VCs of the First World War: The Sideshows E-Book

Gerald Gliddon

• Herausgeber: The History Press
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

The thirteenth and final volume of the VCs of the First World War series features the lives and careers of forty-six servicemen who won the coveted Victoria Cross in theatres of war – or 'Sideshows', as they became known – beyond the Western Front and Gallipoli. Opening with the stories of four VC winners who took part in the prolonged struggle to drive the German Army out of East Africa, VCs of the First World War: The Sideshows goes on to tell the stories of the two Indian Army winners of the VC defending the North-West Frontier. Finally, it covers the campaigns against the Austro–German forces in Italy; securing the oil wells in Mesopotamia (later Iraq); defending the Suez Canal and attacking the Ottoman Army in Palestine and lastly serving in Salonika in the Balkans. Each VC winner's act of bravery is recorded here in intricate detail, together with the background of the men and their lives after the war – if they survived.

Leseprobe

CONTENTS

Title Page

Acknowledgements

Prefatory Note

AFRICA

J.F.P. Butler

W.T. Dartnell

W.A. Bloomfield

F.C. Booth

INDIA

E. Jotham

C. Hull

ITALY

C.E. Hudson

J.S. Youll

W. McNally

W. Wood

MESOPOTAMIA

G.G.M. Wheeler

C. Singh

Lala

J.A. Sinton

G. Stringer

A. Buchanan

S.W. Ware

W.R.F. Addison

J.H. Fynn

E.K. Myles

S. Khan

E.E.D. Henderson

R.E. Phillips

T. Steele

G.C. Wheeler

J. Readitt

J. White

O.A. Reid

C. Melvin

J.R.N. Graham

PALESTINE

J.M. Craig

A.M. Lafone

J. Collins

J.F. Russell

A.D. Borton

S.H.P. Boughey

C.W. Train

J.A. Christie

J. Duffy

H. Whitfield

K. Rana

R.E. Cruickshank

S. Needham

B. Singh

SALONIKA

H.W. Lewis

D. Burges

Sources

Bibliography

Plate Section

Copyright

In memory of Leo Cooper, publisher

(1934–2013)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

As always I would like to thank the staff of the following institutions for their assistance during the research for this book: the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the Imperial War Museum, the National Army Museum and the National Archives at Kew. In addition, I would like to thank the archivists and curators of the many county archives, regimental museums and libraries who have replied to my request for information.

As with my previous books in the VCs of the First World War series, Donald C. Jennings of Florida has been extremely kind in allowing me to reproduce many of his photographs of both graves and memorials. In addition, David Harvey, before his untimely death in 2004, gave me permission to use some of the illustrations from his book, Monuments to Courage. Where other photographs have been used, their owners have been acknowledged within the picture’s caption.

Most of the maps used have been taken from the Official History of the Great War Military Operations: Other Theatres, 1914–19, which the Naval & Military Press has kindly allowed me to use.

I am grateful to the late George Sassoon for his kind permission to reproduce the extract from Siegfried Sassoon Diaries, 1915–1918, edited and introduced by Rupert Hart-Davis (Faber & Faber, 1983, © Siegfried Sassoon).

Other individuals who have been of great help in many ways include: first and foremost, Peter Batchelor and Dr Graham Keech; John Bolton, Steve Brown, Roger Chapman, Andrew England, Winifred Gliddon, the late Miles Hudson, Walter Ireland, the late Philip Lewis, Chris Matson, Dennis Pillinger, Steve Snelling, Anthony Staunton and Iain Stewart. Those whose names are not mentioned here have been acknowledged in the list of sources at the end of the book.

PREFATORY NOTE

This book is the thirteenth and last volume in the VCs of the First World War series and requires a note of explanation. Its purpose is to cover the lives and careers of those men who won the Victoria Cross while serving in the Army in what were sometimes called ‘sideshows’ or ‘other theatres’. However, Gallipoli, the biggest of these sideshows, has already been written about by Steve Snelling. The title chosen for this book is not meant in any way to denigrate the role of men involved in these theatres, but it does appear to be the most appropriate solution in the circumstances and was a term that was used during the war itself. In addition, and owing to the way the series developed, fourteen VCs have now been written up twice in the series, namely, E.C. Boyle, J.P.F. Butler, N.G. Chavasse, R. Bell Davies, G.L. Drewry, N.D. Holbrook, W. St A. Malleson, M.E. Nasmith, H.P. Ritchie, E.G. Robinson, G. McKenzie Samson, A.W. St C. Tisdall, E. Unwin and W.C. Williams. However, with the publication of this final volume, all 628 VCs awarded during the First World War have been finally covered.

This volume also excludes both the Naval and Aviation VCs and sets out to tell the stories of the military men who gained the Victoria Cross in other theatres apart from Gallipoli and the Western Front in France and Belgium; hence the territories covered include East and West Africa, the North-West Frontier of India, Italy, Mesopotamia, Palestine and Salonika. Although the names of most of these regions have changed, together with their geographical boundaries, I have chosen to retain the nomenclature of the period.

I have not set out to tell the complete histories of these six campaigns, so readers will look in vain for mentions of T.E. Lawrence’s leadership of the Arab Revolt, during which time 12,000 Turkish troops were tied down, or of the Duke of Westminster in March 1916 rescuing a group of seamen captured by members of the Senussi tribe. Although it was mooted that both of these men might be awarded the VC, in the end they weren’t and had to make do with the award of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) instead. What I have attempted to do is to place each of the forty-six soldiers who won the nation’s highest military honour in the historical background to which they belonged at the time of gaining the VC.

