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1st Battalion NCOs |
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The 1st Battalion sailed on the Bavarian on 10th November 1899, arrived
at the Cape about the 28th, and was sent on to Durban. Along with the 1st
Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, 1st Border Regiment, and 1st Connaught
Rangers, they formed the 5th Brigade under Major General Fitzroy Hart.
The 2nd Battalion was in Natal before the war broke out, and took part in
the battle of Talana Hill (20th October) and in the subsequent retreat to
Ladysmith. Before that town was shut in Sir George White sent them down the
line, and when General Buller was ready to advance, the 2nd Battalion seem
to have been ready also, and the history of the two battalions is so mixed
up during all the Ladysmith relief operations that reference can only be
made to what is said under the 2nd Battalion. During the actual relief
operations—that is, from the beginning of December 1899 to 3rd March 1900—A,
B, and C companies of the 1st Battalion were attached to the 2nd Battalion,
which actually took the place of the 1st Battalion in the Irish Brigade. During that period the remainder of the 1st Battalion garrisoned Mooi River
and other posts on the lines of communication. A sketch of the work of the
relief force is given under the 2nd Queen's, Royal West Surrey, and the work
of the Irish Brigade is dealt with under the 1st Royal Inniskilling
Fusiliers.
The 1st Battalion, now united, was at Colenso from 3rd March to 6th May,
when they joined Talbot-Coke's brigade at Elandslaagte and then crossed the
Biggarsberg with him.
At Alleman's Nek on 11th June 1900 the 1st Battalion had heavy fighting
on the right flank, but did very well. Their losses were 3 men killed, 2
officers, Colonel Mills being one, and 15 men wounded. Colonel Mills and 2
men were mentioned in General Buller's despatch of 19th June. On 29th June
the battalion was in an engagement at Amersfoort, and lost 2 killed and 1
wounded.
Five officers, 2 non-commissioned officers, and 2 men were mentioned in
General Buller's final despatch of 9th November 1900, and 23 officers and 40
non-commissioned officers and men were mentioned in Lord Roberts' final
despatches. These latter commendations embraced both the 1st and 2nd
Battalions.
The 1st Battalion long continued to operate on the Natal-Transvaal border
and on the lines of communication. One hundred and fifty men of the
battalion were in the column of Colonel E C Knox in the first quarter of
1901—one of those columns which swept through the Eastern Transvaal to the
Swazi border.
The Mounted Infantry of the Dublin Fusiliers was represented in the
little garrison of Fort Itala, which made such a splendid defence when the
place was attacked by Botha with an overwhelming force on 26th September
1901 (see 2nd Royal Lancaster). Major Chapman of the 1st Dublins, who
commanded the garrison, received promotion. Lieutenant Lefroy and several
non-commissioned officers and men were also mentioned in despatches by Lord
Kitchener at the time for great gallantry.
In the beginning of 1902 the 1st Battalion was moved west to Krugersdorp
to relieve the 2nd Battalion.
In the supplementary or final despatch 4 officers and 11 non-commissioned
officers and men were mentioned; these included both battalions.
The 2nd battalion was in South Africa when war was declared, and when Sir
George White landed at Durban was stationed at Glencoe, along with the 1st
Leicestershire Regiment, 1st King's Royal Rifle Corps, 18th Hussars, and the
13th, 67th, and 69th Batteries RFA, under General Penn-Symons. The 1st Royal
Irish Fusiliers arrived in time to be also sent to Glencoe, completing an
infantry brigade before the battle on 20th October 1899 (see
1st
Leicestershire Regiment and 1st Royal Irish Fusiliers). The 2nd Dublins took
a very important share in the fighting. Their losses were approximately 2
officers and 8 men killed, and 3 officers and 50 men wounded. With the rest
of the troops the 2nd Dublins retreated to Ladysmith. They were present in
the action of Lombard's Kop on 30th October 1899 (see
1st Liverpool
Regiment), but were much split up, three companies acting as escort to
artillery, one on outpost, etc. They did not suffer many casualties. On the
same evening the battalion was "hurriedly entrained" and sent down the line
to occupy Fort Wylie and protect the great bridge over the Tugela, but the
advancing tide of Boer invasion soon lapped round them and they had to move
still farther south. Three sections were in the unfortunate armoured train
which was derailed on 15th November 1899.
Before General Buller made his first advance the 1st Battalion had arrived
in Natal as part of the Irish Brigade. In the Colenso despatch, list of
troops engaged, the 1st Battalion Dublin Fusiliers is mentioned, but the
casualties of the regiment are debited to the 2nd Battalion. The fact seems
to be that three companies of the 1st Battalion were added to the 2nd, and
thus really both fought at Colenso and the other engagements prior to the
relief of Ladysmith. The work of Hart's brigade in Natal is sketched under
the 1st Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, and that of the relief force generally
under the 2nd Queen's.
At Colenso the Irish Brigade got into a hot place, coming under a very
heavy fire before extending; and after their extension they pushed into a
peninsula formed by a loop of the river, where they were subjected to severe
fire from the front and both flanks, but all stood the severe trial
splendidly. The casualties of the regiment were heavy, approximately 2
officers and 50 men killed, 3 officers and 176 men wounded. The three
companies of the 1st Battalion were the chief sufferers. Of these losses
their share was 1 officer and 31 men killed, and 1 officer and 133 men
wounded.
