BOER WAR

Manawatu Standard, Volume XL, Issue 7062, 23 July 1901, Page 4

BOER WAR

OUR SEVENTH. CONTINGENT,

ITS EARLY BAPTISM OF FIRE

SET TO WORK IMMEDIATELY

ON ARRIVAL.

AN EVENTFUL MARCH FROM

ERMELO,

FOUR MEN KILLED" AND ONE

WOUNDED,

TEN CAPTURED BUT'SOON RE.

LEASED,

As yet hardly anything has been heard in the colony of the doings of the Seventh New Zealand Contingent on African soil. A correspondent of the Evening Post is with the column, but none of his despatches have reached us, so we avail ourselves of the opportunity of quoting the following extracts from a letter received by the Lyttelton Times -from its correspondent, dated from Standerton, on 3rd June:—

The New Zealand Seventh Contingent is now encamped outside of the town of Standerton, having just returned from a march with Colonel Gray's ooluinn to Ermelo. Although we have been scarcely more than three weeks in this country, and but a fortnight on column, we bave gained not a little' experience of the work we have before us.

We arrived in the roadstead off Port Natal on tbe morning of May 9,' and sailed in the nest day. We were immediately entrained for the remount depot at Mooi River, the most southern point reached by the Boers in their invasion of Natal.

As I anticipated in a previous letter, Lieutenant Seddon was given command of the Nelson squadron on arrival in South Africa.

It was found necessary, on arrival at Mooi River, for Lieutenant Hamer, of the Canterbury squadron, who was still suffering from the effects of an accident he sustained at Albany, to go into hospital. Captain Bowker has now taken over command of the Canterbury squadron. We did not remain long fit Mooi River, waiting only until we had been supplied with horses and equipment. The horses are principally Hungarian remounts, and are, on the whole, a very fair'lot, as compared with those usually supplied to the cavalry and mounted infantry out here. They are, however, miich inferior- to the New Zealand horses brought out by former contingents and a fortnight's, hard work on column has had the result of rendering about a hundred of them unfit for further work for some time.

We left Mooi River rather suddenly on the afternoon of loth May. The journey through to Standerton occupied two days, travelling continuously, day and night. On the afternoon of 17th May we arrived at Standerton. Here the Sixth Queensland Contingent, Bushmen, and a number of the East Lancashire' Regiment, who, with us, were to form Colonel Grey's column, were encamped. While we were here we fell in with a number of the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Contingents. The men from the Fourth and Fifth Contingents are those who have volunteered for further service. A numberof them have been attached to our column as scouts. The Sixth Contingenters were men from Plumer's column, who had lost their horses.

We remained at Standerton for about three days, starting out on the 20th'with the regiments I have already mentioned and a small battery, consisting of a few twelvepounders, a pompom and a galloping Maxim, to escort a large convoy through to Errnelo. During the journey out nothing of much consequence occurred. Sniping at our advance, rear and flank guards was of daily occurrence, but the Boers never managed to hit any of our men, the only casualties being two or three horses shot.

When we arrived at Errnelo, after being out six clays, we found the town" almost deserted, one only inhabitants being a small garrison and a few loyalists who had remained when thelown was deserted by the enemy. All shops and public buildings were closed, and no food stuffs of any kind were to be had. All the unoccupied buildings had been looted to a greater or less degree, and I am afraid our men helped to complete tho work of spoliation.

We left Errnelo at midnight on the day of our arrival, making a night march in a south-easterly direction, and it was on this occasion that we sustained our first casualty, when-Corporal Wylie, of the Fourth Contingent, who was acting -with us as a scout, was killed. Our column was operating in conjunction with that of General Bullock, which ,was working to the northward of us in a parallel lino. An attempt was being made to capture a big gun and a pompom, which the Boers had unearthed from somewhere, and the object of our march was to cut off their retreat. Just before daylight we arrived at a Boer farmhouse, and two of our scouts, with a portion of the advance guard, were cross ing the front of the house when they, were challenged by some of the enemy concealed iuside, the challenge being immediately followed by a number of rifle shots. -Corporal "Wylie,. who was in front, was killed on the first dis'charge,.'being shot through the right lung. The majority of the Boers, about fourteen in all, managed to make good their escape, but three, including the man who shot Wylie, were taken prisoners. During the day seven more prisoners were taken, makine ten in all, who have been brought on with the column to Standerton.

On the following clay we commenced our return march to SlanderUm, and this march has prayed considerably more eventful than the march outwards. We have been in touch with the Boers almost, the whole of the distance, and and have :had two skirmishes with them. .-■■•■

Our first: engagement of any ; consequence occurred on Friday last. The Wellington squadron, which was acting on the right flank, came in contact with a strong Boer.commando, which proved to be guardieg a convoy. On discovering us, the Boers beat a hasty retreat, keeping up a hot fire all the time, in order to check our advance while they brought the convoy out of danger. The Nelson squadron then came up, and there followed a fine mile gallop across

tho hills, the Boers making a short stand in tho vicinity of a farmhouse Thoy did not wait lohg, but wore soonoff again, leaving ono man badly.wounded on the field. AH efforts to capture the convoy proved fruitless, the Boers escaping with it in a southerly direction, During the ohase, however, they were compelled to abandon one waggon, which fell into our hands.

On the following day^ve again fell in with the enemy with rather disastrous results, inasmuch as the engagement resulted in tho loss of three killed, one wounded and nine men taken prisoners. It appears that the Nelson squadron were operating on the oxtremo right, engaged in. bringing in live stocic to the column whon they fell in with a strong Boor commando, variously estimated at between two hundred and fifty and four hundred men. immediately retreated, being supported by the Wellington squadron.

During the retreat, thirteen men belonging to the Nelson squadron, who were holding a position on a kopje, were cut off from the remainder of the squadron. They maintained a stubborn defence until threa, Sergeant Pepper, of Wellington, and Troopers Donkin and O'Dwyer, of Thames and Blenheim respectively, were shot dead, and almost all the ammunition was exhausted, 'when they surrendered to the enemy. Trooper Bees, of Blenheim, was wounded in the right shoulder, being "shot after he had held up .his hands in token of surrender.

The Boers stripped; the prisoners of everything except their.clothes, even to. their leggings and spurs, and then turned them loose on the veldt. Trooper Morris, of Southland, who had shot one of the Boers during the engagement, was rather roughly handled, being knocked down with the butt of a rifle, but otherwise the prisoners were not badly treated. After being released, the men fell in with portion of General Knox's column, and after being treated-to hot coffee and biscuits by the Tommies, they were directed to our camp, which they ultimately reached about midnight.. During the march into camp, Trooper M'Gavin, of Blenheim, somehow lost his way in the darkness, but ultimately turned up at Standerton two days later. The men described the Boers they saw while prisoners in their hands, as a very mixed lot, ranging from mere boys of twelve to old men of seventy years, and there were even blacks under arms in the camp. The Boers all appeared well-fed and clothed, and were certainly not in the ragged and half-starved condition we had been given to understand they were. The Boers admitted having three killed and four wounded during the fighting, so the losses were not all on one side.

Where we go next we do not know as yet, but it is reported we start almost immediately on a long march in a southerly direction.