LIST OF, SUBSCRIBERS TO "NEW ZEALANDERS AND THE LATE

Otago Witness, Issue 2650, 28 December 1904, Page 69

LIST OF, SUBSCRIBERS TO "NEW ZEALANDERS AND THE LATE

* APPENDICES. ■L—BANSA'B POST [ 'jEitrartea'^by, permission -from "Ten Weeks' a of War," T>y H. iP. Valen- -. tin«, Tjlew Zealand Thirst Contingent,) "It -was on the 30th March, 1900,' tliat , General Broadwood received orders .to retire: on Bloemfontein -irom Tiabanchu^ theJßoersi pursuing 3is. * In -fact, .the rearguard was fighting most of the way. The order to saddle irp -was given about «A.3O onsthatj day. We auarched til r 10' o'clock -thatJ night, and "bivouacked on "the <Bloemfon- . Tel»: sidp of tie "Modder 'Hiver,'. near the ' •water works, . .We -turned in -about 11 d e'ScK^havinig^marched nearly -25jmle's. It'll •WTO- "particularly .cold and jdark^maij night- ' I3ay-«wake some-time, -unwell, - • and, eoisegrrently.-in low jspirits, and can dibtenctiy remember "■'having ' some gloomy i orebodrngs 'of the -future, Tittle tibinking ' 'hoii: soon" they- "were to %c" realised: -iRe- '• veflle'-Svas -about '5.30 at sunrise, and the^ order-came to saddle ;up, inspan, :and stand 1 by as .Boon "as Tjreakfast was finished. I TKa.fi still 'ieeiing "very -seedy, and . not at all liking the* "idea of riding some '25"Tn3es, I ' therefore .-suggested^to a mate, who, -was* riding -on- Ifche "waggon, that <he should Tide < my horse arid give me his -place. Unfortunately, -he consented. ,Breakfast was scarcely over, when 'we - were startled -by . the report of a gun and the arrival of a shell among -the waggons, followed in , quick succession -by others. ' - ! *'A- scene of unparalleled confusion f 01- ' lowed, .especially' among the .native driveip, j itbo jumped on their respective' waggons, an.! started ofi. "iR was then'jthat we rea- \ lised,. that there "was" a considerable iorce of "the enemy in onr immediate rear. About this time Hooked round for the man with wx<om .1 had changed but, to my serrow, he -was nowhere to "be seen. < 1 ' therefore jumped ■ on to our waggon, and-I had hardly done so -when the -native drivers ; v&tpped up . their. half-starved mules and- . started' off as luurfl as "they, could- go. Ow-^ ing "to a goofl "team, of mules^ "and a tho-"J rousjhly frightened. Trigger,--" we were -soon; among the leading waggon's of the convoy, \ ■whieh^was now in full retreat, and onlyj __the "inSifi bodies of tie' various regiments that- had teen in camp that night wtre left ■ : fcefciniiL-,-. WfeJbad galloped-: about ja. anile $ k ona-a^iaTf," -fedii^ed $y W^eavy' shell/fire-* v^tictfiihdSed »tothe'^cojt|asi6n,-.Baie!; i itt«Awlat'turnedrO«t to be a veritaKe"*rap"r^ - In -iie'iieaaitime .a battery- «LR:-H.A. caane* ' up. on^oitr right flank, wrbh ihe; -abject ,of •' unimifearing- <<m a Tise across the sprait. viich we" %ere then .approaching, -and • th*nce to cover ".onr retreat* -Horse gaTlepedTnp behind -in- border to .•act ■as -advance guards as soojipjis ..they couM- - overtake us. It position that' .- we came to tie spruit,, wiere we noticeda, man in civilian clothes loitering about the crossing. "WS.saw the first and second waggons dip down Hie incline, and we could not understand -&aelr prolonged disappearance. Some one in .front raised his iand as a signal to Halt, so we pulled up. I then noticed a few men going over to the guns and catchiiis: hold of the horses' "bridles, and "tihe drivers dismounting. It was in this way that' I saw-two guns taken without a shot l-eing fired. I also saw an officer of the E.!FLA.__in earnest conversation with a Boer. " ,',~" "It subsequently, transpired that, on his being asked to snrrende^-r-he replied that he could -B:ot -do so without his colonel's Jea-ve) andiihat he would go back and ask - him.-, ''^DbSb- Boer consentedf but, made the officer give up his' .sword and revolver be- , ime ;going. Needless to say that officer gefefliway, and warned his colonel, and was, I l^eliesEe,- instrumental in " saving some of fl>e-guns, if not in preventing a great disaster. _ I then realised that w^ were -practically in tne liands oC the Boers. We heard the ominous cry of 'Hands up ! you ajre out prisoners.' Hearing this, one man " "remarked, '"We are off to Pretoria all right now.' Another said, 'Good God ! they must be Boers.' We did not indulge in conversation, however, for by this time the Boers had .started .disarming jfae men in the .ir*£gon in front of us, and, for the momentj