Finally, a note about decorations: most of the men written about in this book shared certain medals, although differences and variations do occur. The 1914 Star (or Mons Star) covers active military service for the period August-November 1914. The 1914 Star was awarded to men who actively served up to 31 December 1915, and who had not already been awarded the 1914 Star. The British War Medal (BWM) was given to servicemen who served overseas in the period 1914–18. The Victory Medal (VM) was awarded to men who served in an overseas theatre of war. Any VC holder mentioned in this book who survived the First World War and was still alive in 1937 would have been entitled to a King George VI Coronation Medal, as he would also have been if he survived until 1953 when Queen Elizabeth II was crowned.

Instead of writing an introduction to the book in the opening pages, I have decided to place a brief note of explanation at the beginning of each of the six main sections.

The History Press has decided to re-issue the VCs of the First World War series in new editions and I have taken advantage of this decision by revising and updating the text of the current volume. Since the initial research for this book was carried out ten years ago there has been an increasing interest in and awareness of the stories and lives of the men who were awarded the nation’s and the Commonwealth’s highest military honour. Evidence of this can be found in the amount of interest in the subject by the media, new books being published on the subject, the issuing of servicemen’s records by the National Archives and the accessibility of other records of family history, which are now available via Ancestry, the family history magazine, and from other sources. The Internet has also played a major part, although information received using this method should always be verified by cross-checking. Finally, the founding of the Victoria Cross Society in 2002 by Brian Best has encouraged further research and publication of informative articles on the holders of the Victoria Cross.

While this book was in preparation, the British government announced plans for commemorating the First World War centenary from 2014 to 2018. One of the ideas is directly linked with the commemoration of men who had won a Victoria Cross during the Great War. It is proposed that towns or regions most associated with each serviceman will commemorate their ‘local hero’ with a paving stone set in a prominent place. The men born outside the United Kingdom will hopefully also be remembered, but this is being negotiated. In addition, all the names of the 628 VC holders will be commemorated on a central paving stone surrounded by panels, which would also include regimental names and date of the award. This would be set up at the National Memorial Arboretum, Cannock Chase, Staffordshire.

Gerald Gliddon, July 2014

AFRICA

J.F.P. BUTLER

The Cameroons, West Africa, 17 November 1914

In August 1914 Germany’s African colonies consisted of German East Africa, German South-West Africa and, in the west, the Cameroons and Togoland. It was naturally the aim of the British and French armies to drive Germany out of these territories. It was obvious from the beginning of the war that the Germans would eventually be defeated and pushed out of Africa, if only by the sheer weight of troop numbers.

The wily German Commander Gen. von Lettow-Vorbeck was military commander in German East Africa in August 1914 and never had more than 15,000 troops under his command during the war. On the other hand, the Allies had command of the sea and were able to muster up to 100,000 men from India and many parts of Africa itself. The German aim was to tie up this Allied force for as long as possible and prevent the soldiers from being used on the Western Front. It is an odd, but very well-known fact, that the enemy in East Africa was never defeated and had to be instructed to cease fire only several days after the Armistice had been agreed in Europe.

In Togoland in West Africa on 12 August 1914, in what must have been one of the very first actions of the war (even the BEF had not yet set foot in France), a single native regiment of the Gold Coast Regiment, together with French troops, conducted a successful mounted attack against the German forces to the east of Gold Coast. On 25 August Tepe was taken by the Allies and, by the following day, Togoland had been conquered.

North of Duala, Cameroons, 17 November 1914.

Three days later, however, the British were defeated at Garua and also suffered another reverse near Nsanakong (Nsana Kang). But also on 26 October the Allies captured Duala, the capital of the Cameroons. During the Cameroons Campaign much of the fighting took place around the important railways that ran to the north and east of Duala.

Three weeks later, on 17 November, Capt. J.F.P. Butler of the King’s Royal Rifle Corps (KRRC), attached to Pioneer Company, Gold Coast Regiment, West African Forces, became the first man to win the VC in Africa during the First World War when he won the decoration for conspicuous bravery in the Cameroons fighting. He was with a party of thirteen men in thick bush when they attacked a force of about 100 troops, including several Europeans. Butler’s party defeated them and captured their machine-gun, as well as a great quantity of ammunition. Nearly six weeks later, on 27 December, when an advance was held up, Butler was on patrol with a small group and swam across the River Ekam, which was in enemy hands. Alone and in the face of brisk fire he carried out reconnaissance on the far bank before swimming back to safety.

The New Year began with an Allied thrust into the bush-filled interior when their German adversary was making considerable use of native troops. In March, Butler was made a captain before returning to England. His VC was gazetted on 23 August 1915 and it was presented to him by the King at Buckingham Palace the following day. J.F.P. Butler’s citation appeared in the London Gazette on 23 August 1915 as follows:

John Fitzhardinge Paul Butler, Capt., King’s Royal Rifle Corps, attached Pioneer Coy [Company] Z, Gold Coast Regt., West African Frontier Force. For most conspicuous bravery in the Cameroons, West Africa on 17 Nov. 1914. With a party of 13 men he went into the thick bush, and at once attacked the enemy, in strength about 100, including several Europeans; defeated them, and captured their machine gun and many loads of ammunition. On 27 Dec. 1914, when on patrol duty with a few men, he swam the Ekam River, which was held by the enemy, alone and in face of a brisk fire; completed his reconnaissance on the further bank and returned in safety. Two of his men were wounded while he was actually in the water.

