Fourth Contingent

Dunstan Times, 28 December 1900, Page 5

Fourth Contingent

LETTER FROM LIEUTENANT J. H. KEDDELL. —o — The following extracts are taken from a letter from Lieutenant Keddell : "iZeerust, Oct. 20th. On the 10th we had a sharp f.nuagement wi hj De la Rev, but they eluded us, only a few men remaining to check ouv advance. We scouted the plain very carefully and came across a few Boers who sniped at. us from a kopje. A. few shells had the effect of routing them, however We camped oeside a creek, when ws were able to have a bath —a luxury that we enjoyed very much. On the 1 Ith we moved on to Watera'. The Boers retired on becoming aware of our approach, a number, however being captured- T went into the township with a dozen men for the purpose of commandeering, and was successful in obtaining a number of sheep, pigs fowls, etc. We were reinforced by some 50 others, and it is bird toimagine the noise we created—6o hungry fellows catching ducks, pigs, etc. — such a squeaking and cracking I never heard before- I shall never forget the sight that the camp pre sented next morning, heaps of feathers, heads, and bones all over the place. We lived well for a day or two I can assure you. , . . ■ >n a scouting expedition I went into a house which was full of women and conversed with one lady who spoke English fluently. I felt exceedingly sorry for them when ihey told me that the Boers had been there and in . shelter of tbe house had fired at Methuen's Column the day before. Just fancy the inhuman wretches, sheltering themselves behind the houses and when Methuen directed his lire on the house (thinking it occupied by Boers soldiers) they retired, the poor women being left to bear the brunt. The shell the lady told me bust and killed one oid woman, and wounded another. They im plored the Boer soldiers not to fire from the house but »hey took no notice of their appeal. On returning to camp I reported this and one of our doctors was sent out. Shortly afterwards I came across a Boer doctor and his attendant He was a Dutchman who had been educated in Scotland, and commandeered by the Boers at the commencement of the war—On the 16th we were the advance guard with Lord Methuen, and when we got into camp-supplied the outposts* We could see the Boer camps, which were supposed to be De la Rey and Lemmers. The next morning as we expected, De la Rey attacked us, and we had some very hard lighting. One of our troopers (J. Sorrenson) was ki'led. shot in three.plaees. When the fighting was'' over we Were riding' along when one of the fellows saw some blankets, which on Investigation proved to envelope the remains of one of Methuen's men wbojuad been

while asleep. We arrived at Zeerust without further mishap. The days casualties for the whole column being four killed and two wounded. On the 2lst I received orders to proceed with 10 men to go out on 'patrol duty and to examine a kopje which position occupied the road. After examining the kopje "I saw a house just below, which I thought advisable to search. .1 discovered that it belonged to a daughter of Bothas, ber husband being a prisoner at Mafeking. I aeked her about the Boers, but she informed me tliat she had not seen any of th'erri.f-so I proceeded -with my investigation, I had my suspicions that there were some of them about, so T proceeded cautiously. We were about a 'thousand yards away, and 1 placed two men to our front and two to rear, as we were in a basin- I left four men under Sergeant Collins and with two troopers went down te search another house- We saw "a man nbout 500 yards away from us who bad no lire rrms. and I was an my way to go over to examine him when I thought it funny that he should bo in the act of ligh>ing a cigarette, we were greeted-with a volley from 9 or 10 mauser bullets striking all around us. We hod to go through a narrow gateway,., which brought us nearer to them by 50 yards. The fire continued till we were out of range, but, fortunately, none of us were hit. It was lucky that I left the eight menbehind, or we might have got into a mess getting through the gateway.