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Page 48
Orders were received on the following day from General Kitchener for
Davies' force to rejoin head-quarters at Paardeplaats. An early start
was made at 6 a.m. Lackau, 12-1/2 miles, was reached at 11 a.m., and
here the column halted and the cattle outspanned till 2.30 p.m. The heat
in the bush veldt was excessive, and was very trying to the men and
cattle. At 2.30 p.m. the march was again resumed, and after another ten
miles Paardeplaats was reached at dusk.
It had been a hot and dusty march of 22-1/2 miles, and the men and
cattle were rather "done up." On arrival it was found that the General
had moved on to Goedgedacht.
As soon as it was dark rockets were fired to try and direct the four
missing men into camp, but without success.
On the following day the battalion with the Australians marched down the
steep Zaaiplaats Pass to Buffelsvlei, bivouacking for the night on the
banks of the Buffelsvlei River.
On arrival there it was again found that the General had moved on to
Rooi Plaats, and that the 2nd Rifle Brigade had proceeded by the
Tautesberg road with prisoners and families and cattle to Wonderfontein
on the railway line.
May 1st found the force at Rooi Plaats, and here a halt was made on the
2nd. Two companies under Captain Bartlett were dispatched to Diepkloof
and two companies under Captain Wren to Waterval in order to block the
two roads to the north from the Botha's Berg, and to stop the Boers
breaking back.
On May 3rd the Regiment with the Australian mounted infantry reached
Waterval, and on the following day proceeded to Blinkwater. Two
companies with two guns under Captain Ponsonby, R.A., were left behind
to cover the retirement of some mounted infantry, with orders to rejoin
in the evening.
General Blood, with the whole of his personal command, had left
Blinkwater on the previous day for Middleburg, and on the 5th General
Kitchener received orders to follow him. The column marched that day to
Rooi Kop, twelve miles distant on the Middleburg road, and on the
following day two companies Devon Regiment, two companies Rifle Brigade,
five guns and one howitzer, with the sick, the whole under Captain
Jacson, left for Bankfontein, where they were joined next morning by the
remainder of General Kitchener's column.
At Bankfontein a telegram was received which announced that Major Davies
had been promoted to the brevet rank of lieutenant-colonel, Major Curry
granted a D.S.O., and Captain Jacson was to be promoted to the brevet
rank of lieutenant-colonel on attaining the rank of major.
A halt was made at Bankfontein from the 8th till the 11th, when the
force refitted, and on May the 12th the column marched to Rondebosch on
the outskirts of Middleburg.
In the early part of May, 1901, a further drive on a large scale was
organized by head-quarters. This was intended to traverse the whole of
the Eastern Transvaal south of the railway. The columns were to be
extended from Middleburg through Carolina up to the Swazi border on the
east, and then, with a circling movement based on Middleburg, gradually
to sweep the country through Ermelo towards Bethel. Having rounded up
all this country, the drive, extending from Bethel on the south to the
Pretoria-Lorenzo railway on the north, was by a combined movement to the
westward, to push all the Boers remaining in this part of the country
with their cattle on to Johannesburg-Springs and the Pretoria-Standerton
railway lines, which were guarded. The movement was under the direction
of Sir Bindon Blood, and his forces consisted of eight columns.
The battalion found itself again under the command of General Walter
Kitchener, forming part of his column, which was composed of the
following troops:--
1st Devonshire Regiment.
2nd Rifle Brigade.
6th West Australians (450 strong).
2nd I.L.H. (800 strong).
Four guns 53rd Field Battery R.A.
One 5-inch gun.
One naval 12-pounder.
Its position in the drive was on the left or outside edge of the circle
of the operations.
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