Despite the capture of Duala, the Germans were still well entrenched and used a number of mountain strongholds from which they were able to conduct raids into neighbouring countries. Although they made considerable use of native troops, they did not treat them well; a factor that later in the war was to tell against them.

Capt. Butler was involved again in the Cameroons Campaign in December 1915 when fighting with the Gold Coast Regiment, which managed to get behind the German lines and capture a village, together with a machine-gun and the papers of the local German commander before establishing a base there. Two weeks later, Dschang Mangas, between Wum Biagas and Jaunde, a German base on the fringe of the Jaunde district, was also captured by them. By this time most of the forestry region was behind them, and before them lay a cultivated area which would be much easier to operate in. By 30 December they were entirely clear of the bush and a small party marched into Jaunde on New Year’s Day 1916. Seven weeks after the enemy had been slowly squeezed out of the country, the German Army surrendered. The citation for Butler’s DSO was published in the London Gazette on 5 June.

On 6 July the Gold Coast Regiment left the West African capital of Accra and sailed to East Africa, landing at Kilindini on the 26th. When they reached the firing line, the enemy was pushed back across the central railway. In German East Africa, the first firm contact with the enemy occurred on 4 September near the main highway to the east of the Matombo mission station. This was south of the railway in the Uluguru Mountains, which the Germans were preparing to strongly defend. The Allied positions were overlooked by the Kikirunga Hill, which was about 3,000ft high and covered with trees and undergrowth; this was a landmark that had to be captured. The action lasted two and a half days and duly ended with the capture of the hill, but the day was marred by the death of Capt. Butler. The full details of the incident are recorded in the history of the Gold Coast Regiment by Sir Hugh Clifford:

At 7 a.m. on the 4th September the Regiment moved out of camp, and about two hours later the enemy opened fire with a couple of howitzers upon the road a little ahead of the marching troops. No casualties were inflicted but the Regiment was halted, moved off the road and took up a sheltered position on the right side of it, in a gut between two hills.

Captain Butler was then sent forward with a Pioneer Company to reconnoitre the enemy positions and the small party climbed towards the head of the pass that led to the Uluguru Mountains, that had Kikirunga as its culminating point. The Pioneer Company reached a point where they could overlook the enemy positions but they must have been spotted as a German machine gun opened up from the right and another gun about 100ft higher also opened up on the small party.

It was not until about 5 o’clock in the afternoon that the Pioneer Company became seriously threatened and it was when Butler had gone forward to check his picket on the bend of the road that he and several of his party were wounded by a sudden burst from one of the machine guns. They had been lying down, close to the road and the enemy machine gunners were either aware of them, or just fired off a round or two at random. Twelve men were wounded during the afternoon but the party still managed to stand firm. Later ‘B’ Company under a Captain Shaw was sent up to reinforce the Pioneers, and to make the ground won, good. They settled down for the night after attending to the wounded.

Butler had been wounded in the shoulder, but more seriously a bullet had penetrated one of his lungs and, according to a witness, Maj. G.H. Parker MC, RA, he lay dying by his side all through the night. The Regimental History noted the following of Butler:

A young officer, possessed at once with a charming and forceful personality, of an absolutely fearless disposition, and of more than ordinary ability, he has won for himself a conspicuous place in the Gold Coast Regiment, and had earned the devotion and affection of the men in a very special degree. His death, in this first action in which the Regiment had been engaged since its arrival in East Africa, was felt to be a specially malignant stroke of ill-fortune and he was mourned as a personal loss by his comrades of all ranks.

Unofficially, Butler died of his wounds on 5 September 1916 near Matombo (later Tanzania). He was buried in the Morogoro Cemetery, Tanganyika (Tanzania), Plot III, Row C, Grave 3. He was Mentioned in Despatches (MiD) three times.

John Fitzhardinge Paul Butler was the son of Lt Col Francis John Paul Butler of Wyck Hill, Gloucestershire, and his wife the Hon. Elspeth Fitzhardinge, daughter of the 2nd Lord Gifford. He was born at the Chantry, Berkeley, Gloucestershire, on 20 December 1888, and was a nephew of Maj. Lord Gifford VC, the 3rd baron, who had won the VC in the First Ashanti War (1823–31).

John Butler was educated at Mr Kempthorne’s House at Wellington, and then the Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Sandhurst, where he won the Military History Prize. In February 1907, when he was 18, he was awarded a commission in the KRRC, and in August 1909 he was promoted to lieutenant, serving in India until 1913. On 1 October 1913 he was seconded to the Gold Coast Regiment in West Africa and during the war served in the Togoland and Cameroons Expeditions.

John Butler had married Alice Amelia of Apsley House, Portfield, Chichester, and after the war his name was commemorated on the war memorial at Cirencester Parish Church. He also has a pair of candlesticks in his name in St Lawrence’s Church, Bourton-on-the-Water. His decorations are in the keeping of the Royal Green Jackets in the Peninsular Barracks, Winchester, Hampshire. Apart from the VC and DSO they include a 1914–15 Star, BWM, VM (1914–19) and MiD Oakleaf.

