THE LATE SERGEANT-MAJOR SYDNEY SMITH.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIII, Issue 9, 11 January 1902, Page 5

THE LATE SERGEANT-MAJOR SYDNEY SMITH.

Very great regret was felt in Auckland when it became known that the Sergeant-Ma jor Sydney Smith reported killed at Twaiwater on January 3rd was a son of the late Captain Smith, of Hill-street, Wellington, and brother of Mr E. C. Smith of this city. The deceased trooper had a brilliant career in South Africa, having on several occasions been called before Col. Plumer and specially complimented for daring and valorous actions. On one occasion he, single-handed, rushed a farm house where 4 armed Boers were concealed and took the whole four prisoners, subsequently driving them into camp with the assistance of two troopers who afterwards arrived. It was his avowed determination to gain his commission and distinction, or to leave his bones in South Africa, and it adds pathos to the incident to know, that his gallantry had been rewarded only a clay or so before his death by the gazetting of his commission as a lieutenant. In his very last letter home there appears the following passage, to which melancholy interest now attaches: —

"While we were in the vicinity of Wepener, myself and 50 men, under Captain Markham (a friend of Ned's) were sent out from Colesberg Bridge to try and hold a commando of some 200 Boers until reinforcements arrived from the column. We were waiting for them when the dawn broke and .engaged the enemy as soon as it was possible to see one's hand before one's face. Their position was a very strong one, and they had us 'on toast' for an hour or more. The pom-pom and 150 men arrived not a minute too soon, and I felt confident we would have been cut to pieces had they come to our assistance. Five of our horses were shot and it was simply a miracle that none of our men were shot, but it is astonishing what a quantity of lead it takes to kill a man. Whilst carrying a message from Captain Markham to Lieutenant Blackhouse, I had four strands of my puttee cut with a Martini hitter, but you know "a miss is as good as a mile," and from what I have seen lof "Joey's" shooting I am as safe in action nB I would be sitting at home." Great sympathy is felt for Mrs Smith, who is still living in Hill-st. «t Wellington. , . ~