At Venter's Spruit on 20th January the 2nd Dublins and the three
companies of the 1st Battalion were in General Hart's force. Their
casualties were approximately 1 officer and 5 men killed, and 1 officer and
30 men wounded.
In the fourteen days' fighting between 13th and 27th February Hart's men
were at first near the rail-head, and were brought down to Colenso village
on the 20th. On the 23rd Hart was ordered to attack the main Boer position. A short account of this action is given under the
Inniskilling Fusiliers,
who led in the assault, but
the Connaught Rangers and Dublins also pushed in close and lost most
severely. Colonel Sitwell was among the killed.
The regiment was still to take part in another memorable assault before
the close of the relief operations, being transferred to the command of
General Barton for the last great effort on the 27th, when Barton attacked
and carried the eastern portion of Pieter's Hill. In addition to the Dublins
his troops that day were the Royal Scots Fusiliers and the Royal Irish
Fusiliers. The assault reflected credit on every one taking part in it, and
gained the praise of General Buller. In the fourteen days' fighting the
Dublins' losses were approximately 1 officer and 20 men killed, and 6
officers and over 100 men wounded. Eight officers and 7 non-commissioned
officers and men of the 2nd Battalion were mentioned in General Buller's
despatch of 30th March 1900, 5 of the latter being recommended for the
distinguished conduct medal.
The battalion was specially selected to march into Ladysmith at the head
of the relieving force.
In glancing at the doings of the 2nd Dublins one cannot but be amazed
that a battalion should so constantly be in big affairs. The history of the
war shows that some battalions can slip through a long campaign with little
fighting, few casualties, and small notoriety of any kind; while others,
such as the Dublins, Derbys, Gordons, or Rifle Brigade, seem to be out of
one big thing into another. It may be luck,—and no doubt chance has
something to do with it,—but there is a contrast so obvious between the
records of, say, the Dublins and Gordons on the one hand, and some regiments
very far their senior on the other, that it is impossible not to notice it.
After the relief of Ladysmith the two battalions of Dublins were to be
separated. The 2nd, which had been fighting constantly, and had suffered
terribly from 20th October to 27th February, was taken by sea to Cape Colony
in April and remained with General Hart, the other battalions in his brigade
being the Somerset Light Infantry, Border Regiment, and Connaught Rangers. Henceforth the battalion was to have fewer drains on its strength. Their
doings between April and October 1900 are very similar to those of one wing
of the Somersets, whom the 2nd Dublins accompanied on many wanderings in
that period; and to avoid repetition reference is made to the
Somersets.
In his despatch of 10th October 1900, para 27, Lord Roberts says: "On
22nd July the Boers made a determined attack on the post at Zuickerbosch
Spruit, thirteen miles east of Heidelberg. The post was held by two
companies of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, 110 men of the Royal Engineers, and
10 men of the Imperial Yeomanry, under Major English of the first-named
regiment. Hart proceeded at once with reinforcements from Heidelberg, but
before he arrived the enemy had been beaten off, great credit for the
achievement being due to Major English and his small party". The two
companies here referred to were of the 2nd Battalion.
The following notes from the diary of Captain A E Mainwaring of the 2nd
Dublins show the severity of the work of an infantry battalion, apart
altogether from the strain of being opposed by an active and enterprising
enemy: "Friday, 7th September 1900. Marched all night; did ten miles through
a difficult pass in Gatsrand. Saturday. Company formed rear-guard.
Set off again at 10 pm; marched till 6 am on Sunday. At 7.30 am went out
with Bradford and St G Smith and two companies to collect forage. Waggons
bogged; men hauled them out, getting soaked. Marched back to camp; arrived
there at 5.30 pm. Found force gone. Ordered to follow at 6 pm. Five hundred
Boers reported on left flank. Some skirmishing. Arrived at Potchefstroom at
10 am on Monday". The distance from the camp referred to, to Potchefstroom,
was thirty-six miles; it was done in sixteen and a half hours by men who had
been hard at work for the previous forty-eight hours.
About the middle of October 1900 the battalion, along with the Essex
Regiment and Strathcona's Corps, was sent to the Krugersdorp district to
assist General Barton, who at the time was almost hemmed in by De Wet near
Frederickstad. On the 25th General Barton took the offensive, and defeated
and scattered his opponents, inflicting heavy loss. The reinforcements did
not take part in the fighting.
The battalion was mainly about Krugersdorp during the latter phases of the
war, and part was with General Cunningham and other commanders in several
engagements in that district.
In General Buller's final despatch of 9th November 1900, 1 officer and 6
non-commissioned officers and men of the 2nd Battalion were mentioned for
continuous good service in the Mounted Infantry, and under Lord Kitchener
the battalion added three more mentions. As to mentions by Lord Roberts,
reference is made to the notes under the 1st Battalion.
The battalion sailed from Durban for Aden in January 1902, getting a
"tremendous send off" from the Natal folks, for whom they had fought so
ungrudgingly. Lord Kitchener sent them a most appreciative telegram, of
which the battalion was naturally very proud.
Out of the officers commencing the war at Talana only one escaped
unwounded, apart from those taken prisoner in the Mounted Infantry with
Colonel Holier on 20th October 1899 (see 18th Hussars) and in the armoured
train at Frere on 15th November 1899.