W.T. DARTNELL

Near Maktau, East Africa, 3 September 1915

By the end of the nineteenth century, most of East Africa was divided up and controlled by Great Britain (Kenya) and Germany (Tanganyika), with the two countries sharing a border which ran from Lake Victoria to the Indian Ocean via the base of Mount Kilimanjaro. The two colonial powers had also set up extensive railway building programmes in order to create an infrastructure for the country.

However, this coexistence was to end with the declaration of war in August 1914 when each side sought to take control of the whole region. On 16 October an 8,000-strong force under Maj. Gen. Aitken left Bombay for Mombasa, and as a preliminary strike against German forces the Allied troops arrived 80 miles south of Mombasa at the port of Tanga on 2 November. Soon after disembarking and having moved inland, the force came up against well-prepared strong enemy positions manned by African troops and was severely routed. In addition, there seemed to be little allowance for any necessity of evacuation procedures.

This defeat was a humiliation, although admittedly the Allied force was made up from a predominantly African and Indian force who had received little in the way of training and had just endured a debilitating voyage from India. In other words, they were in no fit state to face an efficient enemy lying in wait for them. Any plans for a future offensive were delayed until 1916.

Nearly ten months after Capt. John Butler won his VC in the Cameroons Campaign, Wilbur Taylor Dartnell became the second man to win the honour on African soil during the First World War when he won a posthumous award at Maktau, East Africa, on 3 September 1915.

The most important priority for the British was to defend against any German attacks on the Uganda railway, which began at the port of Mombasa. In the early part of the war, the enemy made at least fifty attacks against this key rail line, leading to the derailment of trains and the destruction of bridges. It seems that whole stretches of the line were left unguarded and the raiders were only pursued after making a raid. A note in the war diary of the 2nd Loyal North Lancashires suggests that it would have been much better to use blockhouse posts as a superior way of guarding the lines against attacks. An additional problem was manpower, as the continual presence of fever kept the defenders down to half strength.

Dartnell’s battalion, the 25th (Service (S)) Royal Fusiliers (Frontiersmen), left Plymouth for British East Africa on 10 April 1915, arriving at Mombasa on 4 May. Their first duties were to take up positions on the section of the railway that led to Uganda at the military post Kajiado, and to defend it against possible enemy attacks, which would probably develop from the south-west in the German-held portion of East Africa. On 19 June a detachment from the 25th Royal Fusiliers detrained at Kisumu, the terminus for the Uganda railway. Three days later the 400-strong party sailed across Lake Victoria with the plan of making an attack from the north against German-held territory on the western shores of the lake. Initially, the troops were faced with the task of climbing a ‘cliff-like incline’ where they met no opposition. However, once they reached the rocky ground at the foot of the hill towards Bukoba, they were faced with vigorous German resistance.

As darkness fell the attack paused, to be resumed the following morning when a heavy thunderstorm further delayed proceedings. Despite this, a determined group of men, soaked to the skin and with rifles out of action, overcame the last of the German defensive resistance. The wireless station was destroyed together with ammunition and stores, and on 24 June the men re-embarked and returned to Kisumu.

During the battle at Bukoba, 2/Lt Dartnell distinguished himself during the successful raid when, on arriving at the enemy post leading the attack, he entered the enemy fort and pulled down the German Imperial flag from the roof, replacing it with a Union Jack. During the operation eight men were killed and twelve wounded, and Dartnell was recommended for the DSO and Mentioned in Despatches. As a consequence, he was also promoted to lieutenant at the end of July.

The battalion then moved to Voi, a town about 55 miles north of the frontier between Nairobi and Mombasa, from which the military rail line was being constructed towards Taveta on the border, a town which had been captured by the Germans on 14 August 1914 and used as a base for raids.

The 25th Royal Fusiliers were split up, with one half going to Nairobi for training and the other half moving to the small village of Maktau, about 35 miles from Voi and at that time an important railhead for the construction of a military railway to use in any future Allied invasion of German-held East Africa. The enemy was not far away, having established an outpost a day’s ride away at Mbuyuni, from which they continued to harass groups of men working on the railway line construction. A small observation fort was put up by the British, which overlooked Maktau. At the same time, mounted patrols were sent out to cover the area.

At the end of August a Mounted Infantry Company (MIC) was formed to combat German attacks and the troops were to be drawn from a group of about seventy-five men from Dartnell’s 25th Royal Fusiliers and an equal number from the 2nd Loyal North Lancashires (LNL). Initially under the command of Capt. J.S. Woodruffe (Royal Sussex Regiment, attached to the Loyal North Lancashires), the remaining officers in the company were drawn from the 25th Royal Fusiliers, South Lancashire Regiment and the Loyal North Lancashires.

A section of men supplied from the Royal Fusiliers, under Lts Ryan and Dartnell, together with fifty rifles, left Mile 56 on the Mogodi railway via Voi to Maktau and then joined up with the other section of the MIC which was then under the command of Capt. G.P. Atkinson (LNL).

On 3 September it was reported that the enemy had crossed the border and laid a mine on the Mombasa–Nairobi line, and on their return would pass as close as 5 miles from Maktau. A party of the MIC, four officers and sixty-three men supplemented by fifty Baluchi troops from the 130th Battalion, was sent out at 6.30 a.m. to intercept the enemy on their way back. The MIC was under the command of Capt. Woodruffe, who gave orders to dismount and to establish a firing line on a slight slope and to establish picquets. However, at about 10.15 a.m. the advance posts were suddenly ambushed and men forced back to the firing line ‘where desperate fighting took place at very short range’. It was estimated that the enemy force was about 200 strong, and on hearing the sound of heavy firing the Baluchi troops took cover. Woodruffe gave orders to fix bayonets, but his men were completely overwhelmed and the German-controlled Askaris or native troops closed in on the small party. The fighting continued for about thirty minutes, during which time Woodruffe was badly wounded in the back and his force was in grave danger of becoming surrounded; he gave orders to withdraw and for the wounded to be evacuated promptly.

