NEW ZEALANDERS AT THE FRONT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2467, 26 June 1901, Page 31

NEW ZEALANDERS AT THE FRONT.

BRILLIANT PERFORMANCES. (From Ors Owx Corresfoxdext.)

LONDON, May 18

Already the sixth New Zealand contingent ha\e had a chance of distinguishing themselves, which they have been prompt to seize. Mr Bennett Burleigh, the special war correspondent of the Daily Telegraph, writes of their performance as f ollowa :— •

•' It is relatively but the other day since the sixth contingent of New Zealanders. 580 strong, passed through this place (Brandfort), bound to Pretoria. Than these Antipodeans no finer troops have enrolled under the banner of the British Empire, regulars or auxiliaries, Home-born or colonials. Like the Scots Greys, they stand second to none. Youthful, stalwart, active, kecnpyecl, aglow with mii'tary ardour, no better men have ever taken the field. Theii commanding officer. Colonel Banks, had reason to bo proud of the splendid fellows compos nis, hi regiment.

" They had come on from the seaboard, straight from the steamer, to join General Phnner. and expected tc detrain at Kioonstad. The fifth New Zealand contingent, or what \\a^ left of it, which they had come to relieve, had just started south, en route for their homes. There was sound of battle in the an, ioi 'the drive' of the scattered remr>ants> of Christian Dc Wet's and other commandos, which had been driven back from the invasion of Cape Colony, were being herded north upon Thabaaiohu lines.

"At Bloemfontein, learning what wa? ofoot, the eager New Zealand blood would have liked tc detrain there and then, and gallop away to join in the task. But no other orde-s :nme out, and the New Zealanders, instead even of detraining at Kroonstad, were hurried through to Pretoria. Then, under Colonel Babington, with, for comrades, some of the Australians, known as Roughriders, or Bushmen, they marched westward by the valley of Pretoria, of which the Maghe&berg chain forma the northern boundary. And, as I anticipated when I saw the men, the moment they got their chance and set eyes upon the enemy, they went for him with irresistible dash.

"So far i? I have been able to learn, this is what happened: — Covering a wide front with either wing, respectively Bushmen and New Zealanders, thrown lar forward, the colonials were in quest of the Boers. De la Rey evidently knew what was preparing for him, and was making s\ customary trek. But he had not gauged the quality of the daring and dashing spirits -that were seeking his acquaintance. Once well round upon the enemy's flanks, Bushmen and New Zealanders rode in furiously upon the Boprg. They would take no denial, and pell-mell they crowded tbe scared Boers upon their own convoy and main body. Shaking the reins free and spur-

r'ng their steeds, onward swept the colo* n.al% snooting and riding down all opposition. Waggons were captured. cannon were taken, and prisoner? -secured, and in mad flight De la Key's commando spread a-nd fled for safety in all direction*. The victory vas complete : its fruits were onlr limited by the inability of the colonial horses to go farther, for the animals were ridden to a standstill."

The Standaid's special correspondent hai. albO abundance of praise for tlie " magnificent charge " made by the Buohmen and fourth New Zealanders. After describing,' tlie preliminary action between General Bab iiigton'» torre and the Boers near Haartebeestefontcin, the writer says: —

" On the following day came the magnifi-ot-nt rush of the Bushmen and New Zea-lander-j, resulting in the capture of the Boer guns. The capture was initially due, it is said, to the commandants quarrelling with Do la Rey as to General Babington's intention<=. A noted Boer scout had got into the British camp and ascertained from the talk going on, that the column was to move next morning at half-past 3. Returning with his information to the Boer Laager near Leenwfortein, he gave it as his opinion that the Britibh meant to come no further. Smuts and Kamp adopted this view, but De la Rey thought otherwise; they quarrelled over the matter, and De la Rey, who had only 70 ir.en of his own with him — the guns belonging mostly to Smuts — withdrew in a rage. Siruts, the senior commandant, was then free to pursxie the scheme in which Kamp and Wolmarans shared during the quarrel with Hie disaffected De la Rey, and that was to turn on the British rearguard early in the morning, and attempt the capture of the convoy. '" Unfortunately for the Boors, De la Key's knowledge of the game proved to be correct. . . . On cams the 1500 Boers, their guns and transport covering the road for seme distance. Soon after they trekked, 400 Boers were sent round a ridge well outside the flank, to come in, as they calculated, on Babihgton's convoy, in rear of the British column. By this time the column, instead of movinsr away, was coming towards them. Colonel Shekleton, with his mounted info.ni.vy, was holding f'e flanks; the Imperial Light Horse, after their doings at Haartelieestefontein, were acting as rearguard, while Colonel Grey, with the Bushmen and the New Zealanders, were ahead. Just as the 400 Boers had got round, and had fallen on to the convoy, the colonials ir.sued through a nok, and beheld the whole Boer force, as it appeared to them, coming towards them. " The sight v/as too much for the dashing Bushmen and New Zealanders, who set up a shout, and made at full gallop for the Boers. The latter, taken off their guard, and for the most part panic-3tricken at the sight, made no attempt at a stand. One of the Boer guna, in charge of an officer of the Staats Artillery, was run out nto tue ve^t, and served with remarkable coolness, but the teams of the others were turned round and, whipped with the one mad idea of getting away. The transport, which was horsed entirely with mules, sought to follow suit. '•The opportunity of the campaign had arrived, however, for the Bushmen and New Zealanders, riding with loose ivin, and firuisr off the backs of their horses, went headlong at the enemy, turning the waggons nearest them, and making prisoners of the Boers in charge. The others ahead saw what was going on, and, abandoning their charges, they scattered and made off into <he veldt. The fighting men, imbued with the one desife to get away, made little or no attempt to return the colonials' fire, and many were shot down or surrendered. The veldt was covered with fleeing Boers. Here a gun was stopped in its career by a single Bushman, who, yelling to the drivers to pull up, would, with a brace of flying shots, tumble a couple of artillerymen off the limbers before he got his prize. There a pusuing New Zealander, wild with the exhilaration of victory, charged a whole clump of Boers, and got home, too, without a scratch. The immunity of the colonials, indeed, was one of the most remarkable features of that half-mad, but wholly purposeful, charge. Out-numbered as they were by the Boers, who. if they had not been panic-stricken, might have pre ventod some of the guns from being captured, they -took the affair so masterfully into their hands that the enemy never had a moment to think.

" It was one yelling, relentless rush, with the Boers never drawing rein, but engrossed with the idea of getting away from these aveneing horsemen. So on the Boers galloped, abandoning their waggons and guna nnd ammunition, and never drew rein until they reached the shelter of a strong ridge six miles away. By that time tho horses were exhausted. a-nd the pursuit erased. The spoil of the cl.arge inchijb.l two 15 -pounder's (one of ours captured by the enemy at Colenso and the other at Stormfoerg). one pom-pom, six ilaxims, 15 000 rounds of small arms ammunition. 160 rifles 53 waggons. 24 carts, and 140 prisoners, and over 50 Boers killed and wouudpd. The losses of the Bushmen and New Zeala-nders were ab=olulery nil, only one man being hit in the hand. There could be no better proof of the demoralisation and utter rout of the enemy."