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David Moreland Gray was one of the earliest, pre-Ladysmith, casualties of the Boer War having met his end at the Battle of Colenso. This one's for Frank.

David Moreland Gray

Trooper, No. 5 Squadron, Natal Carbineers – K.I.A.

- Queens South Africa Medal with clasp Relief of Ladysmith

David Moreland Gray came from an illustrious family of Scottish descent who had settled in the foothills of the Drakensberg mountain range in the Colony of Natal during the middle of the 19th century.



Born on 4 October 1875 to David Gray and his wife Elizabeth (born Allison) the family farmed in the Gourton area near Cathkin Peak in the Estcourt district of the Drakensberg. David senior passed away on the family farm near Ennersdale on 18 July 1883 at the early age of 39, effectively leaving young David to be raised by his mother and the many cousins, uncles and aunts in the vicinity.

David had already enrolled for peacetime service with the Natal Carbineers in 1895 when some 20 years of age and was thus one of the more experienced Troopers to take to the field on 29 September 1899 when Carbineers were mobilised on that Friday night, with those signing on only for the duration being termed 'Special Service' men. Gray, awarded no. 347, was ready to take the fight to any Boers who saw fit to infiltrate Natal.

Courtesy of the Victorian Military Society, the following sequence of events illustrates the role played by the Carbineers from that day forth.

“By 1 October the regiment had mustered at Ladysmith, with the exception of No. 5 Squadron, detached to Colenso to assist in the patrolling of this most likely route south for Boer commandos. Troopers from the scattered rural districts of Weenen, Gourton (Gray’s area) and Springfield had to ride up to 60 miles in response to their call-up instructions.

While October at Colenso was quiet in terms of major actions, a crisis was approaching as British forces retired from Dundee, and Carbineers patrols were kept busy. Carbineer days began at 4.30 am with reveille, followed by two scouting patrols - at 10 am and 3.30 pm - often in stifling heat and intermittent thunderstorms. One three-day expedition penetrated as far afield as Springfield in the Upper Tugela region - an area of future operations. On the 31st reinforcements arrived in the form of 100 Dublin Fusiliers and a Natal Field artillery (NFA) battery equipped with antiquated muzzleloaders. The overall commander was Colonel C.D. Cooper of the Fusiliers.

Thursday 2 November, the day the Boer siege closed on Ladysmith, saw a flurry of activity in Colenso. Major Duncan McKenzie assumed command of the Carbineers squadron from Lieutenant David MacKay, a local farmer. McKenzie, a Nottingham Road farmer and staff officer, had returned hurriedly from a holiday in England, intending, futilely as it turned out, to rejoin his squadron in Ladysmith. During the day there were several clashes with Boer burghers in the hills north of the village (Grobelaarskloof), and artillery bombardment of the camp. As the river was low and Boer encirclement seemed likely, McKenzie urged immediate retirement on Estcourt. The NFA departed Colenso by road at 9 pm on the 2nd, with two of McKenzie's Carbineers as guides. On this occasion those elected did not enhance the regiment's reputation for scouting - they managed to get the NFA thoroughly lost and on the road to Weenen instead of Estcourt. The balance of the infantry arrived in Estcourt on the evening of the 3rd, to find the settlement in "a great state of excitement", with the small military camp converted into a "a regular sea of tents."

Estcourt's 'siege', though brief, was nerve-racking and uncomfortable. Many civilians left by train and most stock was driven south. No. 5 Squadron formed part of the about 300-strong mounted component of a woefully inadequate garrison of some 2300, their job complicated by the vulnerable location of the village in a hollow surrounded by hills. Artillery at Ladysmith was clearly audible, and gun flashes visible from hilltops at night. Perverse weather conditions, typified by intense heat, freezing nights and heavy rain, made life miserable. Troops turned verandahs and vacant stores into barracks when tent-towns were blown down or flooded. One observer described the situation as having "all the discomforts of India, without the conveniences commonly at hand in that country." Also in camp was the Natal Royal Rifles (formerly the Maritzburg Rifles), the Carbineers' infantry compatriots from Pietermaritzburg.