During the action Lt Dartnell was wounded in the leg below the knee and carried to safety. However, realising just what might happen to the badly wounded who could not be moved, and knowing full well that the Askaris were likely to hack the British wounded to pieces, he gave orders to be left, in the hope of being able somehow to save the lives of some of his comrades. He was twice asked to leave and finally gave an order to abandon him. When last seen alive the enemy was within 25yd of his position. He courageously fought on to the bitter end, trying to save life but losing his own in the process. When the dead were brought in a few hours later by Maj. Robinson with a force of stretcher-bearers, Dartnell’s fears were confirmed as the bodies had been stripped and mutilated by the Askaris, who had shown no mercy.

On 14 September a similar action took place when a German patrol was ambushed south-west of Maktau, when the enemy had again been attempting to attack the railway line. The MIC, under the command of Capt. G.P. Atkinson, also employed Askaris. German casualties were one officer and twenty-eight Askaris.

Eight of the men who died as a result of the ambush on 3 September were initially buried in Maktau Military Cemetery and later reinterred in Voi Cemetery: five from the Loyal North Lancashires and three (including Dartnell) from the Royal Fusiliers. Dartnell was buried in Plot V, Row B, Grave 1, and his stone carried the inscription ‘Greater love hath no man’. However, there were at least three other men from these battalions who died on that day as a result of the action; the remains of two of them were never found and their names are commemorated on the panels of the Nairobi and Indian Memorial, together with a third man, L/Cpl S. Goddard (LNL), who was possibly taken prisoner and buried in a former German cemetery.

Wilbur Dartnell’s VC citation was published on 23 December 1915 as follows:

Wilbur Dartnell, Temporary Lieut., late 25th (Service) Battn. (Frontiersmen) The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regt.). For most conspicuous bravery near Maktau (East Africa) on 3 Sept. 1915. During a mounted infantry engagement the enemy got within a few yards of our men, and it was found impossible to get the more severely wounded away. Lieut. Dartnell, who was himself being carried away wounded in the leg, seeing the situation, and knowing that the enemy’s black troops murdered the wounded, insisted on being left behind in the hope of being able to save the lives of the other wounded men. He gave his own life in the gallant attempt to save others.

After the sale of his kit in October 1915, the proceeds being sent to a Mabel Evans of East London, Cape Province, the money was later claimed by his wife in a letter dated 27 October 1915. Her address was 9 Tranmere Avenue, Murrumbeena, Victoria, Australia. She later lived at ‘Maktau’, Phillips Avenue, Murrumbeena, Victoria. She was presented with her husband’s VC by His Excellency Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson, Governor-General of Australia, at Federal Government House, Melbourne, on 7 October 1916. She was also invited to the VC centenary celebrations in London in June 1956.

Wilbur Dartnell is one of several men commemorated on a plaque in the foyer of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, as before the war he had been a professional actor. He is also remembered by Dartnell Street in Canberra. The German flag captured at Bukoba in June 1915 was returned to England and displayed in the corridor of the City of London Headquarters (HQ), the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

On 18 March 1981 Dartnell’s VC, together with the Queen’s South Africa Medal for his service in the Victorian Mounted Rifles in the Boer War (he was entitled to the Queen’s South Africa Medal (3 Clasps)), King’s South Afica Medal (2 Clasps), the Natal Rebellion Medal (1906), the 1914–15 Star, BWM, VM (1914–19) and MiD Oakleaf, were sold for $24,000 at Sothebys to Messrs Spinks on behalf of their Sydney office. Dartnell was one of only four men to win the VC in the East African Campaign. Two years later the VC and four other medals were put up for sale again, this time at the Wentworth Hotel in Sydney. They were bought for $36,000 by a Mr Berry, a private collector, who presented them to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra in 1984. His reason was that he was ‘fed up’ with the way that medals were being treated simply as financial investments and he was keen for them to be in public hands.

William Thomas Dartnell, son of Henry and Ros Ann (née Hanley), was born in Fitzroy, near Collingwood, Melbourne, Australia, on 6 April 1885 and went to school in Melbourne. At the age of 15 he joined the Australian Contingent and, from March 1901, served for a year in the South African Campaign, first with the Victorian Bushmen and then with the 5th Victorian Mounted Rifles, where his number was 1172 and with whom he served until March 1902. He later served in Royston’s Horse during the 1906 Natal Rebellion. On his return from Natal he married Elizabeth Edith Smyth at Holt’s Matrimonial Agency, 448 Queen Street, Melbourne, on 15 April 1907 and the couple lived in Fitzroy and were to have one daughter. It is not really clear how Dartnell survived between 1906 and 1912, but most accounts say the same thing, namely that he ran his own business until 1912–13, then he left once more for South Africa, settling in East London, Cape Province, where he took a job with the Standard Printing Company (Co.) and regularly submitted articles to the Weekly Standard, a Saturday evening newspaper. It is possible that he decided to seek his fortune in the new Continent and then send for his family later. Also when living in South Africa he changed his name to Wilbur Taylor Dartnell.

