TOPIC:

Mr BereniceUK, Sir -

The benign rolling aspect of Scheeper's Nek -



A long way from home for a Wolverhampton grain merchant's son, seeking fortune in a Transvaal City of Gold, to find death in winter dust of a Transvaal veldt surrounded by pain-crazed horses and leaderless men frenziedly seeking respite from unrelenting independent Mauser fire.

Any attempt to fathom exactly what transpired on that Sunday 20 May 1900 during action at SN - classed militarily a minor skirmish - falls into 'mission impossible' category, frustrated by varied implausible historical accounts plus fanciful reported losses/casualties.

At he time of the SN happening, Col Bethune still commanded the mounted infantry regiment - aka Bethune's Horse - that he had earlier raised in October 1899.




A rather flamboyant officer of 16th Lancers, Edward Cecil Bethune had lost one hand in India, and fought wielding a C89 Mauser 'Broomhandle' automatic pistol - also favoured by Winston Churchill - clearly seen here carried in a characteristic wooden stock-holster.

Col Bethune, a shrewd strategist, had held a commission in the 92nd Highland regiment in his early army career. Having encountered Transvaalers at Majuba he well knew the mobile fighting style and accurate use of rifle by the Boers, and must of certainty have realised that venturing a squadron across the ZAR border without close support was simply asking for trouble.

How the novice Capt Goff (promotion gazetted June 1899) manoeuvred mounted troopers into the predicament of being seriously outgunned on a killing field impossible to ward off attack, contriving thus to reduce an entire squadron hors de combat man and beast in something of an hour or two, remains topic stuff for conjecture by armchair tacticians and men with wide foreheads and beards.

Disbanded after cessation of hostilities in 1902, the men of BMI had performed commendably in every province, winning consistent mention in the despatches of Buller, Roberts and Kitchener - it is a fine irony that Capt Goff and Lt Lanham both fated to fall at SN had been commended in Buller's 30 March despatch.

Throughout it's life this remarkable regiment sustained no single-engagement loss more grievous than SN - an obscure brief hostility of no military consequence insofar as Buller's plan to rid Natal of Kruger's raiders was concerned.

Operating towards Vryheid in advance of the main body, E Squadron BMI - some 60 mounted infantry - attracted abrupt sustained riflefire from two sides, on open sloping terrain, from 75-80 enemy.

The opening fusillade likely downed all the officers leading, together with numbers of troopers - at the same time incapacitating many horses - leaving the rest to dismount and make an impromptu disorganised defence on ground devoid of any protection other than bodies of fallen mounts. Horses of now dismounted troopers, usually withdrawn in groups by handlers from a firing zone, could only stand helplessly exposed until injured.

This match was essentially a no contest affair - the BMI team being methodically shot down, with a reported paltry casualty of a single burgher. E Squadron ultimately lost 3 officers and 28 other ranks KIA, with some 25 wounded - 11 of which being taken prisoner - and 29 horses killed.

The concentrated ferocity of the attack cannot be grasped fully until it is remembered that this coup, lasting less than two hours, demolished 60 men and horses confined to a combat area comparable in dimension with the site of Long's guns at Colenso or the crest occupied by the Lancasters at Spionkop. For a superb satellite-eye view of where it all happened hit Google Maps and zoom in -27.850322, 30.667396!

Scenes of mixed carnage/maiming of man and beast must have been no less horrific than those butchershops of the Tugela. Final tally of uninjured and lightly wounded men able to escape can only be guessed, and some could subsequently have DOW; it is likely the seriously disabled were taken prisoner.

At close of play the dead were without ado accomodated in one simple in situ excavation - by whom so incarcerated is not clear as Boers did not bury Brit fallen, and Brits did not interr officers with rank and file.





Today the location of the mass grave is marked by a low pyramid cairn, beside a taller decorated obelisk atop square rough granite base bearing a panel disclosing identity of the bodies.




