* 5 Canadian Victoria Crosses were awarded during this war.
“Lieutenant Cockburn, with a handful of men, at a most critical moment held off the Boers to allow the guns to get away; to do so he had to sacrifice himself and his party, all of whom were killed, wounded, or taken prisoners, he himself being slightly wounded.” - London Gazette, no.27307, 23 April 1901 (Directorate of History and Heritage - Canada)
Edward James Gibson Holland was born in Ottawa, Ontario on 2 February 1878, and as a young man joined the 5th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards of the Milita. After the beginning of the South African War (1899-1902) he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Dragoons.
“Sergeant Holland did splendid work with his Colt gun, and kept the Boers off the two 12-pounded by its fire at close range. When he saw the enemy were too near for him to escape with the carriage, as the horse was blown, he calmly lifted the gun off and galloped away with it under his arm.” - London Gazette, no.27307, 23 April 1901 (Directorate of History and Heritage - Canada)
"At Wakkerstroom, on the evening of the 20th April, 1900, during the advance of the Infantry to support the Mounted Troops, Lieutenant Nickerson went, in the most gallant manner, under a heavy rifle and shell fire, to attend a wounded man, dressed his wounds, and remained with him till he had him conveyed to a place of safety." - Victoria Cross citation, The London Gazette, February 12, 1901 (Veterans Affairs Canada)
Arthur Herbert Lindsay Richardson was born in Southport, England on 23 September 1873. In 1894, he came to Canada and joined the North West Mounted Police. When the South African War began in 1899, Richardson obtained leave from the Mounted Police to enlist in Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians), a regiment that was being raised for service in the conflict.
“On the 5th July, 1900, at Wolve Spruit, about 15 miles north of Standerton, a party of Lord Strathcona’s Corps, only 38 in number, came into contact, and was engaged at close quarters, with a force of 80 of the enemy. When the order to retire had been given, Sergeant Richardson rode back under a very heavy cross-fire and picked up a trooper whose horse had been shot and who was wounded in two places and rode with him out of fire. At the time when this act of gallantry was performed, Sergeant Richardson was within 300 yards of the enemy, and was himself riding a wounded horse.” - London Gazette, no.27229, 14 September 1900 (Directorate of History and Heritage - Canada)
“Later in the day when the Boers again seriously threatened to capture the guns, Lieutenant Turner, although twice previously wounded, dismounted and deployed his men at close quarters and drove off the Boers, thus saving the guns.” - London Gazette, no.27307, 23 April 1901 (Directorate of History and Heritage - Canada)
The War Itself
Britain had long been at daggers drawn with the Boer republics of Transvaal and Orange Free State, located in present-day South Africa. In late summer 1899 all of Britain's dominions except Canada proclaimed their readiness to lend a hand to the mother country. In Canada a coalition formed in part by the ethnic British population, working through their Members of Parliament and the small but influential Imperial Federation League, demanded that the Laurier government take a stand. The coalition was dominated by the voice of Governor General Lord Minto, who gave Laurier to understand that Canada's support might prompt London, in turn, to support the Canadian viewpoint in discussions over the boundary between Canada and Alaska (this question would not reach arbitration until 1904, with an outcome somewhat unfavourable to Canada).
Despite the tensions and pressures that this matter generated within his party, Prime Minister Laurier played for time, fearing a crisis like that which had erupted after the hanging of Louis Riel. While he temporized, a confrontation between Britain and the Boer republics became seemingly unavoidable. Major-General Edward H. Hutton, General Officer Commanding of the Canadian forces, used all his influence to secure a firm Canadian commitment at Britain's side. On 5 September he sent a "private and confidential" letter to Oscar Pelletier of the Permanent Militia assuring him that in the probable event of Canada's offering troops to Britain he would suggest that Pelletier command one of the infantry battalions Hutton intended to form. In fact he let it be understood that the Canadian announcement would follow in two days. Yet Laurier continued to procrastinate: To get him into a corner, Hutton devised a stratagem that would cost him his job.