On the outbreak of war, Dartnell was determined to take part and called a meeting of Australians who lived locally and would be willing to serve. Chairing the proceedings he placed his name at the top of the list. He then contacted the War Office in London, offering the group’s services and asking for their passage to England. The group left for England on 23 September 1914 and Dartnell enlisted with the Legion of Frontiersmen under the command of Col O.P. Driscoll DSO on 12 February, the day that the Service battalion was formed as the 25th Royal Fusiliers (S) Battalion (Frontiersmen) (City of London Regiment). He was awarded a temporary commission. In his application to Col O.P. Driscoll, Dartnell stated that he had lived in Africa ‘for a number of years and am well accustomed to handling natives. I have a fair knowledge of native tongues and dialects. I thoroughly understand horses and am a good rider.’ He was initially stationed at Swaythling, close to Southampton, and from there he made several trips to Belgium when in charge of drafts of artillery horses destined for the front. A photograph of Dartnell and Col Driscoll outside the commandant’s house at Bukoba was later published in vol. 10 of The Times History of the War.

It appears that when Dartnell returned to Africa he became engaged to another lady, Mabel Frances Katherine Evans from East London. It was in her favour that he made out a will dated 23 September 1914, and when his kit was put up for auction after his death, the sum of £52 9s was raised and sent to her.

Dartnell is commemorated in the Victoria Cross Memorial Park in Canberra and in the Victoria Cross Memorial in the Queen Victoria Building, Sydney.

W.A. BLOOMFIELD

Mlali, East Africa, 24 August 1916

On the outbreak of war in August 1914, German-held territories in Africa included the section of East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, and Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia to the south. In October, a weak Allied attempt had been made to land a force of Indian troops in order to occupy Tanga, north of German-held Dar es Salaam, which, owing to the lack of training and experience of the invading force, turned into a disaster. No serious attempt to oust the Germans was made again until 1916, after their other possessions in Africa had been wrested from them.

The Germans had adopted a policy of making raids into Uganda and, in particular, the area including Lake Victoria. However, by early 1916 a small British military presence had been reinforced and, in late August, was placed under the command of Gen. Smuts, who had successfully fought against the British in the Boer War, twenty years earlier. In February 1916 an attacking brigade was drawn from men selected from British and Indian troops, supported by a larger group of men from South Africa. Their first success was the capture of the area around Mount Kilimanjaro. On 23 August the brigade reached the railway line to the east of Mkata, south-west of Tanga, and captured three Askaris. The plan was to attack a large enemy force at Mlali, known to be led by Gen. von Lettow-Vorbeck.

The August war diary of the 2nd South African Mounted Brigade recorded on 24 August:

Make attack on Mlali. Reinforcements from Morogoro arrive and Germans manage to escape on footpath to MGETA mission station but our force held the position which commands wagon road Morogoro–Kissaki via Mahalaka and to Kidodi. Germans unable to remove their guns and are therefore compelled to blow up two of their three 5-inch Naval guns.

We captured 200 4.1 shells and 300 other shells and large quantity of supplies and cattle. Our losses 1 killed 7 wounded.

It was during actions on this day that Capt. William Bloomfield, formerly a captain in Van Deventer’s Scouts, South African Scout Corps, 2nd South African Mounted Brigade, carried out the deeds which led to the award of the VC. After the enemy reinforcements arrived from Morogoro, they began to work round the flanks of Bloomfield’s advance sector. In danger of becoming isolated, he withdrew his section to a new position ¼ mile away. It was at that point, when considering the positions of his new defences, that he discovered a wounded soldier, Cpl D.M.P. Bowker, had been left behind. He decided to return to fetch the non-commissioned officer (NCO) and, in full view of the enemy, who did not stop their machine-gun or rifle fire, he reached the wounded man and brought him in. The citation for his VC action at Mlali was published in the London Gazette four months later on 30 December as follows:

William Anderson Bloomfield, Capt., Scout Corps, South African Mounted Brigade. For most conspicuous bravery. Finding that, after being heavily attacked in an advanced and isolated position, the enemy was working round his flanks, Capt. Bloomfield evacuated his wounded, and subsequently withdrew his command to a new position, he himself being amongst the last to retire. On arrival at the new position he found that one of the wounded – No. 2475. Corpl. D.M.P. Bowker – had been left behind. Owing to very heavy fire he experienced difficulties in having the wounded corporal brought in. Rescue meant passing over some 400yds of open ground, swept by heavy fire, in full view of the enemy. This task Capt. Bloomfield determined to face himself, and, unmindful of personal danger, he succeeded in reaching Corpl. Bowker and carrying him back, subjected throughout the double journey to heavy machine-gun and rifle fire. This act showed the highest degree of valour and endurance.

The war diary entry for the following day noted:

Make attack to prevent Germans from escaping on footpath to Mgeta Station but unable to do so on account of their heavy maxim fire. Get information strength German forces 10 Coys. Von Lettow & Germans escape on footpath after which German forces to retreat to mountains.