There was little cause for optimism and a Boer attack was anticipated at any time. During November early morning stands-to-arms, pickets and patrols were punctuated by several minor skirmishes. On Saturday the 18th, for example, Boers in considerable numbers approached to within plain sight, and a brisk engagement took place on the immediate outskirts of the village near the Little Bushman's River Bridge. These events sowed alarm and on a few occasions preparations were made for flight. The value of colonial mounted infantry reconnaissance at this time can be gauged by the lack of reliable maps.
Incredibly, during November officers were presented with copies of a map, minus contours, found in the local library.

A daily highlight for Estcourt locals was the armoured train reconnaissance towards Colenso, though without a mounted escort, an ambush was considered inevitable. At about 8am on the morning of Wednesday 15 November Corporal William Park Gray (David Gray’s cousin) and a four man Carbineers patrol was breakfasting on the Weenen road when they heard firing from the direction of Chieveley. Passing comments on the obvious, they headed leisurely back to base where a 100-strong relief contingent (including 40 Carbineers) was preparing to depart for Ennersdale. Near the little Bushman's River Bridge this contingent encountered the battered engine and tender, with the wounded survivors of the ambush. In the vicinity of Ennersdale the right flank of the pursuing Boers was engaged. Three casualties were inflicted on the enemy, but despite McKenzie's tactical dispositions on such occasions, which emphasised patrols on both flanks, the outnumbered force was itself outflanked and forced to retire on Estcourt under cover of a fortuitous thunderstorm. It had been the squadron's first substantial engagement, and one of the equipment deficiencies noted was the limitations of their single-shot weapons, either the Martini-Metford or Martini-Enfield (possibly both). Command of the Estcourt garrison at this point (11-15 November) was in the hands of Colonel Charles Long, later to earn dubious fame at Colenso.

Shortly after the armoured train incident, between 17 and 24 November, Estcourt's defenders faced the final crisis of this brief siege, this time to the south in the direction of Willowgrange. Patrol activity in the area, and the absence of a concerted attack on the sparsely defended settlement, suggested a Boer intention to bypass the garrison and sever communications with Pietermaritzburg, Ladysmith style. Highlands Station on the Natal Government Railway (NGR) line was duly captured on the 20th and the telegraph line severed the next day. On the 17th the first of several half-hearted expeditions departed Estcourt for Willowgrange to challenge the Boer move. Carbineer records recall a cold, wet night spent at Willowgrange Station in anticipation of one aborted attack on Boer positions.

At about 2pm on Wednesday 22 November the Natal Carbineers escorted a force out of Estcourt in the only serious effort to dislodge the commandos. That night the Carbineers, ably directed by McKenzie himself, helped manhandle the chief supporting artillery, a naval 12-pounder, up the north-east shoulder of Beacon Hill, the initial British objective. It proved a nightmarish exercise as the area was lashed by several furious thunderstorms (including hail) which left their mark, literally, on the Carbineers. The squadron played no direct part in the bungled, though minor setback to British arms. It had been McKenzie who had suggested a night attack on Boer-occupied Harris Hill. One critical battlefield feature, a stone wall linking the Boer and British positions, was intended by McKenzie to guide the troops to their target, ensuring surprise and probable success. Instead the wall contributed to the major mishap of the attack when columns advancing on either side mistook each other for the enemy.

By 9am on the 23rd a Boer counterattack forced British infantry off Harris Hill, which had been occupied despite the previous night's mishaps, and led to a retirement on Estcourt, shepherded by the Carbineers and other mounted infantry. On the 24th the Estcourt garrison braced itself for the anticipated Boer bombardment following the setback at Willowgrange. To everyone's amazement, the burghers lost their nerve and retired to the Tugela in two columns, to the East via Weenen and to the west via Ntabamhlope Mountain. Estcourt's mounted garrison were denied several opportunities to disrupt the withdrawal of both columns. The then commander of mounted troops, Colonel Martyr, appeared intent on rather 'guiding' the Boers back to Colenso. The Carbineers joined an immediate advance to Frere.