On 3 October Hutton had the Canadian Military Gazette publish mobilization plans for potential contingents for the South African conflict. That same day, the British press published an announcement by Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain to the effect that Canada's commitment had already been studied: Britain would assume control of the troops when they landed in South Africa and would be responsible for paying them. Laurier was still eluding journalists' questions. His unease grew when, on 11 October, both Boer republics declared war on Britain. Two days later, acting against his personal convictions, Laurier gave in - though in his own way. Although the proposal had not been debated in Parliament, the government announced its readiness to equip a maximum of 1,000 volunteers and pay the costs of transporting them to South Africa. Thus Laurier would not have to answer such questions as: Is this a just war? Is Britain really threatened?
The order to mobilize these volunteers came on the 14th. Since there would initially be only one battalion, to be commanded by Colonel William Otter, Pelletier would go as a company commander. Here again, Canada took an idiosyncratic approach. Britain would have preferred to be sent companies it could use as it thought best. Instead, Canada formed the 2nd (Special Service) Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment to recruit volunteers from the Permanent and Non-Permanent Militia along with men who had never had anything to do with the army, in any capacity. These soldiers would be paid on an equal basis with the members of the Permanent Militia, a higher rate than the British troops were paid.
On 20 October the six companies were designated: Company A would be recruited in British Columbia and Manitoba, B in London, C in Toronto, D in Ottawa and Kingston, E in Montreal, F in Quebec City, G in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, and H in Nova Scotia.
Those opposing the prime minister's decision, most of them French Canadians, were quick to voice their disagreement and rally round the journalist Henri Bourassa. Bourassa's strong personality and ideas enabled him to publicly criticize Laurier - whom he had always supported - for giving in. He even predicted this was nothing compared to what would follow. If Canada could send 1,000 men to South Africa, how many would it be sending had the war been in Europe? Bourassa saw British imperialism as "the participation of the colonies in England's wars." [36]
Taking up Bourassa's cause in 1903, the English Canadian Goldwin Smith would recall that the purpose of the South African war had been to secure equality for the white, mainly British, uitlanders, to whom the Boers were refusing the right to vote. "This is a strange doctrine in an Empire with a population composed five sixths of coloured races and which allies itself with Japan." [37] On 29 April 1910, when another large project with imperialist repercussions, the Naval Bill, was being discussed, Senator Raoul Dandurand would recall that the official cause of the war in Africa, namely redress for wrongs meted out to English residents, was not the real one: "I frankly confess that this dispute aroused no enthusiasm in me, but we had nothing to say before the a air, and when war was declared the time for discussion had passed." [38]
Despite the powerful opposition movement among French Canadians, Wilfrid Laurier's Liberals were re-elected on 7 November 1900 with strong support from Quebec voters. Was this approval of imperialist policy? In another context the French Canadians might have voiced disapproval, but Laurier's nuanced response struck them as preferable to that of Charles Tupper's Conservatives, pledged as the Tories were to support British policies. In the end, the opposition to this war benefited the Liberals, but now they would have to reckon with Henri Bourassa and the Quebec nationalists elected to Parliament, for they would be continuing their campaign against participation in the war, in however watered-down a form.
In Quebec, and especially in Montreal, the situation rekindled ethnic tensions. On 1 and 2 March 1900 a group of Anglophones, including a number of McGill University students, marched in celebration of the Canadian victory at Paardeberg. They smashed the windows of the French-language newspapers La Presse, La Patrie and Le journal and wrecked some of Université Laval's Montreal offices. Although these tensions subsided after the 1900 federal election, they nonetheless would remain latent until the First World War.
