MONUMENTALLY SPEAKING-QLD EDITIONINCORPORATING WESTERN AUSTRALIA AND THE NORTHERN TERITORY

QLD COMMITTEE NEWSLETTER VOL 5

National Boer War Memorial AssociationPatron in Chief

Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce ACGovernor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia

National PatronGeneral David Hurley AC,DSC

Chief of the Defence ForceQueensland Patron

The Hon Campbell NewmanPremier of Queensland

The State Governor, Her Excellency Ms Pene-lope Wensley AC,was represented by Lieuten-ant Commander Dominic Katter, Hon ADC atthe ceremony which was addressed by ColonelDennis Scanlon CSM RFD ADC., who is a de-scendant of two Boer War soldiersA Cata-falque Party was also mounted at the ‘A’ Bat-tery Memorial located beside the Caskey Me-morial. This was provided by ‘A’ Battery QldPermanent Artillery (Circa 1876) .

Re-dedication of Caskey Memorial at Toowong

Lt. Lachlan John Caskey Honoured inToowong Cemetery Ceremony

On Saturday the 23rd of September a Memorial to Lt.Lachlan John Caskey was rededicated in a movingceremony, attended by many of his descendants. ACatafalque Party was provided by the 2/14th QMI,many of whom were recently returned from Afghani-stan. The memorial was one of the first erected to aBoer War participant in Queensland and was one ofthree erected to Lt. Caskey , who was born at SpringCreek on the Darling Downs and joined the 5th Qld Im-perial Bushmen on the 25th February 1901 and arrivedin South Africa on March 30th, 1901.On the 27th ofSeptember 1901, Lt. Caskey was killed in action atMakari Drift , Caledon River whilst leading his menagainst an enemy force vastly superior in numbers. Thememorial had deteriorated with the passage of time. Itwas recently restored due the efforts of the Qld commit-tee ably assisted by the RSL Brisbane North District,the Sherwood/Indooroopilly and Kedron-Wavell RSLSub-branches, with funds also contributed by theQueensland Government Memorials restoration Fund.The ceremony received Television coverage courtesyof Brisbane’s BTQ Channel 7 in their nightly news bul-letin.

The Second Part of the service was performedat the Grave of Private George Given Forsythof the 5th Qld Imperial Bushmen. Private For-syth sailed with the Regiment to South Africaon the 6th of March 1901. He was a highly re-garded soldier popular with his fellows. On thereturn voyage to Brisbane he contracted mea-sles and was hospitalised at the Brisbane Gen-eral Hospital where he died on the 2nd of May1902. His parents were in Ipswich and wereeagerly awaiting his return when they wereinformed. They only managed to reach his bed-side just before he died without regaining con-sciousness. He was buried with full militaryhonours on 5th of May 1902 attended by hiscomrades (Cont. P3)

The Brisbane Municipal Concert Band

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Queensland Chairman’s Report

Welcome to fourteenth Queensland National Boer War Memorial Association newsletter.

National News

Just where are we with the Project?

The design is now fully approved and we need significant funding in order to start construction.The project was recommended by the Steering Committee for ANZAC Centenary Celebrations tobe part of the celebrations but funding has to be raised by public donations.

We are still waiting for a grant from the Federal Government, specific to our memorial project,your donations will help us start the construction of our National Boer War Memorial in Canberra.

The sculptor has offered to create the first model of a Mounted Trooper for half the full fee.He must have the BWM answer by November this year, otherwise he must accept another com-mission.Qld has approached the Corporate World for funding and will continue to do so.

Queensland News On the 23 Sep we rededicated the Lt L.J Caskey memorial in Toowong Cemetery, in time for the111th anniversary of his death in September 1901. The dedication ceremony was well attended withthe Brisbane Municipal Concert Band and several historical societies in attendance. A CatafalqueParty was provided by 2/14 LHR. See front page for detailed layout of the event. It is believed that thismonument was the first erected in Queensland for the Boer War.

