Souvenir Saturday: William Dixon Smith 1899

William Dixon Smith, Lieutenant Quartermaster, Border Mounted Rifles.
Photographed at Ladysmith Natal, December 1899. He died of enteric
at Intombi Camp in January 1900.




QSA - William's medal has the bar Siege of Ladysmith
(not shown here)

William's memorial at Intombi Cemetery near Ladysmith. Unfortunately,

due to vandalism or to animals wandering through the cemetery, the top

part of the memorial, a cross with the BMR logo, is now missing. 

William's stepson Alexander Anderson's memorial, below, shows the cross

in place, with the BMR boot and spur insignia.

Intombi Camp Graveyard - early view

Elandslaagte memorials at Nambiti Game Reserve

The charge: Battle of Elandslaagte

At Nambiti Private Game Reserve the northern gate is appropriately known as Memorial Gate. Nearby, memorials to both British and Boer soldiers who fell in the Battle of Elandslaagte, 21 October 1899, can be found. 

Elandslaagte was a defeat for the Boers following a brutal cavalry charge by the British, where lances were used against the enemy. Boer prisoners were taken and marched through the streets of Ladysmith, which town was soon to be under siege from 2 November 1899 to 27 February 1900.

Memorials at Nambiti are featured below, including to the Gordon Highlanders killed at Elandslaagte and to the 1st Btn Manchester Regiment.

Photos by E and S Dixon-Smith

Natal Mounted Rifles Officers Siege of Ladysmith

Acknowledgements:
Brian Kaighin

Natal Carbineers officers who served through the Siege of Ladysmith

Christmas in Ladysmith: Boer War 1899 3

BESIEGED

Sir George White

It’s strange that White didn’t send more people out of Ladysmith while the railway was operating southwards. As it was, he was left with about 22 000 mouths to feed. The Town Clerk of Ladysmith, George Lines, noted that there were 2 200 white civilian residents, 1 200 Indians and 1 500 Africans, probably a conservative estimate. 

There had been an influx of refugees from outlying areas prior to the start of the hostilities. White’s fighting force consisted of 572 officers and 13 000 men, including the regulars (infantry, cavalry and artillery), irregulars, Natal volunteer units and the Naval Brigade.

The biblical analogy of the loaves and fishes comes to mind, but the situation in Ladysmith at the beginning of the siege didn’t appear quite that critical. An immense number of stores had been stockpiled. True, some of these had been sent up to Dundee and subsequently lost. However, there remained 979 000 lbs of flour, 173 000 lb of tinned meat, 142 000 lbs of biscuit, 267 000 lbs of tea, 9 500 lbs of coffee, plus quantities of maize, oats, bran and hay, as well as wine, spirits and medical supplies. There were 9 800 horses and mules, 2 500 oxen and a few hundred sheep, and these animals could be eaten if necessary. Additionally, tinned and other provisions held by Ladysmith’s citizens were purchased by the Army.

There was no immediate prospect of relief. White’s army made some forays out of Ladysmith, including a night sortie on Gun Hill undertaken on 7 November and an attack on Surprise Hill on 10 November. It was fortunate that the big Naval guns had reached Ladysmith before the trap shut tight. Without these to match the might of the Long Toms, the story of the siege could have been a much briefer narrative.

Now it became a waiting game. As White said to his staff on 20 November, ‘We have two things to do – to kill time and to kill Boers – both equally difficult.’

Col. Royston C.O. Natal Volunteers and Staff, Ladysmith

THE BESIEGERS

 

Gen. Piet Joubert

Ladysmith and its defenders were all that stood between the Boers and the port of Durban. Commandant-General Piet Joubert allowed thousands of his burghers (whose real value lay in their mobility as mounted infantry) to be stuck outside Ladysmith, which proved to be a tougher nut to crack than expected. General Ben Viljoen in his later reminiscences remarked, ‘The whole siege of Ladysmith and the manner in which the besieged garrison was ineffectually pounded at with our big guns for several months, seem to me an unfathomable mystery…’.   

The truth is that Joubert thought Ladysmith would surrender. He couldn’t have been more wrong.

Boers firing during Siege of Ladysmith

Christmas in Ladysmith: Boer War 1899 1

‘It’ll be over by Christmas’ was the phrase on everyone’s lips as British Imperial and Colonial troops were mobilized for the Anglo-Boer War, officially declared on 11 October 1899.

