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Page 4
The following officers were attached for duty to the battalion:--
Major Burnside, R.A.M.C., in medical charge.
Lieutenant E.G. Caffin, Yorkshire Regiment.
Lieutenant H.W.R. Cowie, Dorset Regiment.
Lieutenant A.M. Tringham, The Queen's West Surrey Regiment.
Lieutenant J.A. Byrne, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.
Lieutenant E.E.M. Walker, Somersetshire Light Infantry.
[Illustration: En Route to Ladysmith]
The following officers were absent from the battalion on leave in
England:--
Captain W.B. Lafone.
Captain G.M. Gloster.
Lieutenant H.N. Field.
Colonel J.H. Yule, commanding the battalion, was appointed to the
command of the Indian Infantry Brigade, South Africa, with the temporary
rank of brigadier-general. Major A.G. Spratt was placed in charge of the
depot and details left at Jullunder.
The Regiment arrived without incident on September 21st at Bombay,
having halted, for a few hours only, at the following places:--
On September 17th at Aligarh.
" " 18th at Jhansi.
" " 19th at Hoshangabad.
" " 20th at Deolali.
Embarkation took place immediately on arrival, the transport _Sutlej_
taking five companies, head-quarters, band and drums, under Major C.W.
Park; and the transport _City of London_ taking three companies under
Major M.C. Curry.
On the latter vessel sailed also Sir George White's Staff and the Staff
of the Indian Infantry Brigade.
The _Sutlej_ sailed at noon on September 21st, and it was reported that
the ship was under sealed orders, and that her destination was Delagoa
Bay.
The days on board were occupied in keeping the men fit with physical
drill, free gymnastics, etc., and with instruction in first-aid to the
wounded and the use of the field-dressing and the method of adjusting
it.
On September 28th Agalega Island was sighted, and on the 30th the ship
was off the east coast of Madagascar.
On the 2nd October the S.S. _Purnea_ with the 60th Rifles on board was
spoken, and communication by flag signal established, both vessels
inquiring for news. The _Sutlej_ was the last to leave port, but had
nothing new to communicate.
At 7 a.m. on October 5th, in rough and foggy weather, the _Sutlej_
arrived off the coast of Africa, and the fog lifting about midday, she
ran down the coastline for two hours, and arrived outside the bar at
Durban.
The ships conveying the 60th Rifles and the 53rd Battery arrived an hour
later. The _Sutlej_ waited till 2 p.m. to enter the harbour, and arrived
alongside the quay at 4 p.m., when disembarkation commenced at once in
torrents of rain and heavy wind squalls.
A deputation of the Durban "West of England" Association met the
Regiment on arrival and presented an address.
The first news received on landing was that war had not yet been
declared, but that it was inevitable, that President Kruger had seized
half a million of money on its way from Johannesburg to the Cape, and
that orders had been given by him to shoot any one crossing the
frontier. This may or may not have been true; a good deal of _perfectly
reliable_ information was being circulated about this time.
On the night of October 5th-6th the Regiment left in three trains for
Ladysmith. The rain and cold caused some inconvenience to the men, as
they were packed into open trucks, and obtained neither shelter nor
sleep. They were new to the game then, but they saw the inside of many a
coal truck later.
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