The in memoriam panel, erected after ABW-end in 1902, displays an emblem of crossed flags and BMI device, some singular memorial wording "to officers...and troopers of the BMI Johannesburg Regiment", and finally a name/rank listing of 31 soldiers said to be in this common grave - the details match the Nominal Roll of BMI.

Between monuments stands a small marble upright with inscription to EDGAR SCHMITT HADLER, SGT MAJOR E SQUADRON BMI - the only man to have separate memorial stone.

One man who fought at SN surviving to fight another day was a Swede, one Bror Emil Hjalmar Enstrom, enlisted with Bethune's merry men 10/11/99 as No 289 Trooper Harry Enstron on the Nominal Roll.

This adventurer - tough as Swedish pine - was floored by bullet injuries to chest, shoulder and buttocks (!?), subsequently taken prisoner, and a few weeks later returned to the Brits (Times newspaper reporting prisoners handed back under flag of truce 21/7/00).

Following some care a General Hospital in Howick Trooper 289 was sent - via SS Formosa - to Woolwich hospital and admitted there 17/1/01.

But this worthy was made of stern stuff - after discharge from the force 29/7/01 as permanently disabled, he returned to SA, married Hilda Kanjila Von Breda on 2/7/04 and - lived happily ever after - but that is, of course, another story!



And what of poor hapless Goff who did not survive to learn from his mistakes, and unflatteringly described posthumously as "Com. Mule Train, Bethune's Horse". Alas, no stained glass for him - but there IS a marble memorial tablet on north wall of the north aisle in Christ Church Cathedral (C of I), Waterford, bearing the crest of a squirrel and badge of 3rd Dragoon Guards that reads "To the ... memory of CAPTAIN WILLIAM ERNEST DAVIS GOFF ... KILLED IN ACTION NEAR VRYHEID, SOUTH AFRICA, ON 20th MAY 1900, AGED 28".

Hi Absentmindedbeggar, Berenice et al

Thanks for superb postings!

I append material pertaining to Commandant Blignaut of the Swaziland Police Commando who engineered the ambush at Scheepers Nek.

The photo is from the 1904 publication "Onze Krijgs-Officieren". Freely translated the potted biography reads :
The elder son of Pieter G Blignaut, who was KiA at Elandslaagte on 21 October 1899, J S F Blignaut served with distinction in the Artillery Corps in Pretoria and subsequently in the Police Corps, where he had the rank of sergeant. When Swaziland was occupied, he was appointed 2nd Lieutenant and subsequently promoted to 1st Lieutenant.
When the Swaziland Commando was mobilized, he was appointed Commandant of the Civil and Police Force, and was KiA at Itala, Natal on 26 Sept 1901

Henk

PS I showed his father's ABO some time ago on the Forum

absentminded beggar wrote: Mr BereniceUK, Sir -

LOL!!! That's news to me. And I'd never noticed!

Apart from that, what a terrific post, many thanks.

Morning all

An unusual pair to a descendant of an 1820 settler.

Samuel Liversage was the leader of a party of 48 that came from Staffordshire aboard the "John" arriving in the Eastern Cape in 1820. His son Henry Bond Liversage was born in Bathurst 1835 and is one of the two known Englishmen that left with the Voortrekkers, his children having married into Voortrekker families. His son Samuel was born in Umvoti 1857 and his son Henry Bond Liversage (one of 11 children) was born in Greytown 1881.

This is the Henry Bond who served in the Vryheid Commando, listing Vryheid Hill (Lancaster Hill?) and also Scheepersnek amongst his battle engagements. The Vryheid Commando did take part in both these engagements and various sources confirm this. One source states that 5 members of the Vryheid Commando were attending a prayer meeting with the Swaziland Commando at the time of Scheepersnek.

He also lists Scholtz V. Korps (can find no info on this unit) on his Vorm B and laid down his arms at Vryheid on 6th June 1902.

He also served in the Northern District Mounted Rifles, which was raised in the Vryheid District for service in the Natal Rebellion. This is just a brief synopsis of what I have deduced from online sources, there is a Naturalised Burgher document that I must still get a copy of and I am sure it is his as it is dated just before the Boer War. Research continues.