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Unlike my casualty to Stott, Small was in on the action but came oout relatively unscathed.

William Philip Small

Trooper, 35th Company, XI Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry

- Queens South Africa Medal with clasps Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, South Africa 1901 & 1902

William Small was born in Dundee, Forfarshire in about 1880 the son of Peter Philip Small, a Printer/Compositor by trade, and his wife Margaret, born Prosser.




Small is the small chap on the left in this Boer War photo

At the time of the 1881 Scotland census a 1 year old William lived at 44 Ure Street in Dundee together with his parents and older sibling, Mary Prosser Small (3). Elizabeth Knowles, a Domestic Servant, completed the family set up.

Ten years later the family had moved south of the border and, according to the 1891 England census, now lived at 3a Allington Road in Willesden, Middlesex. What had decided them on this course is unknown but William had been partially orphaned with his mother Margaret passing away in the same year as the 1881 census. His father had remarried and he now had a step mother in the form of Sarah. Younger sister Florence had joined the brood and Maria Higgs; a Domestic Servant was on hand to cater for the families needs.

At the time of the 1901 England census a 22 year old William had spread his wings and left home although the family still continued to reside at the same address they had been at before.

By this time the Boer War had been raging for almost 18 months and William, no doubt keen to see some of the action, decided to enlist with the Imperial Yeomanry for service in South Africa. He was a Baker by trade for it was thus that he described his occupation on his attestation papers. A diminutive 5 feet 4 ½ inches, he had a fair complexion, brown eyes and brown hair. As one of his referees he included a letter from his employer, Lowe & Sons of 69 Upper Berkeley Street, Portmann Square, London dated 6 February 1901 which read as follows,

“To the Commanding Officer, Imperial Yeomanry

William Small was in our employ for 21 months and we found him a very obliging, honest and sober young man.

H.R. Lowe”




The letter from his employers

Assigned no. 26014 William was deployed to the 35th Company of the 11th Imperial Yeomanry. This particular company were involved in the infamous affair at Groenkop, where the worst catastrophe of the second contingent occurred on Christmas Morning 1901. At a Boer krijgsraad (council of war), Boer leaders in the Free State had decided to launch a concentrated attack in what would be Chief Commandant C R de Wet's first serious attempt to take the offensive since early 1901. The strength of his own force was 700. There were at least 20 000 men pitted against him. He selected a position near Bethlehem.

To provide a wider context it is worth mentioning that, by December 1901, Gen Sir Leslie Rundle had completed the eastern half of the construction of blockhouses from Harrismith towards Bethlehem, but had been allocated only a weak covering force to protect the construction parties. He had further weakened this force by separating it into four groups. The main group comprised about 500 men of the 11th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry (34th, 35th, 36th, 53rd and 62nd Coys) with a gun and a Pom-pom, all under the command of Major F A Williams, and was encamped on a hill called Groenkop.

On the night of 24/25 December 1901, Christiaan de Wet had 600 burghers from eight commandos under his command. In stockinged feet, detachments under commandants W Meares and G A Brand silently scaled the steep west face of the hill and took the British defences completely by surprise. They reached the crest of the hill and opened fire on the tented camp below.

Four companies of the 11th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry, bore the brunt of this attack. In an attempt to gain the crest of the hill, the 36th Company lost their leader, Lt Hudson, and never succeeded in regaining any coherent formation. Some of the men, gallantly led by Capt Hall, tried to reach the western crest of the hill, but as soon as they appeared on the skyline, both Hall and his subordinate, Lt Agnew, were shot dead. Major Williams ordered the remaining men to lie down.

Soon afterwards, the Boers, who were ensconced along the western plateau and whose numbers had swelled to 300, leaped forward and charged over the plateau, yelling and firing. The 53rd Company hastened to the southern crest of the hill when their leader, Capt Crawley, was mortally wounded. A picket of the 35th Company had already been put out of action, either annihilated or completely demoralised. Only a few shots were fired from the two guns on the hill before the Boer charge engulfed what remained of the 34th Company, who were desperately attempting to save the Maxim gun under Lt Watney.

When the Boers overran the camp, the 53rd Company, on the southern slope of the hill, prepared to escape. However, a band of Boers appeared on their flank and opened a destructive rifle fire, causing heavy casualties. The company made an obstinate stand against the odds, only twenty men managing to escape unharmed.

De Wet left at dawn with 206 prisoners as well as two guns, rifles, twenty wagons with supplies of ammunition and tents, and 500 horses and mules. The British casualties were 68 killed or mortally wounded and 77 wounded. There were 57 fatalities amongst the Imperial Yeomanry alone: the 34th Coy lost 22; the 35th, ten; the 36th, seven; the 53rd, fifteen; the 62nd, two; and Headquarters, one. The Boers lost fourteen killed and 30 wounded. William Small would have been among those captured and released by De Wet a few days later after the presence of prisoners threatened to delay his rapid retreat.

Small was discharged from the army at Aldershot on 3 September 1902, some three months after the end of the war on 31 May 1902 in consequence of the termination of his engagement. He had served a total of 1 year and 209 days most under the blazing heat of the African sun and under conditions far removed from what he would have been used to before setting sail back home aboard the S.S. Aurania.




Parchment discharge papers

For his efforts to he was awarded the Queens South Africa Medal with clasps Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, South Africa 1901 and 1902.





Post war and now safely ensconced in the security of England Small settled down to more mundane pursuits. On 17 March 1907 at St Matthew’s Church in Hammersmith he tied the knot with 18 year old Nellie Sturman. He was 26 at the time and had changed his occupation now being a Postman. This was probably the last official engagement that his father Philip attended as that worthy passed away the following year. William’s sister, Florence Elizabeth Small, was a witness to his marriage.

The dawn of the 1911 census showed that Small was an Auxiliary Postman. Married life had meant the addition of children and Small was not slow off the mark with the birth of Nellie Margaret (3) and Freda Ethel (7 months) making up the family who now lived at 72 Charlton Road, Harlesden in London.

What became of William after this is a matter for conjecture but he lived a long life passing away in Thurrock, Essex in March 1957 at the age of 78.