Von Lettow-Vorbeck led the German Governor and ten companies of his men to safety. The war diary file also includes an extensive handwritten report on the actions signed by Brig. Gen. B. Enslin, officer commanding (OC) 2nd Mounted Brigade, who had this to say about Capt. Bloomfield’s gallantry:

In returning from the above advanced position to the main position and the magazine, Trooper Bowker who was badly wounded through the stomach was left behind. When Capt. Bloomfield of the Scouts discovered this he ran back under heavy cross maxim and rifle fire, picked Tr. Bowker up and carried him a distance of 500yds to our lines. By doing this Capt. B. saved Tr. Bowker’s life for if he had not carried him out Bowker would have remained on the veldt during the night and following day and as a result of such exposure would have died, his wound being a severe and dangerous one. In view of the above I would strongly recommend that Capt. B’s noble and gallant act be specially recognised.

Col G. Tylden sent notable VC historian Canon Lummis a letter about several of the South African VC holders he had known. Of Bloomfield he wrote:

Bloomfield I knew slightly. He was down and out with the man he rescued when a young S.A. Dutchman rode back & got both men out. Bloomfield put the chap up for a V.C. & failed, so his (B’s) father bought & stocked a farm in the Transvaal and gave it to the youngster title deeds & all.

Six months after he won his VC Bloomfield was Mentioned in Despatches, returned to South Africa and relinquished his commission. He then volunteered for active service in France and was awarded the rank of major. He served in France from 19 September 1917 until the end of the war in November 1918. On 20 October 1917 he received his VC from the King at Buckingham Palace.

On his return home he was demobilised at Rosebank on 23 July 1919.

William Anderson Bloomfield, an only son, was born in Edinburgh on 30 January 1873 (David Harvey, Monuments to Courage, notes that he was born ‘Broomfield’), and his parents left for South Africa when he was 6 years old. Soon he was orphaned, having lost both parents. In the early 1890s, when in his late teens, he became a trooper in the Cape Mounted Police and served in Bechuanaland. In 1897 he settled in the Transvaal and joined the Ermelo Commando on the outbreak of the Boer War. When serving in Natal he was put in charge of the ambulance section. Thus he became the only man to fight for the Boer forces and also win the VC. In 1899 he served in the Cape Police at the same time as another VC recipient, John Sherwood-Kelly. They were both members of a mounted bodyguard to Sir Alfred Milner, Governor-General of the Cape Colony, when he was on a visit to Transkei.

Bloomfield took an active part in many military engagements, including the Battle of Spion Kop. Towards the end of the year he was captured at Ermelo Hospital, while he attended the wounded men in his charge. He remained in the town and took over a hotel.

On 14 December 1904 he married Maria Magdalena de Villiers and the couple were later to have two daughters, in 1906 and 1907. Bloomfield was a section leader of the local Ermelo Town Guard during the rebellion. In early 1915 he became a member of the 16th Intelligence Unit (Collins’ Scouts) with the rank of private, but was commissioned two months later in March. He first fought in the campaign in South-West Africa (modern-day Namibia), before being released from service in August 1915.

Eight months later, on 1 April 1916, Bloomfield rejoined the army, this time as a captain in the 2nd Mounted Brigade Scout Corps. The unit departed for East Africa on 18 May and for three months it took part in the campaign to push the extremely wily and tactically brilliant Gen. von Lettow-Vorbeck, with his mixed force of German and African native troops, back across the border into the Portuguese-held part of East Africa. Later in the year, Bloomfield won his VC at Mlali on 24 August 1916.

After the end of the war Bloomfield served on various committees; he was a member of the town council and, in 1933, deputy mayor of Ermelo, where he had lived since the Boer War after purchasing the Phoenix Hotel together with a Mr Rust. Later he took over a cartage contract business with the South African Railways. He was to play a leading role in public life in the town and was offered the mayorship on three occasions, but declined the offer each time.

At the age of 91 William Anderson Bloomfield died on 12 May 1954 from heart failure at Ermelo. He was buried three days later with civic honours at the local cemetery in Ousthuizen Street. Ex-servicemen and local Freemasons took part. According to an account in the Highveld Herald of 21 May 1954:

A traffic policeman on a motor cycle led the municipal fire engine carrying the coffin, which was covered by the Union flag with the late Major’s decorations, medals, sword and helmet placed on top, after which came the procession of relatives, official representatives and many friends paying their last respects to an honoured Ermelo resident.

On arrival at the Cemetery, Town Councillors acted as pallbearers for part of the way to the grave, subsequently being replaced by relatives and close friends of the deceased.

After various wreaths were laid, including one by Mrs Bloomfield, the local lodge of Freemasons carried out their own ceremony in honour ‘of their departed brother’. The newspaper account wrote that Bloomfield ‘will always be remembered for the keen interest he took in all public matters, especially ex-servicemen’s affairs and the fact that he unveiled the Ermelo War Memorial in Joubert Park’. His widow died fifteen years later on 28 June 1969.

Bloomfield is one of the South African VCs commemorated at Delville Wood in Longueval on the Somme. His decorations include the Cape General Service Medal (1880–90) and clasp for Bechuanaland, BWM, VM (1914–19) and MiD Oakleaf, King George V Silver Jubilee Medal (1935), King George VI Coronation Medal (1937) and Queen Elizabeth Coronation Medal (1953). They are in the Military History Museum in Johannesburg. The museum also holds other memorabilia, including his tunic, cap, Sam Browne belt, a diary, notebook and three portraits. His VC is held by his family.