The Centenary Theatre Group presented a stage play on Breaker Morant at Chelmer in Septem-ber 2012. This is always a topical subject and was well attended.Jennifer and Ron Marshall donated a framed Limited Edition print of “My Blaze” which we raffled inconjunction with the play, the proceeds to go towards the memorial. The winner was Mr Bill Thirkill, along time resident of Oxley

Future Events

Our next memorial event will be on the 4th Feb 2013 at the Sherwood Cemetery when we commemo-rate the Battle of Onverwacht Hills. We have completed the design stage, we have governmentapproval of the design, we have appointed a project manager and are now moving onto the ten-dering/construction stage. We will now need more help in the way of descendant registration anddonations. Your support is vital to the success of the project which will fill a great gap in our mili-tary history.

Ron McElwaine OAMChairman Qld Committee of NBWMA

(Cont from Page 1)from the 5th Qld Imperial Bushmen in what wasto be their last task before their disbandment.This part of the service involved the dedicationand unveiling of a bronze plaque by ColonelScanlan and Queensland members of ClanForsythe, followed by prayers and the laying ofwreaths. A piper from the BBC Old CollegianPipe Band played the lament during this cere-mony, which was followed by the Last Post, aminutes silence and the Rouse. A rifle volleywas fired by the members of Albert Battery,which added to what had been a moving tributeto a young man who had succumbed to mea-sles after surviving a war some 110 years ago.At the conclusion of the services, all attendingreturned to the entrance area of the cemeteryfor refreshments, and for the Forsyth Clan, andCaskey descendants, to share reminiscencesand stories of their ancestors.

Rifle Volley by Albert Battery at Forsyth Grave

Colonel Dennis Scanlan CSM RFD ADC and Lt-Commander Dominic Katter prepare to lay

wreaths

The “Breaker Morant” PlaySeptember saw the Centenary Theatre Groupstage its long awaited play on the “Breaker” inthe Chelmer Community Centre. The play waswell attended, and that attendance was well re-warded for Mr Bill Thirkill from Oxley. Bill wonthe framed Limited edition print of “My Blaze”which was kindly donated by Jenifer and RonMarshall with the proceeds of the raffle goingtowards the Memorial. Colleen O’Leary won thesecond prize. All up the raffle raised over $1700Towards the Memorial, and our thanks go out toall who participated and a special thanks to ourprize donors.

Clan Forsyth members at the graveside Bill and Fran Thirkill with “The Blaze”

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Captain Spencer Alwyne Olliver DSO,2W.A.M.I. and S.A.C.

Among those men who volunteered for servicewith the 2nd West Australian Mounted Infantry( W.A.M.I.), now being raised for service inSouth Africa, was Spencer Alwyne Olliver( shown in The West Australian newspaper, asOliver ).

He gave the following details on his applicationformName : Spencer Alwyne Oliver(as printed in The West Australian ).Age : 33 years. (A ).Birthplace: Sussex, England.Occupation: Mining Investor.Previous Service :10 years, Lieutenant, RoyalNavy, 1872 - 1882.

On passing the medical examinations etc., hewas accepted in the contingent, with the rankof Sergeant and the number 30. Due to hisprevious military service, he was promoted tothe rank of Lieutenant on the 1.3.1900, prior tothe contingent’s departure for South Africa, onthe 3.3.1900. He was promoted to Captain, inthe field on 25.2.1901. ( B ). He was Involvedin a minor action near Waterval Onder, wherehe was captured and briefly held prisoner be-fore being released.

He was Mentioned in Despatches, by LordRoberts, 2.4.1901 ( London Gazette,16.4.1901, page 2608 ), for Meritorious servicesperformed. He was also awarded the Distin-guished Service Order ( D.S.O.), In recognitionof services during the operations in South Africa( London Gazette, 19.4.1901, page 2702 ).On the 5.2.1901, Captain Oliver, with a partyof 12 W.AJVI.I., 12 7* Royal Dragoons and 3Cape Police, was sent to carry despatchesfrom Colonel Haig to another column in thefield.

