BAND FIGHTING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18075, 27 April 1922, Page 7

BAND FIGHTING

THE RECENT WARFARE.

HEAVY DEATH ROLL.

CAPTURE OF FORDSBCRG

CHEAT GALLANTRY DISPLAYED. J Farther details of the reent strike «n jthe Rand are contained :c >,uth African ] newspapers just to hand A? indicating tie I heavy nature of the lighting which took place an official estimate issued on .March jlB of the casualties among the Union defence forces, including south African police and special polite. ga»e tile killed as 21, died of wounds 24, wounded 251. sick 25, injured two and missing fire. A message from Johannesburg on. the [same date said —The of the ; revolution was short and cater. The I reconstruction will be a long and difficult, [ task and one to which every man and i woman in the country will have to civ? ! their best efforts irrespective of class" or 1 party. In regard to time the duration !of the different phases of the events cf the past two and a-haif months are I summarised as follows up to the declara- ! tion of the strike being off as from to | day:—Seventy .six days of the coal | strike, 67 days of the jold strike, 11 days iof general strike, seven days of revofu tion. One of the most sensational incidents of the military opf-rations rendered j necessary by the' strike was the talcing I of Fordsburi. where a strong partv ot rebels had installed themselves. A mem- , her of the Government forces thus describes the engagement: —We had n?wg :of the ultimatum which had been given :to die revolutionaries at Fordsburg to , surrender by 11 a.m. or to submit to the i consequences of attack by the concentrated forces of the Government. We • also knew that all women and children, land also men "well-disposed toward the | Government'' had been given the opportumty, by means of pamphlets dropped j from aeroplanes, to evacuate the danger | zone and were camped at Landaagte. We ~ anxiously waited for the fateful hour to /approach. Ground sisnals for the arroj planes were laid down, and the mounted j men moved into position ready for the ; I advance. We were jomed here by the 1 2nd Contingent from rotchefstroorm . Down in the valley the school children from the Langlaagte School were playing around the school building and watching '! in awesome wonder the strange move- < merits all around them. It was "indeed a : contrast between peace and war. The Fignt Begins.

Precisely at 11 o'clock the first boom of the artillery was heard, and we knew that the fight was ahead, and that the desperate men entrenched in Fordsbnrg were going to fight to a finish, or at least were not in a mood for surrender at that moment. The mounted men moved off and we saw them winding away in lon- procession among the dumps and the plantations of the mines. Along ths ridge above other forces were already on the alert, and then the burgher unita be sran to work down toward the objective.

The men were keen as mustard, all heir- imbued with the desire to "have a go" at the revolutionaries who had bouzht black death and red ruin to South Africa. A fine sight the rugged men of the veld presented as they marched away, iriving the bimrest surprise to the Reds who had been ltd to believe that tb.9 commandoes would not come to the assistance of the Government in the hour of need. When the dismounted men under Commandant Grimbeek got down to business they did magnificent work, fighting their way through the snipers and other unknown dangers untii they were well un to the forts of the rebels. The mounted men, too, showed up splendidly, shot at as they were from the enemy who were seen in the trees and other point* of vantage.

First Fruits of Victory. Nothing could daunt the gallantry 'rf the town and veld dwellers of the western districts. The first fruits of the victory were recorded by Col. Godley 7 a force, who reported shortly after 2 o'clock that 10 men had come out of the Matset Buildings with their hands up. This cheered the attackers, ©specially as. about the same time, Commandant Grimbeek was able to report that he had also secured a number of prisoners. It transpired subsequently that the first surrenders were from a fort subsidiary to the main dafence. Heavy snipin? from the front met ow men but they held on. Capt. Thompson'had been hit, Lieut. Bligmuit had been bowled over with a bad wound, and there were other casualties on our side. An attempt was made to bring in Lieut. Bliznaut, who lay in the street, but the dastardly brutes behind the sandbags put a volley in the Bed Cross men. and his immediate rescue was impossible. Reiga of Terror Ends. It was not long ere it waa generally known that the Trades Hall had surrendered Mid the police released. It was the end of a reign of terror brutality and it came as a great reliex to all engaetsd in the operations. CoL Godley reported some 200 odd prisoners. CoL Mever sent in about 70, and Commandant Grimkek about the same, so tha. the da/s banl was close on 400. About 5.30 it was officiaJlv reported that the military had handed over the occupation of Fordsburg and Mayfair to the police, and the work of the day was at an end for the tired army of attackers. Sniping continued long after, and efforts were made to locate the would-be murderers, with the result that some furthei captures were made. I Scene of Desolation. The market buildings at Fordshurg, which were the stronghold of the local section of the Red Army presented a scene of desolation, destruction and confusion after the fieht, wrote a correspondent on March 14. The ceneral state of the place is chaotic. Chairs have tieen smashed to matchwood, windows aw broken, the roof is perforated by reason of the shrapnel showers which fell through it, whi'e the floors are littered with alsorts of refuse as weG as articles of wearing apparel, and empty bottles. One portion of the building, which was used as a bioscope ball, is in . a deplorable state of disorder. Chair# boots and pieces of foodstuffs are strewn about the floor, while under the cinema stage are o'd beds and mattresses. On i one side of the hall is a dispensing table. I and were several articles of medical i stores, which had evidently been looted I from chemists' shops in the neishbourj hood of the fortress. Here was a proi fuse array of antiseptics. Seld-dressinga. etc., and judging by the biood-stained appearance of the particular spot, it would appear that the hall was utilised as a dressing station. Bombs and Detonators. On the same floor was a well eqnipped kitchen, which it was evident had served as the commissariat as well. Bags of flour, tinned food, preserves, cheese, etc., were in abundance, and so far as rations were concerned the Beds were not in want. A small room on a top story, where 1 the "be careful" warning frequently rang out from the sentry on duty, contained a big store of bombs and detonators. The apartment was in an appalling state of disorder, and net far from the door was a large pool of blood, out of which it was stated one of the leading figures of the revolution had been removed dead. With the first entry of the troops into this part of the premises l it was discovered that bombs and detonators were ski>Mly concealed under small pieces of Paper cloth, these being arranged as a =*P for the unwary. On several efc ¥ rc *S|| and in die ha 1 ! were barbed ■ \rhicit proveu * barrier for the attacking g negotiate. *