WOUNDING OF TROOPER BRADFORD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11642, 27 January 1900, Page 7

WOUNDING OF TROOPER BRADFORD.

NOTES FROM THE MOST.

(BT OUR THIRD WAR CORRESPON-

DENT.) Arundel Gamp, Deo. 20. On-the 18th the New Zealand Contingent sustained the first serious casualty.. The men were'mounted hefor.e 3.a.m., and as the artillery moved off No. • 1 Company' were in the advance, and No. 2 Company escorting the guns. An 'hour and a-half's marching eastward brought the force into range of a homestead, where it.was expected that a mimber of Boers wore ■ camped. Part of No. 1 Company was then' dismounted, and ordered to fix bayonets. '/Meanwhile the artillery had been shelling the . homestead, but, finding there were none- of- the enemy there, they stopped, and our men were ordered forward until they reached the house, which was quite empty, but had recently been occupied, as the embers were still warm in t.he fireplace. The men then (mistaking an order) returned to their horses instead of going on and occupying another house about 600 yards further on. They afterwards got tho order to occupy this second house, and in doing so drew the enemy's rifle fire on those'advancing from a neighbouring kopje, and shells from their "L6ng Tom," situated 7000 yards in our front. The rifle fire of the Boers was veiy deadly, and heavy, but our men .were in good shelter among the rocks at the top of the kopje, and, though not able to advance to the house, were able to return the fire with telling effect, as seven Boers, including an officer, were seen to fall. The range was only 300 yards, so its effect was likely to be deadly; but while our men were on the height none of them were hit. The shells from the enemy's artillery were lauding all round the horses, and though one "shell was not more than 10 j'ards from one section of the horses, none of them, were hit—no doubt chiefly owing to mo3t of them not bitrTung with any force, and until they reached the ground. The general,, seeing that the position could not be taken without a heavy loss, ordered them to retire. The men reached their horses in safety, but on galloping out of range they had to skirt a big stone wall, and this took them within a fairly close range of the enemy. The bullets wero fairly raining clown on the men, and Trooper Bradford was seen to fall to the ground, shot, his lieutenant said, through the neck and small of the back. Trooper Parks had his horse shot dead, and he double-banked with Sergeant Horrowell until out of range, when ho took poor Bradford's horse,, who had kept his place in the ranks. The ground was very rough, and more than one horse was brought to the ground by holes and boulders. When tho roll was called, by asking section leaders to answer for their sections, gladness and surprise was plainly depicted on each man's face that there were not many more missing; in fact, the general's words to Major Robin while riding home were, "Robin, it is\a wonder to me that two-thirds of your company are not lying there dead." The ride back to camp was a sad one, for poor Bradford was one of the greatest favourites in the -camp, and it was much against the grain of our boys to leave the body of one of their comro.de3 to be buried by the Boers, or left in this dreadful African sun to wither away. Bradford was sergeant-major in tho Ohinamuri Rifles, in the Auckland district, and an ex-sergeant in the Coldslream Guards. Just a few days ago I heard him say he had neither kitli nor kin in the world to write to, when wo were talking of writing home. Soon after our return to camp the major sent out a section of men and an ambulance van to recover the body, when on arrival at the scene they were told by a neutral farmer living close by that Bradford was only wounded, and, after being attended to by the enemy's ambulance men, had been taken prisoner. Though in all conscience this is bad enough, this news when it reached camp was greeted with pleasure. The rest of the day was spent in resting, the general having generously informed Major Robin that hs was highly pleased with the manner in which our men had done all the work asked of them, and he would treat them as easily as he could for two or three days to

Though our men would bo as likely to get into trouble through ignorance of military jaws in action as.any of tho regulars, up to the date of writing there has not been a case yet where one of our men has been made a prisoner. Men of other companies you will see tied up to waggon wheels for three hours at a time as punishment, and when one sees them standing there tied up by the hands and feet in this blazing sun, and almost crying for water, one can hardly believe it is under British rule that they are. It seems almost like barbarism when one sees it, and knows what it is to be thirsty in this climate. Sergeant Foster, at hie own request, has gone back to the rank of corporal, and Corporal Le Strange has been promoted to the rank of pergeant. Trooper M'Kegg, late of tho Otago Hussars, has been promoted to corporal, and there is gome talk of all section leaders being made corporals or lanee-eor-

porals. The meat called " bully beef " by the men is compressed cooked corn beef, packed in lib, 21b, and 61b tin?. All the smaller tins are American manufactured, but the 61b tins

are from the Gear Company, in Wellington, and it is preferred by the men a long way before the other. No doubt the extreme thirst developed by the men is due to a great extent

bo much salt meat being- eaten,

Our boys have a great name for commandeering, and they scarcely ever go out without bringing in some stock for the butcher. The fresh meat is nil commandeered, and during the first week our men were at Arunclel they managed to secure nearly 1200 sheep and about 40 head of cattle.

The biscuits dealt out to the men are very hard, and are made of meal, with a certain amount of meat extract in them. Some of them were made for the Crimean war, but as they are packed in 401b scaled tin canisters they do not come to any harm with age. Some of the men have broken their teeth with them, and those blessed with the soundest, of teeth take a long time to make a meal of them.

The horses are all in indifferent health, most of them suffering from colds, and nearly all of them have cracked heels. The small plant which grows on the Karroo Desert is of a very prickly nature, and it makes the horses very sore about the tender coronets and heels, and when once they get -bad it is very hard to get them right again.