Sir Alfred Milner

Two days earlier, an ultimatum had been received from Kruger’s Transvaal Government demanding the immediate removal of British forces on the borders of the Boer Republic, and the withdrawal of all Imperial troops which had arrived in South Africa in the course of that year, as well as any reinforcements then on their way to South Africa by sea. Should the demands not be complied with within forty-eight hours, this would be considered a formal declaration of war. Britain’s reply, couched by Sir Alfred Milner, was succinct: the conditions demanded by the Government of the South African Republic were such as Her Majesty’s Government deemed impossible to discuss.

After that, events swiftly gained momentum and in the ensuing surge of British patriotic fervour, there was no time to waste on idle speculation as to the outcome of the decision. It was impossible to predict that the might of the Empire would be challenged by ‘a handful of Boers’ to such an extent that a long, bitter and costly struggle lay ahead – and that for 22 000 people soon to be besieged in the Natal town of Ladysmith, the Christmas of 1899 would be one they would never forget.

WHY LADYSMITH?

Pakenham, in his book The Boer War, is less than complimentary about Ladysmith, describing it as ‘hot, dusty, disease-ridden and claustrophobic’. Nevertheless, it had been an important outpost since the 1840s. Lying among low hills at the foot of the Biggarsberg and Drakensberg ranges, Ladysmith was the last stop for wagons travelling north or south to replenish provisions before the long haul across the mountains. It was named on 11 October 1850 (exactly 49 years before the expiry of the Boer ultimatum in 1899), in honour of Lady Juana Maria, the Spanish wife of Sir Harry Smith, then governor of the Cape.

A decade later, a fort was built and the town expanded steadily. There was a significant milestone in 1885 when the railway reached Ladysmith. By 1890, a permanent military camp known as ‘Tin Town’ had been established: vast amounts of stores and ammunition were gradually accumulated, and Ladysmith became the main British supply base and military training ground in Natal. Strategically-speaking, it was also the junction of the railway line between the Free State, Transvaal and Natal.

On the eve of the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War, Ladysmith was the third largest town in the colony, with two main streets, shops and houses, a Town Hall built in 1893, a railway station, the Royal Hotel, several churches and a convent. Many of its buildings, including the Hindu mosque, were of wood under corrugated iron roofs. 

It’s doubtful whether the British Commander-in-Chief, Sir George White, entering Ladysmith on 11 October 1899, was impressed by what he saw. From a military point of view, he certainly wouldn’t have chosen it as a place in which to be besieged: it was practically indefensible, hemmed in and overlooked by the surrounding hills. But that Ladysmith would be forced to withstand a siege was the last thing anyone anticipated.

Ladysmith and the Klip River

To be continued

Souvenir Saturday: Natal Border Mounted Rifles 1899 Ladysmith

Border Mounted Rifles 1899: officers who served in Ladysmith. Back Row: Lieut J Gold, Lieut L Trenor, Lieut Qtr Master W D Smith, Lieut H B Andreasen, Lieut R G Archibald, Vet. Officer Lieut W M Power. Middle Row: Lieut F L Thring, Capt R Vause, Major J F Rethman Officer Commanding, Adj. Major W Sangmeister, Capt W Arnott. Front: Lieut Jack Royston, Capt H T Platt Med. Officer

Capt Arnott was wounded at Bester's Kop. Lieut Quartermaster William Dixon Smith died of enteric at Intombi Camp in January 1900. Major W Sangmeister and Captain J R Royston received the D.S.O. Major Rethman was promoted Lieut Colonel in December 1900 and retired from the Regiment in1904; he died in 1936.

For a list of BMR serving in the Anglo-Boer War see Mole's Blog at 
molegenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/09/boer-war-border-mounted-rifles-list.html

A Diary of the Siege of Ladysmith on Kindle

A Diary of the Siege of Ladysmith by Brian Kaighin is now available in a Kindle Edition.

It is a day by day account of the struggle for Ladysmith during the Anglo-Boer War of 1899 to 1902.

Boer War: Ladysmith index

Was your ancestor among the approximately 21 000 people besieged in Ladysmith during the Anglo-Boer War?