Following the 'Relief of Estcourt' the Estcourt-Weenen Squadron joined Buller's push to relieve Ladysmith. The squadron became a component of a 450-strong Composite Regiment within Lord Dundonald's Mounted Brigade. Much of the Composite Regiment's subsequent success can be attributed to a successful partnership struck up at this time between McKenzie and a recently arrived Major Hubert Gough, who later commanded the British 5th Army on the Western Front during World War I.

On 11 December the Carbineers escorted Dundonald on a reconnaissance of Colenso, where McKenzie pointed out the Boer trenchline, then under construction. Was it typical of general British Army disdain of colonials that no apparent use was made of this intelligence, with catastrophic consequences in the forthcoming battle? The disastrous progress of the Battle of Colenso on 15 December is thoroughly documented; the Carbineer's role, though relatively minor, was the squadron's first major test (their involvement in the actions at Ennersdale and Willowgrange being more on the scale of skirmishes). The Composite Regiment participated in an assault on Hlangwane Hill on the British right flank. The intention was to dislodge the Boers there and subject their compatriots in the Colenso koppies to enfilade fire. Their opponents were the 800-strong Wakkerstroom and Standerton Commandos. The Carbineers contingent was temporarily under the command of Lieutenant MacKay again, after McKenzie was reluctantly attached to Dundonald's staff for the day.

The dawn assault was an immediate disaster. The small force, exposed on open ground, was swept with fierce volleys from short range. Four Carbiners died instantly and six were wounded - the severest casualties of the Relief campaign. The dead were Troopers B.W. Warren, Peter Adie, H.N. Jenner and David Gray. Gray was a cousin of the celebrated William Park Gray, and also his half-section.

On the following day, 16 December, a truce was declared to allow both sides to attend to their dead. The Carbineer fatalities were buried, in shallow graves, on the eastern side of the NGR line, three miles from Colenso. Lord Dundonald recalled that "when the curtains of the first ambulance were drawn back, a vast cloud of blue flies came out and ... a fearful smell was blown by the light wind towards us." Sixty-five years later, on 24 July 1964, 85-year old William Park Gray presided over the reinternment of these same men at the nearby Clouston Military Cemetery.

Stalker, in the official Natal Carbineer history put the situation wherein Gray last his life, briefly as follows,
"15th Dec. Battle of Colenso- In Conjunction with I.L.H, No.5 Squadron attempted to take Hlangwane Hill, but the enemy, from an impregnable position, poured in a terrific fire at 80 yards range, and our force had to retire. Casualties in this engagement: Troopers Adie, Gray, Jenner and Warren, killed; Lt Mackay and five men severely wounded.

R.E. Stevenson in his "A Carbineer Remembers" quoted the following when recounting David Gray's cousin, Park Gray,

"The last semi-official military act of Park Gray took place a few months before his death. It fell to him to represent the Carbineers at the exhumation of the bodies of three Carbineers and two I.L. Horsemen who had been killed at Hlongwane on 15 December 1899. These men had been buried on the day after the battle, Hamilton Baynes, Bishop of Natal, officiating. Park Gray had been present. One of the Carbineers was David Gray, a cousin; he too had been a crack marksman. He had been shot through the heart while rashly exposing himself to get a better aim. He died in Park Gray's arms. Park Gray knew exactly what type of wound each of the dead men had received, and he was visibly moved when the remains were revealed. He had, not surprisingly, disliked the idea of exhumations but came to recognise that, in this case, there were special reasons. He approved, as did the Regiment, of the new site at Clouston Koppie of Remembrance where a tall copper cross has been erected. The new graves were consecrated by Bishop Inman of Natal in 1964. A granite tablet, suitably inscribed, marks the site of the original graves near Chieveley."

On 7 November 1902 the Testate Estate of David Moreland Gray was credited with a War Gratuity of £5.

The medal roll, dated at Pietermaritzburg on 10 August 1901 and signed by Lt. Colonel Greene, confirms the posthumous issue of the Queens South Africa Medal.

The Natal Carbineers were to incur 11 killed in action casualties during the Boer War. David Gray’s was one of them, a life cut unnecessarily short. [/size]

Again, a very significant recipient and an important medal for anyone who has an interest in the Natal campaign, the moment that particular medal was issued, it became, in effect, another memorial to a brave young man who gave his life, not just for Great Britain, but, to preserve the Colony of Natal itself.