Boer War
The senior regiment in the 1st Brigade in the 1st Army Corps at Aldershot and the first regiment on the roster for foreign service at the time war was declared in South Africa in 1899, we might fairly have expected to be one of the earliest regiments to embark for active servi...
The senior regiment in the 1st Brigade in the 1st Army Corps at Aldershot and the first regiment on the roster for foreign service at the time war was declared in South Africa i...
2. CHAPTER II.The 21st Brigade was composed of four regiments, of which the Royal Sussex (under Col. Donne) was the senior. Next came the Sherwood Foresters, under Major Gossett (commanding i...
3. CHAPTER III.In order to enable the force to be concentrated, the 21st Brigade halted on the 2nd of May at Jacobsrust, continuing their march the following day to Isabellafontein. The names...
4. CHAPTER IV.On the 10th of May we made an early start from Bloomplaats, leaving the camp at 4.30 a.m. This means being up at three o'clock, and it was pitch dark at that hour; but the Gener...
5. CHAPTER V.The day after the Zand River fight we had a long rest, and did not start on the march again till after mid-day; and a terribly long march it was, the Brigade not getting into ca...
6. CHAPTER VI.On the way to Johannesburg--29th May--2 p.m.--Attack begins--The advance--Checked by flanking fire from One Tree Hill--Attack of this position--Through veldt fire--Final charge-...
7. CHAPTER VII.A few miles march on the 30th May cleared us from the scene of the battle of the day before and brought us into one of the mining suburbs of Johannesburg, Florida, where we camp...
8. CHAPTER VIII.On Monday, the 11th of June, began two days' heavy fighting; the operations were on a large scale against a strong and well-found enemy, posted, as we saw afterwards, in a posit...
9. CHAPTER IX.The following day, the 12th of June, we did not start very early, but moved after breakfast up to the hill we had attacked and captured the previous day, where A company was sti...
10. CHAPTER X.During the night the Boers vacated their position absolutely, so on the 13th June we made an early start, and the Brigade moved round to the south-east in a circular direction a...
11. CHAPTER XI.We left Springs on the 22nd of June, and had a march of about ten miles before we reached our next camp, Grootfontein. This we found to be about eight miles from Heidelberg, whi...
12. CHAPTER XII.We marched out of Reitz on the 13th of July, and camped at Hartebeeste Hoek about dusk, experiencing an icy cold night with a very heavy frost: the companies on picket suffered...
13. CHAPTER XIII.A bad night--Start for Relief's Nek--Description of ground--Orders to attack--Leading companies take wrong direction--Remaining companies advance against Nek--They close up to t...
14. CHAPTER XIV.During all the time we were between Bethlehem and Retief's Nek we had been away from the Bearer Company and the Field Hospital, and had only one ambulance with us to perform the...
15. CHAPTER XV.The battalion camped on the 31st of July at Klerksvlei, but next day moved about three miles further on with a view of forming a guard to the prisoners, whose laager had then be...
16. CHAPTER XVI.I went down in the train with the last batch of prisoners as far as Bloemfontein, as the General wished me to go to the Ordnance stores, and see what could be done about bringin...
17. CHAPTER XVII.Right half battalion to Ventersburg town--Back to the railway--Rain--Boers blow up the line and burn train---The armoured train upon the scene--To Bloemfontein--Off again--To th...
18. CHAPTER XVIII.Everything was quiet in Lindley for a few days, and then, on the 3rd of October, the General sent for me at half-past nine at night and told me that he had ordered two companies...
19. CHAPTER XIX.At Geneva we received orders to detrain one company there, and to send one to Boschrand, one to Holfontein, and one to Ventersburg Road; there were plenty of trains running both...
20. CHAPTER XX.No one was astonished on the 29th of October when we found ourselves at the station entraining again, and bound for our old destination, Ventersburg Road; this time the mule wag...
21. CHAPTER XXI.We remained several days in camp, and on the 1st of November a party was sent into Ventersburg to burn and destroy some of the houses; they were wretched little shanties, most o...
22. CHAPTER XXII.On the 15th of November the General made a dash from Lindley at a Boer laager, which was supposed to be about 7 miles out on the Reitz road, on the other side of a huge kopje ea...
23. CHAPTER XXIII.The wearisome stay of the Regiment in Lindley came to an end in January, 1901. On the 13th of that month the filling in of the entrenchments was begun, and orders to evacuate th...
24. CHAPTER XXIV.Col. du Moulin moved out of Springfontein on the 21st of July to take over the district which had been assigned to him, and which lay west of the line, and north of the Orange R...
25. CHAPTER XXV.New Boer tactics--The column goes to relieve Lean--A brush with the enemy--Camp at Rietput--Brand appears at dawn--Start of the column--De Put Ridges--Held by Ackerman--Engageme...
26. CHAPTER XXVI.The King's Road--On the track of a commando--A stern chase--Wearing out the Boers--Kritzinger appears--The column goes to meet him--Kaffir's Kop--A melee--A gallant death--Kritz...
27. CHAPTER XXVII.The Sussex column, which was working in conjunction with Col. Western and Major Driscoll, reached Luckhoff on the 11th of January without having come across the Boers. It then c...
28. CHAPTER XXVIII.Major Gilbert and the column left Abraham's Kraal at 8.30 on the morning of the fight. Before that, a white flag had come in with a request for an ambulance to bring in a wounde...
29. CHAPTER XXIX.The Third Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment was embodied, under the command of Col. the Earl of March, A.D.C., from December 11th, 1899, to September 11th, 1902--probably t...