CRIMEAN VETERAN PASSES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 8 September 1926, Page 5

CRIMEAN VETERAN PASSES

DEATH OF CAPTAIN J. HYDE

HISTORIC BATTLE RECALLED

The people of Nelson and district will regret that Captain Joseph Hyde, who for s'orrfe fifteen or twenty years was resident among them, to-day passed away at Wellington, at the age of 95 ’’’ Captain Hyde was one of the few and rapktlv decreasing number of veterans of the Crimean War, Born in 1831, in the North of Ireland, he enlisted in the Royal Artillery at an early age, and soon afterwards was ordered with his battery to the Crimea, That battery was a very notable unit of the British Army, ancl played an important, if not decisive part, in the sanguinary battle of Inkerman, which was fought on November sth, 1854. On the night of November 4th the British, as they lay in their trenches before the beleaguered city of Sebastopol, could hear the noise of clanging bells, and the outlying pickets could hear the.rumble of distant wheels as the besieged garrison got under arms, preparatory to making their historic sortie. The Russian generals had harangued their troops, whom the priests had blessed and the quartermasters had filled with vodka, and. fifty thousand strong, and supported by forty, guns, they were on their way to break the British line, which was on the extreme right of the Allies’ entrenched front. There had been heavy rain for twenty-four hours, and a thick fog rendered the darkness of the night impenetrable. The British camp was dark and cheerless. One of the British generals, in keeping with his usual custom, .was visiting the outlying pickets of his brigade at about five in the morning, and with prophetic vision said to one of his officers, “It wouldn’t be surprising if the Russians made use of these favourable conditions to take ms by surprise.” The words were hardly spoken before, there burst from the wet and darkness in front of the British picket-line a rapid discharge of musketry. The battle of Inkermann had begun. The surprise was almost complete, and for a time there was confusion in the British lines. Their pickets were driven in, though they contested the ground inch by inch. There were but 8000 British soldiers to meet the onslaught of 50,000 Russians, who were concentrated on a battle-front of but three-quarters of a mile. Moreover,- the Russians’ powerful artillery Was posted on a commanding position, whence they poured a continuous and deadly fire of shot and shell upon the British position. The British artillery was comparatively weak, and was completely outranged" and outclassed. The situation quickly became desperate. Possibly the best account of what followed is that of ITamley, who bravely bore bis part'in the terrific battle:— “On our part it was a confused and desperate Struggle, Colonels of regiments led on small parties, and fought like subalterns—captains like privates. Once engaged, every man was his own general. The enemy was in, front, advancing. and must be driven back, if betide of battle ebbed and flowed, not in waves, but in broken tumultuous billows. At one point the enemy might be repulsed, while at a little distance they were making their most determined rush. To stand on the crest and breathe awhile was to our men no rest.

. . . over that crest poured incessantly the resistless’ cannon-sliot . . crashing through the bodies of men and horses.

. . . Rarely had such artillery fire been concentrated and for so long, on an equally confined space. The whole front of the battlefield, from the ravine on the left to the two-gun batters- on the right, was but three-quarters'of a mile.”

Thp position was desperate. Unless „ something could be done, to silence the terrible Russian guns on Shell Hill, defeat was inevitable. If was then that Lord Raglan, the British Commawler-in-Chief recollected the existence of two long 18-pounders which had lately arrived from England, but had not as yet been placed in the firing-line. They were guns of 20 calibres, and possessed great range, and fired either shell or solid shot 18 pounds in weight—immense advantages to the artilleryman of those days. Lord Raglan these two guns to be brought up to The Ridge, where the British artillery was receiving such dreadful punishment from the Russian guns. The two long 18-pourid-ers were brought into action, and from the moment- when they fired their first shot it was plain that at length the British had brought, into action weapons which could deal effectually with the enemy’s artillery. The iB-pounders’ shells burst squarely hi the middle of the gun-position of the Russians, and wiped out- entire guncrews, smashed the Russian guns, and silenced whole batteries. From the moment that- they found the range of the Russian gunposition those astonishing 18-pounders clearly showed their superiority over the enemy’s artillery. They blew to pieces everything they aimed at; and they did not cease fire' till they-had put every Russian gun out of action. Then it was that French reinforcements arrived, and the depleted and wearv British infantry advanced, and drove the Russians from the field.

Joseph Hyde was one of the gunners who served those two incomparable British guns! After saying that, \vlnt follows seems but an anti climax. When his term of service with the British Army terminated, Sergeant-Major Hyde came to New Zealand as Instructor for the Field-Ar-tillery. He occupied that position for ten or twelve years, and, when the term of his appointment was finished, lie came to live here in Nelson, and it was not long before he was appointed Officer Commanding “Hi” Battery, with the rank of Captain. He held that post for eight or ten years, until he retired on superannuation, though continuing to live in this district. He eventually went to live in Wellington, where hr- spent in retirement the last- years of his long and honourable career.

Ihe ’many friends of Captain Hyde will regret his passing, while they will realise the undying fame of one. who played so noble a part in the historic victory of November sth, 1054. To his bereaved relatives the sincere sympathy of the city and district will lie tendered, sympathy tempered with pride that they should have harboured arid known so brave and so doughty a soldier as was Captain Joseph Hyde.