Whether permanent or non-permanent, Canadian militiamen were prepared for neither war nor the South African climate. Between 12 and 31 October the 2nd RCR Battalion had to be recruited, clothed, trained (though how little!), organized and shipped out. Despite a multitude of problems including almost universal amateurism, by virtue of energy and determination the bare minimum was amassed in under three weeks. As for organization, as soon as the men boarded the aptly named Sardinia on 31 October it became obvious the term did apply. Alterations were to have enabled this cargo vessel to accommodate and transport nearly 700 people. The 1,039 volunteers would be crammed in with the crew and the contingent's nurses, horses and dogs. The equipment, which had not even been inventoried, was stuffed just anywhere.
The voyage took them over an often rough sea that direly tested the endurance of Oscar Pelletier, even with his background as a sailor. For those who had never seen the sea, it was a nightmare.
The Canadians began training as soon as they reached Cape Town on 29 November. By mid-February 1900 they were ready for action. As hostilities began, the Boers had cornered the English in three towns - Kimberley, Mafeking and Ladysmith. In late February the British attempted to break open the bolt of Kimberley in the Paardeberg sector. There, the Canadians would experience their first important overseas battle as part of the 19th Brigade of Major-General Horace Smith-Dorrien, who in 1915 would direct the operations of the 1st Canadian Division in Belgium.
On 13 February the British army had begun a big, sweeping movement that rapidly led to the encirclement of the Boers under Cronje. On the 18th an incautious Canadian charge across deserted ground was stopped short by enemy fire after less than 200 metres. On the 26th the Canadians relieved an English battalion in a line of trenches located some 600 metres from the Boer positions. On 27 February they were ordered to advance. As they did so, they were seriously battered. Four of the six companies fell back, while the other two hung on to their new positions. Demoralized after several days, their opponents had no choice but to surrender to the Canadians, which they did in early morning. At Majuba 19 years earlier to the day, the British had met defeat at the hands of the Boers, the consequences of which included the creation of the Orange Free State and Transvaal republics north of the Cape.
The Canadians were congratulated for this feat even though it had required neither strategy nor prior organization, nor even participation by a large number of men. The exploit assumed mythic proportions that are still maintained a century later. [39]
The members of the initial contingent were rarely at the heart of the action, even when they participated in taking Bloemfontein, capital of the Orange Free State, and in skirmishes in the course of which Otter was wounded. Their one-year contract had nearly expired when, to please his imperial masters, their leader gave them to understand that the Canadians were prepared to stay until the war came to an end. The men had not been consulted about this, and when they heard the rumour they bridled. Redoubling his efforts, Otter secured the participation of 261 Canadians, most of whom had been in the permanent force before volunteering for South Africa or were members of recently arrived reinforcement troops whose contracts had barely begun. Few were satisfied with their fate or with Otter, yet several of his officers offered to stay. Oscar Pelletier, wounded once again, boarded SS Idaho on 1 October 1900 at the head of over 400 men returning to Canada 11 months after they had left it. On 2 November they landed in Halifax amid euphoria. The 3rd RCR Battalion, which had been raised in Halifax to replace the British soldiers the mother country had decided to use in South Africa (another component of Canadian support for Britain), welcomed the 2nd Battalion, which paraded with its Halifax H company in the lead.
The remainder of the first contingent left South Africa on 7 November. After 22 days at sea en route to Britain, the men were entitled to 10 days' leave and were received by Queen Victoria. The volunteers then re-embarked to cross the Atlantic to Halifax, arriving there on 23 December 1900. On the 31st, the 2nd Battalion RCR was disbanded.
The capture of the capitals of the two Boer republics did not end the fighting. At this stage a complete British victory was more or less assured, though a number of Boers did not see things that way. The ones who kept fighting were viewed as rebels, not soldiers. All the same, their many attacks on the long, vulnerable British lines of communication provided the Canadians with a number of opportunities to distinguish themselves.