wo ■were undecided whether to follow the ; example of cur comrades in front, or run for it. We had just decided for the latter, when the attention of our would-be captors was transferred to Roberts' s Horse, who had just galloped up on our right. They were in close column of sections, and quite unaware that anything' serious was up. In fact, an officer came along asking, Why the devil is the convoy marking time ' He was soon enlightened, for one of our men ran out and acquainted) the major, whc immediately shouted, 'Retire ! Gallop!' Hardly had they done so when some Boers, concealed in the pruit, opened a terrific fire, and within a few seconds half the horses were shot, and a good many of their riders bit the dust. Taking advantage of the confusion, we ran tack towards the main body as fast as our legs would let us. dropping every now and then to obtain breath and avoid the hail of bullets which were "coming round us. I may here say that we were first fired at from the distance of about the length of a cricket, pitch; and only saw one man drop who 1 was nmning with us. "The frightful confusion caused by the stampeding convoy <and guns with riderless horses, undoubtedly helped us in our -attempt to escape. We saw two or three mules dragging a waggon, and the rest of their team, who had been shot. Then several waggons would- collide, turn over, s and i?be general mess up would be assisted bvthe 'bursting of a shell amidst the plung- ' jog, Jacking mass. Again, a gun and two • dead Ihorses," drawn by two riderless ones, would Tound and round in their. fe.'enzv. . , "It is impossible to imagine the scene caused by. over -a {hundred -waggons and I 'four or iEive- gun teams in ful stampede. Although -the fire -was extremely hot, there was .almost as much danger encountered. from these panic-stricken animals. We had run .some five iundred yards, "^and were already entertaining -hopes of ultimate escape, when stopped by an officer, who, beckoned to ms to come and help some details already engaged in piling up mealie, bags around -an overturned -waggon. Of: course we had to' obey. This done, the, "officer took stock' -t>f our arms .and ammunition, -and discovered, to -his disg_ust, that, out of fche^ten men "behind our little Jorti■fication, /he could only jaise four or -five Tifles and a .little ammunition. It was, here - I' -looked round for my mates, and found only one of any own regiment with me I had -.a xifle and bandolier," and my mate a ibandolier, but no Jifle. , The officer directed our fire, and little fortification. , stood us in good stead.' ' ' 'Sit is wonderful how the mealies step rral- ; letsT^iifMcer.quite close"io~lis"was standing up directing the operations of iris .men, ' when .a 'Mauser ."bulle~t vcaxried' .away Mlf "hiis - nose.' This .brave saan 'continued' to ( direct the fireij but, stamping with rage and pain, -exclaimed, Tancy having my; nose shot off by a .d — — d "faaan< labourer ! ' , I,dolnot mow what ■happened to him, buttrust fhat he got safely out "of it, and that he does not still ,carry the farm labourer's mark. After fighting thus for someliours, the firing r dn our rear gradually became "fainter and fainter, .showing that our mates' were falling .back. OOuti t ."hopes were^ drowned, -too, lor the -enemy's £ie became: mpre- brisk, closer, .and, naturally, better directed. /'lt was *oon after this that we lost the officer who liad' so Tiravely held us to-: gather: Jie was shot .right through the heart, and fell witfi hardly: a groan. Any.- ' how, the British .officers on that day upheld their glorious .reputation. "It is not likely that T shall -ever forget the two and a-half hours behind the "wag-^ gon. I think any comrades thought their J end was at hand ; I know I did ; it seemed that -life had .finished. "I can recallsnany gallant deeds that w^ie )\ done on that day ; many, .alas ! that have not "been recorded, and, in fact, many of - the authors are beyond any power of re-, ward. But no deed was jnofe gallant than that of the JEt.H.A. who were firing over our heads, some 50yds _behind us. This ' gun was being served under heavy, rifle, iire, .at a range of -500 yds. The .gunner would train the : gun, load, pull the lanyard,, .and then die drawn ; then rise again, and .go .on working .the gun. If I remember ; right, some .. six men were round this gunwhen I first noticed it,- J>wo of I saw -.knocked ,over .later on. This gun was subsequently captured. .."I. omitted to mention that of the two guns that were first captured, .only the leading drivers w-ere made to dismount, Boers taking their places. The dismounted drivers seated themselves on the guns, <and were to be seen throwing .away the most important parts of the guns, unnoticed) by the Boers, thus rendering thenr useless. At the time our officer was killed, we were nearly out of ammunition, and the Boers began to close in, their firing making us lie, very close. Perceiving that their fire was not -returned, they grew bolder, and cau- | tiously emerged from their Jiiding places, I mounted, -and rode round us, fixing from j their horses. They then approached, and -sailed on us to surrender, and, having had our officer killed' and our ammunition being j expended, we threw up our hands, and realised we were prisoners of war. The position was not an enviable one, and it is hard to describe how we felt as we came from behind the mealie bags, wondering how it .was w.e were left alive, and looked with horror on the many forms of our late mates dotting the veldt. "Before the Boers came up, we tore up our letters and any documents that might identify us, for it was commonly reported) in the British lines that our enemies looked upon the colonials with special disfavour. "The Boers then clustered round us taking our arms and accoutrements, but leaving us our personal property. One Boer, [ who appeared to be leader, rode up. and asked, 'What regiinenx is this?" I replied, ' Army Service Corps.' I then asked him who was the commandant. 'Mr De Wet, ' was the reply. 'Whereabouts is he?' and the leader .replied, 'I am Christian Ds Wet,' and rode away. "De Wet's presence did not impress me at the time, for he had not then acquired the

