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Herley of the S.A.L.H., Bushveldt Carbineers & the East Griqualand M.R. 2 years 11 months ago #75646

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Stephen Herley

Trooper, South African Light Horse
Trooper, Bushveldt Carbineers
Private, East Griqualand Mounted Rifles – Anglo Boer War


- Queens South Africa Medal with clasps Cape Colony, Tugela Heights, Relief of Ladysmith and Transvaal to 662 Tpr. S. HERLEY, S.A. LT. HORSE

Stephen Herley is one of life’s mystery men. Some records, the few that exist, show him as Herley whilst others show him with the surname of Harvey. All of these make researching the man a “mission impossible”.

Supposedly born in Quebec, Canada on 17 August 1861 he was a mature 38 years old when the Anglo Boer War broke out on 11 October 1899. That he had a South African connection was evident by the inclusion of W. Herley, c/o Malcomess & Co, King Williams Town, Cape Colony, as his next of kin on one of the many attestation papers he completed. This last point lends weight to the fact that he was Cape Colony-born, the son of Irish immigrants, Nicholas Patrick Herley and his wife Eliza.

Nicholas had been a Clerk to the merchant firm of Malcomess & Co, before his demise on 5 May 1860. The “W” refers to his uncle, William. Were this scenario to be true, it would mean that Herley was born earlier than the date claimed.

Working with the first hypothesis, he claimed to have had service as Trooper, No. 342, with the Canadian Dragoons, before he left Canada; but no trace of him serving with this body could be found. As previously alluded to, Herley, for whatever reason, was in South Africa at the time war broke out between the two Boer Republics of the Orange Free State and Transvaal and the might of Great Britain. Seemingly not one to miss out when action loomed, he attested with the newly raised South African Light Horse when recruiting for Colonial units got underway on 13 November 1899.

As a Trooper (assigned no. 662) with the S.A.L.H., the outfit popularised by a certain Winston Churchill being a young subaltern among their number, Herley would have seen plenty of action in the Natal Theatre of the war, earning for himself the battle clasps of Tugela Heights and Relief of Ladysmith to his Queens medal.

There can be no doubt that the South African Light Horse was one of the best colonial units to take to the field. In all eight complete squadrons were raised by an early date in December with three squadrons of the regiment taken round to Natal where, with other mounted troops, they were employed under Lord Dundonald on the right flank at Colenso on 15th December 1899.

In the orders issued by General Buller on 14th December 1899, it was stated that, "The Officer Commanding mounted brigade will move at 4 am with a force of 1000 men and one battery of No 1 Brigade Division in the direction of Hlangwane Hill; he will cover the right flank of the general movement, and will endeavour to take up a position on Hlangwane Hill, whence he will enfilade the kopje north of the iron bridge. The Officer Commanding mounted troops will also detail two forces of 300 men and 500 men to cover the right and left flanks respectively and protect the baggage".

Lord Dundonald and the mounted irregulars (most of whom were Colonial men) did attack Hlangwane and made good progress towards its capture. If the General had been able to send adequate infantry support the capture would have been almost certainly assured and the bloodshed of Spion Kop saved, but the entanglement of the guns rendered such support impossible. In his despatch, General Buller said: "I cannot speak too highly of the manner in which the mounted Volunteers behaved". The S.A.L.H. lost 4 men killed and 19 men wounded, while 2 officers and 11 men were returned as missing.

When the move to turn the Boer right on the Tugela was commenced, four squadrons of the regiment accompanied Lord Dundonald, marching on the 11th January 1900 via Springfield and Potgieter's, but a portion remained at Chieveley with General Barton to watch the Boer position at Colenso. In order to keep the enemy engaged there, frequent reconnaissance’s and demonstrations were made in which the detachment several times had sharp casualties.

On the above-mentioned date, Lord Dundonald seized the bridge at Springfield over the Little Tugela, and pushing on had, before dusk, secured heights on the right bank of the main river which commanded Potgieter's Drift. Some volunteers from the S.A.L.H. on the 11th swam the Tugela, got into the ferry-boat, and brought it to the right bank. For five days the mounted troops did reconnoitring and outpost work. On the 16th they were ordered to march that night to Trichardt's Drift. On the 17th they and Warren's troops crossed the river, and on the 18th Lord Dundonald was sent off to the left flank. The Composite Regiment, 1 squadron Imperial Light Horse, 1 company of Mounted Infantry, regulars, and 1 squadron Natal Carbineers, managed to cut off about 40 Boers near Acton Homes, and before dusk these surrendered after the S.A.L.H. had come up in support.

On the 20th Lord Dundonald ordered the S.A.L.H. to seize Bastion Hill in preparation for the attack on Spion Kop. Two squadrons of the regiment were dismounted and ascended the steep ascent, the two others supporting. The Boers fled from the crest, and it was taken with little loss, but the hill, like Spion Kop, was exposed to the enemy's fire, and Major Childe was killed by a shell fragment after the crest had been occupied, and 4 men were wounded. During the following days, until the evacuation of Spion Kop, the regiment held posts on the British line. Between the 19th and 27th the regiment had about 60 casualties.