Canada's military commitments were no longer limited to a company or a few reinforcements: On 2 November 1899 Canada placed a second contingent at Britain's disposal. On 16 December, after reversals at Stormberg, Magersfontein and Colenso, the British accepted the offer. This time trained volunteers were used, and in contrast to the first contingent, which had been heavy and not very mobile, this one would be characterized by its mobility and striking force. A brigade of field artillery 539 strong was formed under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel C.W Drury. Two battalions of mounted riflemen were also formed, each with a strength of 371 officers and men. The first of these, later to become the Royal Canadian Dragoons (today an armoured regiment), was led by Lieutenant-Colonel François Lessard. The second was led by Lieutenant-Colonel L.W Herchmer. Conditions for payment of wages and provision of equipment were the same as those for the 2nd Battalion RCR.
The artillery brigade was divided into C, D and E batteries, which moved around to support various units, some of them Canadian. Of the three batteries, C, commanded by Major J.A. Hudon, saw the most action, hunting down small groups of vindictive Boers, especially in the northwestern Transvaal. On 16 May 1900, after a long and difficult approach, C Battery opened the road to Mafeking. When it left the Cape for Canada on 13 December 1900 its area of operation was still unpacified. "Enemy" homes and livestock had indeed been destroyed - though rarely by Canadians, it must be admitted - but the Boers were still putting up resistance.
D Battery would find itself in the middle of a big skirmish near Leliefontein. It was in the rear guard, accompanied by a handful of Royal Canadian Dragoons, when 200 mounted Boers attacked. The Canadians held their assailants at bay by fighting courageously with good co-ordination and flexibility. The British infantry fled, leaving them alone in inferior numbers, but this did not stop the Canadians from using the resources of the terrain to beat the Boers at their own game. Even though this battleground lacked the strategic or symbolic value of Paardeberg, the Canadians saved their guns and baggage while preventing loss of life among the British. The action would earn three Dragoons the Victoria Cross: Lieutenants H.Z.C. Cockburn and R.E.W. Turner and Sergeant E.J. Holland. Other Canadians would be decorated for this feat of arms. For some time during the First World War, Turner would have occasion to command one of the Canadian divisions in battle.
D Battery, commanded by Major WG. Hurdman, was the first to see action. It would campaign for 41 days and spend the rest of the year holding outposts, guarding railways and moving around. Its toughest enemy would be enteric fever. E Battery would be doomed to a similar fate in this war of skirmishes. [40]
As for the two mounted rifle battalions, they covered great distances on policing-type missions that struck them as futile. In April 1900 both of these units were incorporated into the 1st Mounted Rifles Division commanded by Major-General Hutton. After pointing out the absurdity of relying on the combat effectiveness of militiamen who lacked training, Hutton had left his position as Major-General of the Canadian Militia. He was accordingly cautious about bringing Canadians into his force. The Canadian mounted troops took part in the advance on Pretoria. Afterwards, they were in almost constant contact with Boer patrols during operations in the eastern Transvaal.
All the Canadians present in South Africa in the spring of 1900 were still far from representative of the total human effort Canada contributed to that war. Other units would go there, some of which were not raised by the Canadian government. At his own expense, Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal, Canada's High Commissioner to London, recruited a regiment of mounted rifles comprising 537 officers and men in Manitoba, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories. Lord Strathcona's Horse would be placed under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel S.B. Steele of the Mounted Police. Strathcona himself paid to recruit, organize, equip and transport the men to South Africa. He also made up the difference between the British soldiers' pay assumed by Britain and the rate Canada paid its professionals. In South Africa the unit went as far as Mozambique to cut Boer communications extending to Delagoa Bay, though without success. It then joined Sir Redvers Buller's campaign in Natal. In a skirmish under heavy fire, Sergeant A.H.L. Richardson daringly risked exposure as he retraced his steps to bring out his wounded. This act of heroism earned him the Victoria Cross.