( C ) . Near two kopjes near Featherstone-haugh’s farm at Klipplaat, Oliver’s party wasattacked by Kritzinger’s Commando, of nearly300 men. Fighting off their Boer attackers forseven hours, the small party Finally surren-dered at night, with four of the Dragoons beingkilled and Captain Oliver and several othersbeing wounded. After being stripped of theirweapons and equipment, the men were re-leased and made their way back to the Britishlines.

Captain Olliver’s grave in Pretoria

Following the path of many other officers andother ranks who were applying to join the newlyformed South African Constabulary ( S.A.C. ),Captain Oliver resigned his commission in the2nd W.A.M.I., 12.4.1901.On being accepted intothe S.A.C., with his rank of Captain being datedfrom 3.3.1901, he was posted to C Division, asfrom 12.4.1901.

In April of 1902, he reported ill with Enteric Fe-ver and appeared to be recovering from this,but unfortunately he suffered a relapse anddied in Pretoria on the 28.4.1902.He was buriedin Grave 340, in the Church of England Pre-cinct, Pretoria Cemetery, where the marblecross was inscribed “ In Memory of Spencer Ah-vyne Olliver DSO Capt SAC. Died 28h April 1902.Aged 42 years. Erected by his BrotherOfficers.

“Awarded the Distinguished Service Order( D.S.O. ).Awarded the Queen's South AfricaMedal, with the clasps, Johannesburg, Dia-mond Hill, Belfast, Cape Colony and OrangeFree State, for his service with the 2Bd W.A.M.IMay have also been awarded the clasps, SouthAfrica 1901 and South Africa 1902, for his ser-vice with the South African Constabulary.(Cont. P5)

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Continued from Page 4)

Notes

( A ) : If his year of birth, 1859, is correct,then his age at enlisting would have been 41years, not 33 years.

( B ) : In some records, the date of his pro-motion to Captain, is given as 28.2.1901.

( C ) : In some records, the battle of this ac-tion is given as 6.2.1901.

Thank you to Terry Cawood, South AfricanWar Graves Project ( SAWGP ), South Af-rica, for his assistance in obtaining the pho-tos of Captain S.A. Oliver’s grave.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pte Henry Ekert 1st W.A.M.I.“ Harry “ as he preferred to be known, wasborn near Maitland in New South Wales onthe 4.5.1869 and came to Western Australia,with three brothers to try their luck on thegoldfields in 1894.After a couple of years, hisbrothers returned east, Harry however re-mained in the west, working on various farmsuntil he answered the call for volunteers toserve in South Africa. On reporting to the DrillHall in Francis Street, Perth, he gave the fol-lowing details on his Attestation Form

Name: Henry ( Harry)Ekert.

Age : 27 years, 5 months.

Birthplace : New South Wales.

Occupation: Labourer.Previous Service : 15 months in Guild-ford Infantry Volunteers ( Still serving ).Onpassing his medical examination, he was ac-cepted into the contingent, with the rank of Pri-vate and the number 17. Harry served in the Is*W.A.MJ. in South Africa until returning with it,on it's completion of duty. On his return toWestern Australia, Harry married and beganwheat farming on approximately 500 acres.This proved unsuitable and so about 1908, hepurchased 25 acres of good land

at Caversham, on the outskirts of Perth. Herehe grew watermelons, pumpkins, rock melonsand grapes, with some of the grapes beingdried on racks to become currants and raisins.He became well known for the size of some ofhis farm grown produce, one example being aCuban Queen watermelon, weighing 97 l/21bs,this watermelon was later presented to theState’s Governor in 1913. Pigs were also aproduct of the farm, being raised for bacon, withthe smoking and curing being done on the farm.A true story from the Ekert family concerns apig and a pumpkin. A sow became lost, Harryand brother George, spent more than an a hoursearching for it, until finding it inside of one ofHarry's huge pumpkins. With the outbreak ofWorld War One, Harry again answered the callfor volunteers, but this time was not acceptedon medical grounds. Harry died of cancer of thestomach in May of 1917, aged 48.He wasAwarded the Queen’s South Africa Medal, wilhthe bars, Johannesburg, Diamond Hill, Witte-bergen and Cape Colony.