reputation which was subsequently to make him so famous. In fact, it was the first time I had heard of this great warrior."

,-■ WAB." " - D. M., <3ave ... 6. copies D. M%., 3taraekekeko, TLJB.... 3 „ J. 0. S-, Riverfcon ... ... 1' „ M.- T., LtrmscLen _-.^» ■-.. .;» ... 1 „ J. T. JB. t)waka\t ... ... 1 „ -R. J., Tleasamt "Point, ILake Go. 1 - „ , E. G.A. H., Kafcttnni ... ... ... 1 „ J.Jtf.-8., Stony Oreek^Bjilchiiiia. 2 „ • .3. P., Gleno'rchy, ILake Wkkatipu :1\ „ B. J. -C, .Waimangaroa Junction * Westport ... ... '. ... 1 „ c. i^ b. P; ... : i „ . !W. E. JB.. Pe«l Forest -2 „~ ■ A. S. H., Waimahaka, ... - ...1' „ '-' J. A. X., £)tama 2 „ T. H. W., Taranaki 1 „, Mrs-A. W., Qra-wia ... ... ... .... 2 „ J. A.3 L... -„: , ... i 2 „ W- 8., Motmt Barker .-. ... 2 „ ; 'A. .$. 8., "Waimahaka '2 „ ! J. A. K.j Otama ...2 '