
HC Dinklemann
J D'Hotman
HE Essery
HD Ryder
FA Routledge
AG Redman
JH Rode
W Rodgers
JC Ratcliff
W Slatter
H Stuhr
C Sander
FW Sander
AF Sander (W)
HW Sander
HH Schwegmann
HF Schwegmann
AEO Schreiber
JF Stevenson
JG Kirby
FL Lucy
Edward Lake
J Morphew
J McDonald
E Middleborough
HD Matson
HL Norton-Smith
LA Noel
DM Nagle
A Nipper
O Nannestad
GE Oddy
J Pittaway
WH Pay
HS Parkes
A Pucher
S Sarsland
J Schmidt
GF Schofield
HE Smith
G Sharp
RG Scorey
E Thompson
G Twomey
A Tomlin
JW Tunmer
CF Tunmer
A Theunissen
HF Torlage
F Vahl
RK Watson
AC Westley
D Scully
CF Spradbrow
C Stewart
G Schram (K)
AW Starr
LH Studd
GH Wayne
W Winsor
CF Wilkins
W Waugh
A Walker
R Crosby-Wade

SIGNALLING DETACHMENT
Sergeant
HD Hemsworth
Corporal
JJ Flood
Troopers:
WB Flood
FM Piccione
C Roper

AMBULANCE DETACHMENT
Lieutenant-Surgeon
RW Hornabrook (W)
Vet-Lieutenant
ST Amos
Sergeant
J Whittaker
Corporal
RJ Kelly
Troopers:
GW Bradshaw
D Donaldson
J Donaldson
S Harrop (D)
N Jelseth
A McKenna
JG Pennell
C Pulford
RM Ridgway
G Thomas (D)

Ladysmith Town Hall damaged by shelling during
the Siege: Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902