Veterinary-lieutenant jSeale has been recalled, and our horses are now under the supervision of one of the Imperial veterinary surgeons, who is pretty severe on the men who report sick horses to him. Instead of tying all the sick horses up in one line, they are now hobbled and turned out on the veldt, with a sentry put on to watoh them. On Tuesday, 19th inst., Major' Robin personally inspected each horse, and carefully examined their feet and backs, afterwards expressing himself as highly pleased with the attention that the men were giving to their horses.

Referring to the fierce fire which our men were under on Monday, 18th inst., which has been the (alk of the men ever since, the regimental sergeant-major mustered the men the same afternoon, and informed them that Major Robin had ordered him to tell them that the genera] was well pleased with the conduct and steadiness of the men while under fire that morning, and as a recompense for the hard work they had been putting in during the last few days, ho would spell them for a

day or two,

On the day following: the general himself addressed Lieutenant Lindsay and his division, and .cpinpjimonted them on their behaviour on the previous'asy .-adding that ho was proud that they formed part of the great British army, and had been attached to his brigade. Generally speaking:, the contingent has come here with a great name which they did not deserve, but are upholding the name, and earning it, too, by the excellent work they are. doing; and one of the Royal Horse Artillery majors, who lias already seen two or three engagements, says that he never saw artillery better escorted into action than the way our. boys do it. *.

Bather a good story is told of one of our officers, win; hii>p*neVi to be late to bed on

this particular night. The men wero' warned for a start at 2 o'clock next morning, and wore sleeping alongside their horses, and this'-man, being an orderly, was lying with his own horse on one side of him and his officer's horse on the other side. He had just dropped off to sleep, when his officer*came along and commenced to unpack his wallets'. The man woke, and, sitting, up, caught hold of a boulder and threw it at him, exclaiming, " I've, caught you this time, you thief! Drop it, or I'll fire on you I" Needless to say, the explanations which followed were uncomfortable for the orderly. Perhaps the best ohance any of the New Zealanders will have of securing a Victoria Cross they let through their hands on the 18th inst., when Trooper Bradford was left on the field as shot. Lieutenant Lindsay was the last person to pass Bradford as he lay on the veldt, and in his report, to the commanding officer he said Bradford appeared to be shot in the nock and small of the back, and was quite dead in a, pool of his own blood. Captain Ward said he thought ho saw tho man move when the company had readied safe ground, and turned to gallop back into the enemy's fire to bring the man back, but tho general recalled him, and would not let him go in the face of Lieutenant Lindsay's report. However, three hours afterwards, when a section and an ambulance van went out to reoover the body, they were told" by a neutral farmer, whoso place was close by, that after our men had gone a Boor doctor came out and dressed his wound, whioh was high up in the thigh, and afterwards a Boer ambulance waggon came and topk him into their own lines.

To give one an idea of how hot the fire must have been and how lucky our men were, it is only necessary to state that an officer present, ivho was also present at the battle of Omdurman, states that the fire was quits, as hot as at that battle; while to show th< luck our men had a few instances will show. Farrier Parks had his horse "shot dead under him. Trooper Tubman had a hole through his near wallet and two through his overcoat. Trooper Maunders, besides having his wrist grazed by a bullet, had tho neck of his water lx>ltlo shot off and the fling of his carbine shot through; and Trooper Casoy-had his water bottle hit also. Lieutenant Lindsay's horse was shot in the hind leg, but not seriously; enough to prevent his rider riding him home. The whilly-whiHys, as the natives call them, or whirlwinds, as wo would call thorn in New Zealand, are very frequent, and when they come anywhere near the horses thoy create a great stir among them. They carry a tremendous lot of dust with them, and if they strike a tent in their lins of travel they will level it to the ground.- The first ono that came across the camp caused a stampede among the horses, and it was fully two hour? before the men got thorn, quietened dowK again. Mr J. B. Patterson, well known in tho Australasian colonies as " Banjo," is on tho field, corresponding for some Australian paper. I have made his acquaintance, and can assure your readers, after hearing hi 3 droll opinion of Tommy Atkins, that something really good may bo expected from his pen after this war is over.

Stienbuok are very plentiful on the veldt, also veldt turkeys and hares, and these furnish splendid sport in the way of shooting and stalking for the officers. The Imperial officers often go out and add to their pantries, but our officers are either too indifferent for hard work under such a hot sun, or else have no time for stalking and shooting anything less than human game, for they never go out. Tho horses used by tho residents are very email and weedy, but of wonderful endurance, and as many of these have been commandeered, they are placed in the reserve mouii^ depot, from which officers can hire them at tho rate of £2 10s per quarter (three months). A good many of the English officers get them for hacking about tho camp, but so far none of our officers have availed themselves of the opportunity.

Regarding the scanty and poor food that thenßoer troops arc reported to bo getting, the other day I was at the position where they had thoir long Tom during the light last week, and while there I picked up among the debris empty sardine, salmon, and jam tins, a tin of very superior preserved meat (half full) to our meat, aud a fragment of a Buntley and Palmer biscuit. This clearly shows that they are being well fed. Another find at this place was an officer's suit of plain clothes! wrapped in a waterproof sheet, and the remains'of one of our own shells, which must have burst quite close to the gun. .

There are two of tho enemy buried close by, and they were simply pushed feet first into holes made by some animal, and their heads and bodies covered with huge stones.