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Conflict and Change
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War in South Africa and China
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The Boer War
The Boer War
Mounting tensions between the Dutch, or Boer, settlers and new British arrivals seeking to capitalise on South Africa’s rich gold resources led to the outbreak of the Second South Africa, or Boer War in October 1899.
The Boers quickly mounted attacks on British controlled areas in the country using guerrilla tactics and laying siege to the towns of Mafeking and Kimberley on the borders of the gold-rich Transvaal area. They also attacked and besieged the heavily defended British town of Ladysmith.
The Naval Brigade from HMS Terrible (1895) at Durban, South Africa c.1899. (RNM)
The nearest back up Army troops were located in India and Britain and it would take several weeks to build an effective counter-attack. Therefore a naval brigade comprising of men from ships of the South Africa Station landed to bolster the British Army troops on station in South Africa.
The naval brigades were able to provide the Army with vital artillery support by also landing their naval guns with makeshift carriages devised by Captain Percy Scott of HMS Terrible. Scott also invented the armoured train, a steam train armed with a naval 7-pound gun, used by the British until ambushed by Boer forces.
Silver and wooden model of a naval 4.7-inch gun on Sir Percy Scott 's improvised mounting. (RNM)
During the siege of Ladysmith, a town just outside Durban in South Africa, a hastily assembled brigade of around 300 sailors and Royal Marines under Captain Hedworth Lambton came ashore from the heavy cruisers HMS Terrible and HMS Powerful.
Sailors armed with their small arms and two 4.7-inch guns borrowed from HMS Terrible travelled via train with the naval guns to Ladysmith and played a key part in the artillery bombardment of Boer forces besieging the town.
Encampment of the naval brigade of HMS Terrible, Durban, South Africa c.1899-1900. (RNM)
The campaign was long-drawn out and the troops finally relieved the town on 28 February 1900 after 117 days under siege. The naval brigade had lost 3 officers and 30 ratings from enemy action or disease.
Naval Gun en route to Ladysmith, Boer War c.1900. (RNM)
A naval brigade was also part of the Ladysmith relief column under General Sir Redvers Buller providing field artillery support with their naval guns.
For an account of the work of the naval brigade attached to the Ladysmith relief column select the link for Edward Pitcairn Jones, a naval brigade commander in the Boer War, and one of Sea Your History’s Naval Lives.
Naval brigades were also mustered to support the relief columns of the towns of Kimberley and Mafeking.
A brigade of sailors and Royal Marines from HMS Doris joined Lieutenant General Lord Methuen’s force in November 1899 to aid the relief of Kimberley. The force mainly fought in an infantry capacity incurring heavy losses during the Battle of Graspan.
The Naval Brigade of HMS Doris at Graspan, South Africa November 1899. (RNM)
By the latter part of 1900 the involvement of the naval brigades had come to an end. The Admiralty was critical of the use of their highly technically trained sailors in South Africa and most naval personnel had re-embarked on their ships by September 1900.
The British in South Africa and back home heralded the officers and men of the naval brigades as heroes. On their return to Britain many parades and celebrations took place in order to commemorate their efforts in conquering the Boers and helping to assert British supremacy in the country.
Commemorative postcard by the Mayor of Simonstown, March 1900. (RNM)
The work of the naval brigades in South Africa has been immortalised in naval tradition with the field gun competition, a tradition that is still alive today.
The field gun run is loosely based on, and is a tribute to, the naval brigades in the Boer War (1900-01) who transported 12-pound guns from the ships HMS Powerful and HMS Terrible to aid the British Army in the relief of Ladysmith.
An annual field gun competition was held at the Royal Tournament from 1907 until 1999, after which it has taken place in various Naval shore establishments.