To adjust to the war of raids which typified the fighting in South Africa towards the second half of the year 1900, the British forces frequently relied on small groups of mounted men. Every time Britain requested the recruitment of mounted police to maintain peace in various areas of the country, Canada acquiesced. More than 1,000 men were thus recruited for a three-year term and organized into 12 platoons of South African police. Some of these recruits had been in earlier Canadian contingents and returned to service for Britain when their initial contracts expired. Upon recruitment, in any case, they were all in excellent physical condition and knew how to ride a horse.
Their recruitment did not please everyone. The anti-imperialists had not altered their views, and a number of imperialists were incensed to note that the emerging Canadian identity was completely eclipsed as soon as the policemen were signed up. Nonetheless the success of these mounted troops encouraged other Canadians to offer their services at the front lines. Lieutenant-Colonel A. Denison and Major William Hamilton Merritt both proposed the formation of fresh mounted contingents for South Africa. The War Office greeted these plans with enthusiasm, subject to the usual conditions. At length, Merritt's scheme of 29 December 1900 was accepted by the British. Assuming that he had the support of his own government, Merritt began assembling his unit. He had not reckoned, however, on the scars the police affair had left on the minds of the politicians, who prevented him from going any further until a clear policy had been agreed on for Canadian participation. On 13 May 1901 a set of conditions was finally produced, which can be summarized as follows: All requests for the recruitment of Canadians would be addressed to the government of Canada; only the minister of militia and defence could raise troops and designate their officers, even for temporary units of the type fighting in South Africa; as a rule, these officers would be chosen from the permanent force; it was prohibited for anyone to recruit police in Canada. [41]
To prove it was serious, Canada immediately offered to recruit a new contingent following these criteria. It created the Canadian Yeomanry, a unit of slightly under 600 men claimed by Britain on 25 November 1901 that would later be named the 2nd Regiment, Canadian Mounted Rifles. As was customary, on arrival in South Africa it would cease to be accountable to any Canadian authority.
The 2nd Regiment Canadian Mounted Rifles served for three months, during which time it earned distinction for the quality of its reconnaissance work. It was assigned to the southwestern Transvaal as part of the final drive to capture the country as far as Vrybierg in the west. Four of its soldiers distinguished themselves at Honing Sprint by holding 50 Boers at bay, but before they could be relieved two were killed and the other two wounded. All four, wrote General Hutton, who was sparing of his compliments to Canadians, "were from Pincher Creek ... at the foot of the Rockies, a region well known for the excellence, daring and boldness of its troopers." [42]
Let us touch on a few other aspects of the Canadian contribution. Some 2,000 men in four mounted rifle regiments reached South Africa between 31 May 1902 and the end of hostilities. Theirs would be a return journey without a fight. As well, the 64 men of Canada's field hospital unit would serve various British troops. The Canadians would also provide 16 nurses, and this commitment in South Africa was an appropriate moment to establish the Canadian Nursing Service. Canada's effort extended to sending five postal clerks, 23 artificers (cobblers and blacksmiths, for example) and some 300 Canadians who joined the British irregulars either directly or at the end of their contracts with the units that had brought them to South Africa.
More than a hundred other Canadians served with the regular British troops, not to mention the hundred or so graduates of the Royal Military College (RMC) who had received British commissions. These men included Lieutenant-Colonel Édouard Percy Girouard and Major H.G. Joly de Lotbinière of the Royal Engineers and Philippe-Henri-Duperron Casgrain, Deputy Adjutant-General at British army headquarters in South Africa. Some of them, like Howard's Canadian Scouts, have passed into legend. Howard was an American who in 1885 had moved to Canada and been taught how to operate the Gatling machine gun. Now a British subject, he volunteered for South Africa. When his contract expired he offered a unit of some 125 adventurers of Canadian origin recruited among men whose contracts were ending. Accepted by the British, these Scouts would dare all, sometimes suffering heavy losses.
----
The Canadian Military History Gateway
No comments:
Post a Comment