This corps, consisting of a battalion—five companies—of mounted rifles,
commanded by Lieutenant Colonel N W Kelly, was a portion of the second or
'Imperial' Bushmen force which was contributed to by all the Australian
colonies. This Victorian Contingent was often officially referred to
as the Victorian Imperial Regiment, and sometimes as the Victorian Imperial
Bushmen.
The regiment sailed from Melbourne on the Victorian upon 1st May 1900 and
landed at Beira. For a time their work was much akin to that of the
6th New South Wales Imperial Bushmen, to which reference is made.
The 4th Victorians were split up at an early stage of their fighting
career. Colonel Kelly, with one portion, long fought with Lord Methuen
and other leaders in the Western Transvaal, where they took a prominent part
in many actions. In his telegraphic despatch of 24th August 1900 Lord
Roberts said that General Carrington had been engaged at Ottoshoop on the
22nd, when Lieutenant A G Gilpin and one man of the 4th Victorians were
killed. From this time onwards they were constantly engaged, but for
long escaped serious casualties. They served with columns based on
Mafeking and Zeerust, and did an immense amount of arduous trekking.
In an expedition through Griqualand West, in January and February 1901,
there was some fighting, most of which fell to the New South Wales and
Victorian Bushmen.
In his telegram of 21st February 1901 Lord Kitchener mentioned that Lord
Methuen had marched into Klerksdorp, in the south-west of the Transvaal, and
he said that "At Hartebeestfontein he was opposed by a force of 1400 Boers
under Generals De Villiers and Lichtenburg. The Boers held a strong
position obstinately, but were turned out after severe fighting, in which
the 10th Yeomanry, Victorian Bushmen, and the Loyal North Lancashire
Regiment distinguished themselves". The Victorians lost 3 killed, and
3 officers of the 4th contingent—Lieutenant Colonel Kelly and Lieutenants
Parkin and Mann—and 8 men wounded.
The other portion of the 4th Victorians operated with General Plumer, and
under him gained great distinction. Along with the greater part of
Plumer's mounted troops they were taken to Cape Colony to assist in the
endeavour to expel De Wet (see 1st, 2nd, and 3rd New Zealand). During
the pursuit of his forces, and also after he and the greater portion of his
men had been driven back across the Orange, the contingent saw a great deal
of hard service in. Cape Colony, and Major Clarke, DSO, who commanded
this portion of the 4th, was selected for very high praise.
In Lord Kitchener's despatch of 8th March 1901 he dealt with the invasion of
Cape Colony, and said: "On the 12th February a party of about 300 Boers
approached Philipstown, but were completely baffled and driven off by the
energetic defence made by detachments of Imperial Yeomanry and the Victorian
Imperial Regiment, who were reinforced on the 13th by the arrival of Colonel
Henniker's column from De Aar and mounted infantry from Hanover Road.
Moving as fast as the bad state of the roads and the exhausted condition of
their transport animals would allow, the main body of the enemy made for the
De Aar-Orange River line. On the 14th De Wet was severely handled by
Plumer at Wolvekuilen, being forced to abandon many of his waggons, and at
daybreak on the 15th he crossed the railway about four miles north of
Houtkraal, where he was engaged by Colonel Crabbe's column and the armoured
train under Captain Nanton, RE. The enemy made but little resistance,
and pushed on towards the north-west. Large numbers of waggons and
much ammunition now fell into our hands, the Boers being unable to urge
their weary transport animals along at a sufficiently rapid pace owing to
the sodden state of the ground. On the 13th Lieutenants F W Mason and
F G Code, both of the 4th, and several men were wounded. On the 14th
the Victorians had Lieutenants Frew and Gartside, both of the 3rd
contingent, and about 17 men wounded. The West Australian Bushmen and
New Zealand Mounted Infantry had also casualties in this action.
After the 15th the pursuit of De Wet continued with very great vigour;
and in his telegram of 24th February Lord Kitchener was able to say, "Plumer
reports Colonel Owen, with detachments of King's Dragoon Guards, Victorian
Imperial Regiment, and Imperial Light Horse, captured De Wet's 15-pounder
and pom-pom on the 23rd. The enemy is in full retreat and dispersing:
he is being vigorously pursued. De Wet's attempt to invade Cape Colony
has evidently completely failed ... Plumer took 50 prisoners and some
carts of ammunition with the 15-pounder". The Victorians alluded to in
this telegram are evidently the 4th contingent, but, as will be seen from
the casualties, the 3rd were with Plumer, as were also some New South Wales,
New Zealand, and Queensland men, South and West Australians, and other
Colonials. By general consensus of opinion among all correspondents
then present in Cape Colony, it was to Plumer and his Colonials that the
greatest share of credit must be given for the eventual expulsion of De Wet
from the colony. The cleverness and energy of the leader were
splendidly backed up by all ranks under him. No better example of this
fine spirit could be found than in an incident referred to in the following
words of Lord Kitchener's telegram of 4th March 1901: "Captain Dallimore
(4th contingent) and 16 Victorian Rifles captured 33 Boers and 50 horses on
Seacow River", in the Colesberg district. Captain Dallimore and his 16
men had been detached to reconnoitre. He located a party of Boers, but
kept out of sight. After dark he drove off their horses, and at dawn
he fired some volleys. The enemy, finding their horses gone, complied
with a demand to surrender. Telegraphing on the 4th of March as to the
capture of the guns, etc, on 23d February, the Press Association
correspondent said: "Perhaps General Plumer distinguished himself more than
the rest of the commanders in the recent operations ... During the
whole of that fatiguing day the Victorians did splendid work. Captain
Tivey (4th contingent) especially distinguished himself by his magnificent
persistence and clever handling of his men". The correspondent of 'The
Daily Mail', Mr Edgar Wallace, who had nothing to gain by disparaging the
work of the regulars, wrote: "So De Wet struck eastward, leaving the
Victorians gloating over the two guns they captured, and the colonel of the
King's Dragoon Guards wondering how in the world he got the credit for
capturing them. I would like to say a word about the Victorians.
Victoria is a colony which has produced some splendid soldiers, but no
better nor finer troops have ever been put in the field than those men who
form part of Colonel Henniker's column".
This body of Victorians did not go back to the north of the Transvaal
with Plumer. They remained in Cape Colony, and during March, April,
and May were engaged in hunting down scattered bands under Kritzinger,
Scheepers, and Malan, and the despatch of 8th July 1901 shows that up to the
end of May they were operating with Colonel Henniker in the central district
of the colony.
As will be seen from the list of Mentions, the Victorian Imperial
Regiment or Imperial Bushmen gained honour on many occasions in Cape Colony.
The lack of really distinctive names, and the fact that the different
contingents were so much split up and mixed up, makes any endeavour to trace
the doings of any of the Australian contingents very difficult: even the
official designation of a corps seems to have changed at times in an aimless
fashion. The record of the Victorians suffers in this way perhaps more
than that of any of the other Colonials.
The bulk of the 4th contingent, with some of the 3rd—together about
460,—sailed for home on the 26th June 1901.
