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| Officers |
Officers |
NCOs |
On parade |
At the
commencement of the war the Diamond Fields Horse (DFH) had a strength of
178.
On the
16th October Major Scott Turner took out detachments of Diamond Fields
Horse, Light Horse, and Police, and drove the enemy back towards
Alexandersfontein. In this affair Captain Bodley of the Diamond Fields
Horse was wounded. After this there were very many skirmishes and sorties
in which the mounted men did most of the fighting; while the infantry,
including the Town Guard, held the trenches and defensive works.
On 25th
November Major Scott Turner with the mounted troops made a reconnaissance,
and succeeded in surprising the enemy at Schmidt's Drift Road. He inflicted
some loss and captured 29 prisoners, his own casualties being—Cape Police 2
killed, Captain Rush and 6 men wounded; Kimberley Light Horse 3 killed,
Captain Bowen and 13 men wounded; Diamond Fields Artillery, Captain Hickson
and 2 men wounded. Major Scott Turner's horse was killed, and he was
slightly hit on the shoulder.
On the
28th a demonstration was made towards 'Wimbledon Rifle Range'. "Major Scott
Turner, with mounted troops, attacked enemy's right flank, capturing laager
and three works; enemy in fourth work offered stubborn resistance, when
Turner was killed; we captured many shells and destroyed other stores". Our
other casualties on this occasion included—Cape Police, 2 men killed, 8
wounded; DFH, 3 men killed, Captain S P Waldeck and 8 wounded.
Major
Peakman, a colonial officer, was appointed to succeed Major Scott Turner in
the command of the Kimberley Light Horse. Major Peakman had been slightly
wounded early in November.
In his
report, para 34, Colonel Kekewich said: "My general pIan for the defence of
Kimberley was based on the principle of always keeping the enemy on the move
and constantly in fear of attack from an unexpected quarter … It will be
observed that portions of the mounted corps were employed on every
occasion. The work which fell on the detachment (mounted) of the Loyal
North Lancashire Regiment, Cape Police, Diamond Fields Horse, and Kimberley
Light Horse, and the Diamond Fields Artillery was in consequence very
arduous: not only did the corps mentioned respond cheerfully, but nothing
can exceed the bravery and dash with which these troops attacked the enemy
on several occasions in his entrenched positions".
Diamond
Fields Horse—14 killed; Captains Bodley and Waldeck, Lieutenant Smith,
Sergeant Major Macdonald, and 10 non-commissioned officers and men wounded.
After the siege, the DFH became part of the Kimberley
Mounted Corps.
In 1902
the Diamond Fields Horse and Artillery still kept the field and were in many
engagements. Major Paris's column was part of Lord Methuen's force in his
disastrous engagement of 7th March 1902 (see
Cape Police).
In his report Lord Methuen said that the column before being reinforced at
Vryburg consisted of the 86th Imperial Yeomanry, 110 men; Diamond Fields
Horse, 92; Dennison's Scouts, 58; Ashburner's Light Horse, 126; 2 guns 38th
Battery; 1 pom-pom of the Diamond Fields Artillery. In the fighting on the
7th the Kimberley troops suffered very severely, the Diamond Fields Horse
having about 20 casualties and the Artillery detachment had several killed
and wounded.
DIAMOND
FIELDS HORSE.
COLONEL KEKEWICH'S REPORT.—Major T H Rodger,
is a resourceful and excellent officer, always ready and cool under fire;
Sergeant A B Nicholetts, on several occasions undertook duties which
involved great personal risk; he carried despatches to our troops engaged on
28th November.
LORD ROBERTS' DESPATCH: 2nd April.—Major
Rodger, and
Sergeant Nicholetts.
LORD KITCHENER'S DESPATCH: 8th October 1901.—Trooper J Evans, on 12th
February a cattle guard of four men being surprised by enemy kept them off
single-handed, sent off remaining man and saved whole herd and killed two
Boers.