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SUFFER THE HORSES

Most Readers will be aware of the horses thatdidn’t come home from the Middle East after theend of World War I. Fortunately most were soldto the British Government for their cavalry regi-ments in England and India. Sadly a numberwere shot by their Light Horse owners ratherthan see them fall into the hands of the Arabsand others.

How many understand the plight of the horsesthat were used by both sides in the Anglo BoerWar? Horses used by the British Forces fromOctober 1899 to 31 May 1902 numbered in thehundreds of thousands, including 43,000 fromAustralia and 8,000 from New Zealand.

The need for horses had grown when the Britishrecognised the need for mobility, which is whythey wanted Australian mounted units. Theyalso trained many of their own infantry to rideand formed ‘yeomanry’ units. Some of the poorTommies had never been near a horse in theirlives, and knew nothing of the husbandryneeded to care for their mount. The number ofBoer horses is not known, but would also havebeen very high. It has been estimated that thetotal number of horses lost ranged from 550,000to as many as 650,000.

The hard life for the Australian horses beganfrom the moment they were loaded onto thetroop ships, and their voyage to South Africabegan. They were well cared for by themounted infantry or bushmen soldiers but manycould not withstand the rigours of rough seas,cramped conditions and heat in their stalls be-low decks. Hence a number ended up in DavyJones’ Locker. After landing in South Africa theywere not always given time to acclimatise andget their land legs, so to speak. The average lifeexpectancy of horses from England was a shortas six weeks from its time of arrival.

Life for our horses did not improve after theylanded in South Africa. The logistics of keepingan army supplied with fodder was most difficult.With rail lines under attack by the Boer Com-mandos, reliance had to be placed on convoysof wagons drawn by oxen, mules and horses.Men and horses frequently went short, some-times for several days. Large tracts of the veldtwere extremely dry and so water was often inscarce supply, for both men and horses. .Therewas little suitable grass about to supplementfeed for the horses, whereas the Boer ponieswere used to the type of feed available.

After Kitchener’s scorched earth policy, whichdenied them fodder for their ponies, and block-house lines took effect the Boers mobility andfreedom of movement was severely restricted.

Horses cannot go on forever, and need time torest and recuperate after long marches. Manywill know the story of French’s great cavalrydash to relieve Kimberly; however the toll on thehorses was such that it had practically wipedout the cavalry as a fighting force. His cavalryrode 500 horses to their death in a single day.Hence he was only able to muster some 1,200horses to assist in Lord Robert’s advance onBloemfontein.

The horse and rider faced the same danger to-gether as in any war—the enemy bullet or artil-lery shell. Countless horses were shot from un-der their rider by the Boers firing accuratelyfrom on horseback or from a position on a kopj

The losses of horses in battle and through ex-haustion placed a great strain on the remountsystem. More horses had to be sent from Aus-tralia. Some also came from Argentina andother places in the world. Supply oh horses be-came lucrative business for many Australiangraziers. Many units took over horses from unitsthat were returning to Australia. That was howthe cycle company that had gone over with 5th

QIB acquired its horses, and then became ab-sorbed in the Fifth.

In the meantime the men often spent daysmarching on foot or, if lucky, riding on wagons.This was also the case if they had been takenprisoner by the Boers, who had no means ofholding prisoners.

The usual treatment of captured soldiers by theBoers was to strip them of their boots, and otheruseful items of equipment, particularly rifles andammunition. This was a major source of supplyfor the Boers who had no access to the outerworld. All the horses were taken, and so ourmen were footsore and weary by the time theyreached the safety of a British camp.

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Suffer the Horses.. Cont from P6 )

At the end of the Boer War the number of Aus-tralian horses left in country would have beensmall. They could not be taken back to Australiabecause of quarantine regulations.