During the Vaal Krantz combat, 5th to 8th February, the mounted troops were mainly on the flanks; but in the earlier part of the fighting which took place between 13th and 27th February, the mounted irregulars, including the SALH, which had been strengthened by further squadrons from the Cape Colony, the whole brigade being under Lord Dundonald, took a very important share of the work. Between the 9th and 11th February the army marched back to Chieveley, Lord Dundonald covering the left flank. On the 12th, with the South African Light Horse, the Composite Regiment, Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry, and the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, he thoroughly reconnoitred and examined Hussar Hill with the view to its being used as a stepping-stone in an attack on the Boer left. The force was ordered to retire in the afternoon, and had a few casualties in the retirement. On the 14th General Buller decided to occupy Hussar Hill, and the regiment, being the advanced screen, successfully seized the Hill with but slight loss.

On the 15th and 16th the fighting was chiefly confined to the artillery. On the 17th the attack on Mount Cingolo was developed. Dundonald's Brigade struck away to the east, through very broken and wooded country, and ascending an almost precipitous face seized the summit, the 2nd Infantry Brigade assisting on their inner flank. The work of the S.A.L.H. was specially commended by some of the correspondents present. The casualties were not serious considering the formidable nature of the task. On the 18th the 2nd Infantry Brigade attacked the summit of Monte Cristo, making a fine advance along the Nek between that mountain and Cingolo. Dundonald's men were again out on the right, and worried the enemy by a flanking fire at long ranges.

On 28 February 1900 the Siege of Ladysmith was lifted when the relieving forces cantered into the town. After a brief rest, the S.A.L.H. moved on with Buller into Northern Natal, re-occupying Dundee and then Newcastle. The regiment went on to fight at Laings Nek, the last action of consequence which saw the Boers leave Natal and trek back into the Transvaal, and were also in action at Bergendal and in the Belfast area of the Transvaal. Herley didn’t earn the Belfast clasp and it is not known how he was deployed up until he was discharged, with a Character rating of “Very Good”, on 25 April 1901.



A recruiting ad for the Bushveldt Carbineers - one in Durban that Herley would have responded to

A week before that, on 17 April, he had been in Durban where he attested for service with the Bushveldt Carbineers as a Trooper with no. 153. The attestation forms he completed on this occasion give us a glimpse of the physical characteristics of the man. Now aged 39, he was described as a Trader by occupation, was 5 feet 10 inches in height, weighed 140 pounds and had grey eyes and brown hair. By way of distinguishing marks about his person he sported a scar on his forehead. (It was always important to note any noticeable marks as these would assist in identifying a man in the absence of any other form of identification).

The Bushveldt Carbineers were to develop a fine reputation, along with a large degree of notoriety, thanks to the antics of Breaker Morant and his comrades. They were raised in Pretoria in February 1901 and did useful work in the difficult country north of Pietersburg in that year. They saw a lot of fighting but, undoubtedly a corps such as this, acting beyond the immediate control of higher authorities and far from support, was placed in a very unenviable position. The enemies they had to deal with were not always members of regular commandos, but often leaderless gangs of ruffians not unacquainted with nefarious practices and incapable of appreciating anything but the most arbitrary justice.

Mr Green, who was chaplain to the Australian Bushmen, a corps that operated much in the Pietersburg district, says that they were chiefly English refugees of that district and it is known that about 200 out of the 380 they eventually numbered, were from Pietersburg. They acted as scouts for General Plumer, and did well. Many of them knew the lie of the land, in no small measure thanks to the fact that they had about 40 Boers in their ranks – men who had “switched allegiance”. On one occasion they captured the convoy of a train-wrecking gang and 11 prisoners. These latter would not disclose where their mines were laid, so they were promptly put on a trolley; an explosion did take place, but none were killed. The corps had casualties on various occasions. Captain P F Hunt and Sergeant F Elands were killed on 6th August 1901, and 1 man on the 10th.



A typical sketch of a BVC man.

The Bushveldt Carbineers were renamed to the Pietersburg Light Horse on 1 December 1901, by which time Herley, who departed their ranks on 15 November 1901, was long gone.

One would have thought that his war was over – not so – he turned his attention next to the East Griqualand Mounted Rifles, attesting for service in their ranks on 16 December 1901. The E.G.M.R. were European volunteers formed in seven independent troops, at Kokstad dismounted under Captain James Barclay, and mounted at Matatiele under Captain Hugh Nourse, Umzimkulu under Captain Robert Strachan, Newmarket under Captain W.F. Raw, New Amalfi under Captain C.R.B. Bovil, Mpatoane under Captain C.R. Rennie and Droevig under Captain G. Wedderburn. Despite being in a bit of a geographic backwater, they saw quite a bit of fighting against Boer raiding parties comprising mainly Cape rebels.

Herley stayed with the E.G.M.R. until the end of the war on 31 May 1902, qualifying for the Kings Medal which was issued off their roll at Cape Town on 30 June 1906. This medal, according to the roll, was returned to the Mint on 21 April 1909, making Herley’s Queens medal the only one extant.

What happened to this fighting man after the war is unknown.


















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Herley of the S.A.L.H., Bushveldt Carbineers & the East Griqualand M.R. 2 years 11 months ago #75647

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Thank You Rory...... Great Article..... Great Research..... Mike
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Past-President Calgary
Military Historical Society
O.M.R.S. 1591
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