TOPIC:

The next soldier who was accidentally killed was 4372 Corporal William James Byrne of the 7th Contingent, New Zealand Mounted Rifles on the 23rd October 1901. Another incident of mishandling of a firearm which cut short the life of a Colonial soldier.





Sergeant K. G. Malcolm writes to us, stating that as very erroneous statements have been published with regard to the above lamentable incident in connection with the South African war, he thinks it desirable to state the facts. "The circumstances of the case," he says, "which are coupled with very pitiful surroundings, are these: On the 23rd of October of last year, we, the Seventh Contingent, were in a 'standing camp' for a few days at a place called Paardeplatts, near the Pongola Bush. The Pongola Bush, you will understand, is named after the Pongola River, which flows on the border of the bush. We were employed for some days there, and used to return to camp with some Boer prisoners and munitions every day. On the date just mentioned above some men of my own squadron, the Canterbury Squadron, went down to the bush late in the afternoon, to have another fossick for whatever was there to be found. When they returned to camp Trooper T. Crawford rode up to our horse lines, holding a rifle in each hand. One was a Mauser, which he had captured off the Boers in the bush. The hour was late, about 7.30, and one of the troopers, who had not been out that day, went out to Crawford and said, 'Let me take one of the rifles from you.' The Mauser was handed to him, and the first thing he did was to try the action by sliding the bolt to and fro for two or three times, and then pulled the trigger. Unfortunately there was a cartridge in the chamber, and instead of raising the barrel of the rifle in the air, as we were all taught to do, he fired it indiscriminately into the lines.

The bullet found its billet by striking Corporal W J. Byrne in the left breast, just below the heart. The poor chap sank back with his hand to his side, and all that he uttered as he fell was, 'Oh! My God, I'm shot!' He was taken away to the field hospital, and everything done that could be, but he succumbed to the bullet wound at 9.30 the same night. The trooper who committed the reckless act, and whose name I am bound to refrain from mentioning, was certainly a man with some very eccentric ways about him, but there was nothing about the man to justify the harshness of being called a raving lunatic. I was well acquainted with him, and also Corporal Byrne and Trooper Crawford, as they were members of my squadron, but I deny the statement that the man was bound hand and feet for some days. Then, again, it has been asserted that the order was given that his misery should be ended, and the deed was performed by a friendly bullet. Now, can anybody with any common reason at all credit this yarn? As a matter of absolute fact the trooper who accidentally shot Corporal 'Billie' Byrne was shot dead on the night of the 23rd February last, at Bothasburg, when the Seventh New Zealand were attacked by the Boers - and to say that the deed was committed by some friendly bullet is a most shameful and unmanly remark to make, to say nothing of its falsity. The poor fellow suffered enough in both body and mind, and I do not see the use of publishing a thing which might easily get within the knowledge of his sorrowing parents and relatives."



Information obtained from Corporal Byrne's file indicates that he was was buried on a stone kopje on the 24th October at Goedgevinden about 20 miles east of Wakkerstoom, where a large number of the Regiment also attended the funeral. I have not been able to find a definite resting place for William Byrne by using the normal means such as papers or a cemetery search.

Attached is a link to the Christchurch Boys High School Roll of Honour page for the Anglo-Boer War which suggests Corporal Byrne was interned at Goedgevonden Cemetery, Vryheid District which again is not forthcoming with any further information on a burial site when searched.

The first of two other memorial sites listed on this link for Corporal W. J. Byrne is at the South African War Memorial at the Auckland Memorial Museum and the Roll of Honour at Canterbury South African War Memorial, Victoria Square, Christchurch.

Trev

Good morning Trev,
Many thanks for posting the tragic story of Corporal W. J. Byrne. The fact that the fellow who carelessly discharged the Mauser with 'one in the spout' really is a double tragedy with his demise as reported on 23rd February 1902.
To attempt to identify the man on the trigger, I have consulted the casualty lists beginning with Hayward (1982) and then intended to cross reference with Watt (2000). On reaching the relevant date section in Hayward, I find that there were no men killed in action on 23rd February, but on 24th February 22 men were listed as KIA at a place called Langverwacht comprising 2 lieutenants, 1 sergeant, 2 corporals, 3 lance corporals, 1 farrier and 13 privates (full list of names at the end of this post).

I have found the following account of the battle at Langverwacht online at teara.govt.nz/south-africa on page 3 entitled: "The Troopers in South Africa;"
subheading"Guerilla War."

"Expectations of a quick victory were misplaced. With the British holding the main towns and railways, the Boers, moving fast and operating as small commando groups, sallied forth in quick guerilla operations. The British responded by clearing the countryside of stock and rounding up both Boer and African civilians into concentration camps, including women and children. This was partly so they could not supply food and support to the guerilla fighters. The sixth and seventh contingents were involved in this.
This was not wholly successful, so in the final stages of the war the British left the women and children in the country, built blockhouses and began systematic sweeps to defeat the Boer guerillas. In February 1902 the Boer leader Christian De Wet attempted to break the encroaching line. His men attacked at night with an advance screen of cattle at Langverwacht Hil, or Bothasburg as it was also known, in the Orange Free State. Members of the 7th Contingent were heavily involved and of some 90 men, 24 were killed and 41 wounded, making this the most costly action of the war for New Zealanders."

Also tragic being near to the end of the war.

Please find below the list of men killed in action at Langverwacht on 24th February 1902. According to the letter written by his comrade, who through discretion refrained from naming him, is to be found the soldier involved in the incident.

Hi Steve,

I have gone back through the file of 4372 Corporal William James Byrne of the 7th Contingent, New Zealand Mounted Rifles and have located amongst his paperwork, the "Proceedings of Regimental Enquiry" which was carried out by Lt. Colonel T.W. Porter who was at the time the OC of the 7th New Zealand Contingent, outlining the circumstances into his death. A copy of the Findings was forwarded to Corporal Byrne's father, William Byrne (Snr) in February 1902.

From the Proceedings, I was able to establish that the perpetrator in this unfortunate shooting accident was 4459 Trooper Alfred John Whitney and his name is also listed as a fatality of one of the men killed at a later date, in action at Langverwacht on 24th February 1902.

See below the 3 pages which outline the findings to this enquiry.




Cheers Steve, you did some good fact finding in narrowing down the soldiers involved in the action at Langverwacht and I only wish now that I fully read Corporal Byrne's file when I submitted my post so that I could have added it at the time with the above information.

Trev

Trev,
It was good to see that the eyewitness reports were still available so that you can solve the question of who the perpetrator actually was.
Thanks are all due from me to yourself as I find myself wanting to know more about the Kiwi Contingents and the realisation that I do not have a QSA to a New Zealander in my collection, following reading your post. I think I have seen a book dedicated to the NZ involvement in the Boer War on Naval and Military Press here in the UK.
Cheers Steve.

Thanks Dave,
I'll be ordering that today!
Cheers Steve