Good Shooting And Horsemanship Demanded Of The Rough Riders In S. Africa

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 792, 12 October 1929, Page 29

Good Shooting And Horsemanship Demanded Of The Rough Riders In S. Africa

DEMANDING an extremely high standard in riding and shooting, the New Zealand 3rd (Rough Riders) Contingent, one of the early New Zealand detachments that fought in the South African War, was one of those forces that served to show for the first time that colonial troops could fight as well for the Empire as did the Imperial regulars. Recruited from all classes of society, one company coming from the South Island, mainly Canterbury, and another from the North Island, the Rough Riders were what their name implied. Hard men in fight and play, admirably adapted for the scouting work in which they were chiefly employed, they represented to the Boers an unexpected factor, an enemy that could use the methods of the Boers themselves with complete efficiency.

r The 3rd Contingent was almost entirely raised and equipped through private efforts. In Canterbury, prime movers in the establishment of the local company were Mr G. G. Stead, Mr George Rhodes, Mrs Rhodes, and several other well-known Canterbury people. The ultimate strength of the Contingent was 250 men and 12 officers, and of this total Canterbury contributed 105, with officers and n.c.o.’s. Major T. Jowsey was commanding officer, and his subordinates were Captain John Rose, Ueutesant (later Captain) M. Lewin. Liputcnants F. L. Bourne, F. G. Tucker, and H. Bradbourne. Men of Many Callings. Severe the training tests and examinations were, indeed. The troopers tvere drawn largely from station and stock occupations, but other callings were well represented. There were men In the Rough Riders who in civilian life had been farmers, clerks, timber merchants, farm cadets, sheep run managers, solicitors, moulders, blacksmiths, me*han.ical engineers, sales m e n, printers, commission agents, stock dealers, shepherds, shearers, tallyclerks, rabbiters, bushmen, grooms, storemen, butcher:;, dental students, . . . Young men for the most part, they were keen as mustard. They had to be, for there were hundreds of others waiting to join the Contingent in place of inefficient trainees. There was a point of distinction between the 3rd and the two contingents that preceded it. The Ist and 2nd were composed largely of members of various volunteer corps. In the Rough Riders, the officers and just a few of the men had beforehand belonged to the volunteers. In its formation, the troop endeavoured to enlist the class of man accustomed to an outdoor life, to whom conditions in Africa would not be acutely strange. Though there was so strict a qualification of fitness and ability, there was no size or weight scale. _ A man might be 6ft 3in or sft 6in—it made no difference so long as he was able. Take the case of the man whose nickname in the Rough Riders was “Bil-tong”-—a little, dried-up man he, but one of the best soldiers. After all, it is not size that makes the man. Hard Training. The Rough Riders are existing, then, «mbryo. To fit them for active service, there was a three months* camp at Addington. Here Sergt.-Major Taylor and Sergt.-Major Coleman moulded the riders into mounted troops, uuder the watchful eye of Colonel Slater. It was a tough time, but it made tough men of them. The tests in riding, shooting and other necessary activities hard, and in the. end there rode out to Lyttelton a company admirably suited to the guerrilla type of warfare that claimed it on the veld. The RoiSgh Riders sailed for East London on February 17, 1900, by the Knight Templar. Many took their own horses with them, eventually getting paid for them. Once in Africa, however, the New Zealand horses did not stand up well to Jhe changed conditions, succumbing to horse sicknesses that they were not seasoned against. The mounts were replaced with Basuto and Argentine horses that served their purpose, but Tvere not a> good as their predecessoi s. So the third of the 10 New Zealand contingents took the field against the Boer. Originally, the men were armed short Martini carbines. These *vere found to be of insufficient practical value in Africa, and were discarded for ordinary The uniform was of the usual type, khaki, with leggings instead of puttees, and widebrimmed hats. There was more than a flight resemblance between the Rough Riders and their Boer enemy, in appearance as well as in tactics. Once in Africa, the 3rd was joined up the Ist and 2nd contingents, fornilnS the New Zealand Rough Riders Proper. Except for one cr two occasions in which they were associated Tvith the main body in actual battles, »he Rough Riders were attached to vari°us brigades, doing scouting and outpost work, engaging in little skirmishes

- with the enemy, now and again, it _ must be admitted, getting independent and commandeering supplies on the 2 principle that “my need is greater than 5 thine.” , This sort of thing upset the Boer 1o 1 some extent, till he got used to it. He f had arranged things all right to com* 2 bat the operations of disciplined regu- , lar troops, but the unexpectedness of - the Rough Riders and other colonial . units proved a big fly in the ointment. ; They showed the world that the British - colonics and Dominions were every - whit as much bound up the fate of the Empire as the English themselves, - and that the me n of these lands would not shirk their duty when it came to fighting at the shoulder of the Tommies whose actual profession was the pur- " suit of arms. j The foundations were laid of that - confidence which was so justified J during the Great War. The Rough Riders would have found no place I in 1914, but the spirit that urged ~ them was there, in fullest measure. , * Apart from the constant guerrilla , and irregular operations, the service of v the 3rd Contingent in South Africa - may be briefly outlined. , The Rough Riders first operated , under General Brabant, of the Cape Colonial Forces, being attached to Bra--1 bant’s Horse. They took part in the a relief of General Dalgety, who was 2 besieged with a portion of Brabant’s horse in Wcapener for 17 days. After - that, the Rough Riders formed a s mounted escort for the guns and in--2 fantry of General Hart, whose men, - after" a long and exacting campaign 1 on the Natal side, had to march back f to the Cape line, which was touched > at Hethulie Bridge. Here the force en--2 trained for Bloemfontein, where union f was effected with the main body which ) inarched on Pretoria. The Rough t Riders escorted a very large convoy over the Vaal to Johannesburg, where - they were engaged in practically the » only pitched battle that came their i way. There was considerable general j fighting from then on till Pretoria was gained. The guerrilla warfare in which - these Rough Riders shone particularly - extended over territory right towards t the Portuguese border. t Ultimately, the majority of the men of the 3rd Contingent became officers or non-commissioned officers of succeeding New Zealand contingents. Numbers » of them served right through the war, gaining both the King’s medal and the * Queen’s medal. Under the hard conditions of the camI paign, the Rough Riders kept to their r name in great style. No occasion found t them wanting, no duty was too hard 1 or desperate for them to he employed ;, in. Their greatest trials were food and s horses, or rather, the scarcity of them. ' The March to Smithfield. . None of the men ever forget the i nine days’ march after the relief of ' Wcapener, to Smithfleld. There was no t food on the wagons at all, and the troopers had to rely entirely on comi mandeering mealie meal, and the t slaughter of oxen at nights. There J were tight belts on that trip. To make 3 things more difficult the column took o with it several wagon loads of British t Tommies, who were in a bad state. - Some of them were even lacking e proper boots to march in. t At other times, the Rough Riders did not scruple to lake their food as they 1 found it. They came to a Boer tarme house one day, and took charge o 1 what was evidently supplies gathered, e up for a commando. They took jam, - and mutton, and things—and thought themselves in Heaven tor a while, till - the food was exhausted. Fverv year, the ranks ot the lormcr - comrades in the Rough Riders are dc:l plcted. Those who in the Boer War i were young men in the prime of life, feel ever more plainly the touch of appreaching age. Still the reunions are n held, such as the one which took place - earlier this week. It was just this s spirit of comradeship that carried the Cantcrburv Rough Riders through the .1 stress and strain of open wartarc in ; Africa. It was a gallant force, and - plaved a part for New Zealand in the - ultimate establishment of the Empire s in South Africa.