Were such regulations in place then, or was itbecause of the difficulty and cost of transportingthem? The latter is the reason why New Zea-land sold their horses to the British army orfarmers.A brief word needs to be said about the numer-ous breeds of horses used in South Africa. TheCape horse was considered by the Brits as be-ing useless for military purpose.

How very wrong they were proved by the Boerson their ponies. Different breeds and sizes wereneeded for different purposes, e.g. gun horses,cavalry horses, cart horses, wagon horses, andmounted infantry. The cavalry horse had to bevery different from the mounted infantry horse.The cavalry had to charge the enemy, whereasthe mounted infantry dismounted and went onfoot. Hence the ‘Waler’ from NSW grew in popu-larity, cemented in history in WWI.

It was a breed which had been evolving fromthe various breeds which had been taken toAustralia in the early 19th century, including theCape horse, and is now a registered breed.“Suffer The Horses” concludes with the story oftwo horses—‘My Blaze’, and ‘Mary’.

The story of Corporal Bill Greer of the Queen-sland Company of the 1st Battalion AustralianCommonwealth Horse tells a sad story of whathappened. The recruiting sergeant in Queen-sland told him that he would be able to take hishorse ‘Blaze’ back home. In the event Bill foundthis was not true. Sadly he took ‘Blaze’ onto theveldt and shot his loyal friend.

Bill’s son William, or ‘Wilgee’ as he is known inWarwick commissioned a portrait of his fatherand ‘Blaze’ painted by Jennifer Marshall of Mar-shall Fine Art Editions. Ron and Jennifer gener-ously donated a framed print of this picture tobe raffled in conjunction with the stage play‘Breaker Morant’ recently performed by theCentenary Theatre Group.Another interesting story of an Australian horsethat served in the Boer War and survived is thatof ‘Mary’, a bay Australian mare.

’Mary’ lies buried in a grave in the Irish ArmyEquestrian Barracks with a headstone bearingthe following inscription:

JAN 1909—DIED IN DUBLIN SEPT 1909—THIS STONE WAS ERECTED BY THE REG“INMEMORY OF...MARY....BAY AUSTRALIANMARE—JOINED 5TH DRAGOON GUARDS INMEERUT 1896—SERVED THROUGHOUTTHE SIEGE OF LADYSMITH—AND SOUTHAFRICAN WAR 1899-1902—RETURNED TOINDIA 1902-1904—RETURNED TO SOUTHAFRICA 1904-1908—ARRIVED IN DUBLIN INJAN 1909—DIED IN DUBLIN SEPT 1909—THIS STONE WAS ERECTED BY THE REGI-MENT.”

Mary’ has not been forgotten and has been vis-ited by Alex Makim, a polo player of note fromthe Darling Downs, who generously providedthis story. He asks the question, as I am sure allreaders will—why was ‘Mary’ so respected andhonoured by the Dragoons?

MWF 16/10/2012

“Mary’s” Plaque with Scott Barclay and Com-mandant Jerry O’Gorman

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MONUMENTALLY SPEAKING - QLD EDITIONMemorabilia for sale

Queen Victoria Chocolate tin: Slouch Hats$25 per tin+ postage. Allow 3-4 weeks delivery

Boer War Service Plaques$60 + P & H

Polo Shirts embroidered in blackBWM Polo Shirts sizes Small to 4XL$30 + $7.70 postage for one shirt

History of the 5th Queen-sland Imperial BushmenBy Alan Fogg MBE

Books sell for $15.00 each + $8.00Postage for one book

Illustrated Roll of Qld UnitsOn CD. CD can be purchasedfor $15.00 each + $2.00 P&H

BWM Ties!Get in quick for Christmas

These quality ties are a great hit. Designed andmade in Australia, these ties are in the QueenVictoria Medal colours on navy background em-bossed with the leading horseman from the me-morial design.Priced at $25.00 incl GST + $3.00 postage