At the start of the Siege, troops under Sir George White numbered 572 officers and 12,924 men. In this total there were about 10 000 efficient combatants of the cavalry, artillery, irregulars, Natal volunteers and Naval Brigade. Over and above this were 2 000 civilians, 2 440 blacks, 750 people of mixed race, and 2 470 Indians. The total number of mouths to feed thus numbered over 21 000 - of whom no more than half were fighting men. (These statistics appear in With the Flag to Pretoria; there may be slight variations in other sources.)

Brian Kaighin, a specialist in this phase of the Anglo-Boer War in Natal, has compiled two indexes which are an invaluable aid to anyone researching ancestors (residents) who were among the besieged in Ladysmith, or among the casualties, civilian or military. His databases consist of:

1. An index to those resident in Ladysmith up to 1900: over 16 000 names. Note that this also includes certain people from Dundee and Newcastle, since many of these names have Ladysmith connections. The database is an on-going project and Brian would welcome any additional information on the families mentioned.

2. An index to British Military deaths: over 24000 names covering the whole of the Boer War i.e. those Killed in Action, Died of Wounds, Died of Disease, or natural causes. This list is in addition to the list of residents.

Brian mentions that 'information is taken from the births, death, marriages, deceased estates, regimental museums, War Office releases at the time and a register compiled by a local Ladysmith resident, Wally Hyde, of all Natal Casualties.'

If your ancestor was among the besieged, or died during the Boer War, Brian generously offers look-ups in his indexes, currently at no charge. He is also prepared to do further in-depth research for a small fee.  www.ladysmithhistory.com 

UPDATE: Brian's new site is at www.boerwardeaths.com

Murchison Street, Ladysmith 1899

Boer War: A Doctor during the Siege of Ladysmith

Oswald James Currie was born in 1860 in Greenwich, London, into a life of middle class prosperity and conformity. His parents, Alexander and Jessie, were of Scottish descent but long settled into London suburbia, able to pay for Oswald's education fees at Guy's College from the income of Alexander's career as an insurance underwriter.

At some point Oswald must have decided to reject the idea of medical practice in Britain and perhaps he was inspired by tales of his father's seven brothers who had variously emigrated, enlisted and travelled all over the world. Certainly, after qualifying as a doctor at the University of London with a first class degree in forensic medicine, he did not waste much time before leaving his comfortable life and 4 stay-at-home younger siblings to pursue his love of travel and adventure. After a year in Ceylon and a spell as a ship's doctor, he finally came to South Africa which was to become his home.

Oswald worked as a physician in Pietermaritzburg from 1892 and was also a surgeon at Gray's Hospital there. In 1896 he married Sara Gough Gubbins, born in Limerick in Ireland and a cousin to Sir Charles O'Grady Gubbins*, and they had their first of 4 children in 1898.

By this time, Oswald had become very involved in the Natal Medical Corps and by the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Boer War he was a Captain with the Natal Carbineers. Realising he was living through history, he wrote 3 letters to his sister Rose's 5 year-old daughter back in England, telling her about the Ladysmith Siege where he worked in Intombi Camp with the other medical staff. Little Winifred went on to keep her 'Uncle Oswald' letters all her life and they were often brought out of their little leather case as treasures for her children and later her grandchildren and great grandchildren to see.

Oswald himself went on to survive both the Boer War and the First World War. After 1908, the family left Natal and made their home in the Cape where Oswald became a well-respected GP, kept up his interest in hospital work at the Wynberg Hospital and contributed much to the South African Medical Corps. He died at the age of 72 in 1932.

Dr Currie is among the group of Natal Carbineers shown on this blog at http://molegenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/09/boer-war-natal-carbineers.html

O J Currie, his wife Sara,
with John Alexander (Jack) b 1898
and Jessie b 1900 (d in infancy)

*Sir Charles O'Grady Gubbins, M.B., J.P.
for Natal, M.L.A. Natal 1901-10, Colonial
Secretary and Minister of Education 1906-10,
Acting Prime Minister and Minister for Native
Affairs 1907, Senator and MinisterWithout
Portfolio in Union of South Africa 1910-11,
Knt 1911, d 1911.




[With thanks to Currie descendant Jo King.]














Note: O J Currie served Sept 1899-31 May 1902 in the Natal Volunteer Medical Corps.
He received the QSA with 3 clasps.
During the Siege of Ladysmith he was in charge of the Natal First Field Hospital
(Volunteers). Later Major commanding the C Battery Natal Royal Artillery;
Surgeon of Grey's Hospital, Maritzburg, and Medical Officer of Health, Maritzburg.

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