TROOPERS' LETTERS

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 67, 20 March 1900, Page 2

TROOPERS' LETTERS

: i Trooper F. Shaw, of Paeroa. who is ; with the First Contingent, writing to ■ his sister, gives some interesting facts [ about campaigning. The following - are extracts from his letter:— "I read your letter this morning at . daybreak on a kopje, where 1 am now writing this letter. It would seem i strange to you to see us-calmly writing , letters within range of the Boers, but. i Aye have got so used to it thai even . when our cannons are roaring within . 50 yards of us we can lie down and s!ee*p. Of course, after being 24 hours '• in the saddle we can just fall off and .go to sleep anywhere. We have .had i several fights since I last wrote, and , have escaped with whole skins until a week ago, when a hill, called New Zealand Hill, on account of the con- '■■ tingent holding it for three days against innumerable Boers, was • stormed. "One morning, early, the Boers made an attempt to take our position. '. About 200 crawled up the hill, right to I our fortification; they were protected . by their comrades firing on us from a [ neighbouring kopje. We never noticed . them until they were on us; then com- . menced a fusilade ot leaden hail. A small detachment of York's infantry : was on the hill at the time, and joined [ in the fun. Things were going badly '_ with us until our captain jumped over , the wall and gave the order to fix bayonets and charge. The boys ansr wered the order like one man. The '_ Boers, who have a hatred of cold steel, j turned and fled, leaving 30 dead and T^jrbout 50 wounded; the loss on our side w£ £-s two New Zealanders, one from Ay^kland (Trooper Connell), the other frorijl the South (Sergt, Gourley), while the -i:Yo.rks had five killed and two • vvor inded. One of the dead Boers was a Two of the Yorks r j-r_led his body and got 40 soys. and an eighteen carat watch. I "While the fight is on we feel alright, . but as soon as it is over, and we see l the dead lying about, and hear the Rgroans of the wounded, it gives us a cJifljerent feeling. General French called us together after the battle and s V*tid: 'This is now the third time you jiave shown the British Empire what Jolonials are made of; this last time y\ou not only saved the position, but \_he camp. If the charge had not been mjade at the right time it would have kgA-n a second Majuba Hill.'. »'I do not think the war will last mu Kh longer. The Boers are getting siclk of it. They are running short of p/ovisions and ammunition. This : jy'art of the country is too hot, and ivafer is so scarce. I have gone as ; jilong as five days without a wash; in ) fact, we look so much like the Boers, '. with our burnt faces and slouch hats, v that the Boyal Artillery took part of j our company for the enemy and sent c a shell after them; but, as luck would c have it, none were hit. c "Our tucker has been bully beef and t biscuits, but we are now connected g with the Bemington Tigers, and they keep us supplied with fresh beef and mutton. They go out to Boec farms ' and commandeer a couple of thousand y sheep at a time. They are a fine lot of l fellows, and will give us anything we s want. Most of them are miners from j Johannesburg. We have not much to write about. It is the same from day to day, either outpost work or patrol. I have been out for six consecutive days and nights on outpost, getting l little or no sleep. . "On Tuesday, the 23rd, a reconnoit- ' ring party of No. 2 Company 6f the contingent were out near the Boer '_ lines. The enemy fired a time shrapnel shell at them. It burst over a 1 young fellow's head (Booth, of the 1 South Island), cutting half his head ' off, killed three" and wounded four horses. Booth's death was instantaneous. , Our. loss is now four. We have now got Colesberg surrounded, and are just going to hang around an. starve them out. They do not want to shell the town on account of the British subjects there; otherwise it would not take long to get rid of the Boers with lyddite shells. These are terrible instruments of death. The gun. gives a double concussion that sounds like a .terrible peal of thunder; when the shell bursts it is just like fork j lightning. They brem. Into a hundred pieces- and, added to the numerous bullets they contain, play terrible havoc amongst the enemy. The smoke from the explosive in tlie shell does even more damage than even the shell itself. One burst over a crowd of Boers, killing 50. When they see a puff of smoke from the gun which is on the top of the highest hill around here, called Coleskop, they run about and screech like madmen. "The Free Staters are getting sick of the war; hundreds of them are*giviiig it up. This is the first day we hay*

CAMPAIGNING EXP ERIENCES

been in camp for a whole week. We are camped in a farm garden called KlianfOlltein; our horses are tied to a quince hedge, and we sleep underneth the hedge; we have not pitched a tent now for a fortnight and feel better •without one. There is a fair amount of game about here in the way of .-■ - •■• I ... ... small deer of khaki colour), and ostriches; one turned up ... ..... ........ L . mi!, morning with 1U

young ones,