F.C. BOOTH

Johannesbruck, near Songea, East Africa, 12 February 1917

Between 11 and 24 November 1916 the 1st Rhodesia Native Regiment, to which Frederick Booth was attached from the South African Police, was involved in a defence of the town of Songea, 80 miles east of Lake Nyasa. Further fighting also took place in the area three months later when, on 12 February 1917, the regiment took part in an attack on enemy positions at Johannesbruck, near Songea, on the eastern side of Lake Nyasa. Sgt Booth of the Rhodesia Native Infantry led his men against an enemy position in an attack through thick bush and under heavy rifle fire. He then went forward to rescue a seriously wounded colleague. Later he rallied and reorganised the native troops and led them back to the firing line. For this deed he was later to be awarded the VC.

Two weeks later, on 28 February, Booth was with Col Tomlinson when he received orders to pursue the German Gen. Wintgens and defeat him by surrounding his forces. The Rhodesian force had arrived by gunboat at Mwaya and was brigaded with the Southern Rhodesia Column. The Rhodesians travelled via New Langenburg, reaching the Igali Pass on 9 March. The plan was to attack the German force at Old Utengule, which the Rhodesians reached a week later to find that the enemy had moved back westwards to St Moritz Mission. Col Tomlinson advanced on the Mission from the south, while Col Murray, as leader of the Rhodesian forces, made for Itaka with the intention of moving northwards, thus preventing the enemy moving further westwards. A battalion of King’s African Rifles was instructed to move to Old Utengule to meet up with the enemy.

St Moritz Mission was on the south bank of the Songea River, which at the time was in flood and the only way the enemy could cross it was by using a bridge at St Moritz itself. The King’s African Rifles planned to prevent this crossing from taking place, while Col Murray was to advance on the Mission from positions at Itaka and then join Col Tomlinson’s force. However, owing to Col Tomlinson misunderstanding his instructions, he was faced with the German force on 20 March and as a result suffered many casualties and was forced to retire. Having made this initial error, he made an even worse decision when he dug-in on the plains instead of heading for the protection of the hills south of St Moritz. As a result his troops became surrounded.

It is at this point that Booth, who must have been aware of the situation, enters the story. Someone was required to move through enemy lines and make contact with Col Murray to ask him for urgent assistance, and Booth volunteered immediately. He set off at 7.30 p.m., accompanied by a single Askari, and the two men made a detour in order to avoid the enemy between them and Itaka.

Booth succeeded in his mission the following day and he was able to inform Col Tomlinson of his success by using lamp signals from a hill position. Three days later, using his knowledge of the country, Booth was able to lead the relief party on the morning of 27 March. However, by now the enemy force had made its escape and had retired across the Songea River in a northerly direction without firing a shot.

Booth was clearly a very distinguished and courageous NCO, and he was soon promoted to lieutenant and awarded the DCM for gallantry on 15 May (for rescuing two Askaris from a shark-infested stream under fire). A short while later, Booth was wounded and evacuated from East Africa.

The citation for his VC was published in the London Gazette on 8 June 1917 as follows:

Frederick Charles Booth, No. 1630, Sergt., South African Forces, attached Rhodesia Native Regt. For most conspicuous bravery during an attack in thick bush on the enemy position. Under very heavy rifle fire Sergt. Booth went forward alone, and brought in a man who was dangerously wounded. Later he rallied native troops, who were badly organized, and brought them to the firing line. This N.C.O. has on many previous occasions displayed the greatest bravery, coolness and resource in action, and has set a splendid example of pluck, endurance and determination.

In October 1917 Booth was recommended for a permanent commission in the Regular Army and left for Britain in November 1917. He received his VC from the King at Buckingham Palace on 16 January 1918. A few weeks later, on 12 February, he officially left the Rhodesia Native Regiment on being appointed to a permanent commission in the Middlesex Regiment with the rank of captain.

Frederick Charles Booth, son of Charles Booth, was born at Bowes Park, Upper Holloway, London, on 6 March 1890 and educated at Cheltenham College where he was a boarder at Hazelwell.

After leaving college he emigrated to South Africa and joined the British South African Police (1912–18), and was attached to the Rhodesia Native Regiment. During one of the very first actions to take place in August 1914, Booth, then serving as a trooper, was involved in fighting at an outstation in Karonga, at the northern end and western shore of Lake Nyasa, Nyasaland Protectorate, German East Africa. The station included a small block of offices and residences, and was a depot for the Ross-Adam Trading Co. Having been alerted to the likelihood of an enemy attack, a British force made up of 500 troops together with 200 non-combatants left Fort Johnston by steamer, arriving at Karonga five days later on 22 August. After much confusion over where the enemy was actually deployed, the enemy was ejected with heavy casualties. It should perhaps be noted just how early in the war this fighting took place and that, had the enemy been successful at this early stage, then they would have been able to control the whole of Nyasaland.

Just over three weeks later on 16 September, Trooper Frederick Booth dived into the Zambesi at Kazungula in order to save the life of a troop horse which had broken loose and had become caught up in some thick reeds. This deed received a commendation in Police Orders on 3 November 1914. In 1916 Booth, by now a sergeant, was attached to the Rhodesia Native Regiment soon after it was formed and proceeded to East Africa where he won his VC on 12 February 1917.

John Sherwood-Kelly, also a member of the British South African Police, was attached to the 1st Rhodesia Native Regiment and was also to win a VC, during the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917.

In 1921, three years after the end of the war, Frederick Booth married Dolores, a widow since 1919 and a lady of substantial means with an income of about £10,000 to £12,000 a year from the will of her late husband, half of which went to the care of her two children. With hindsight the marriage was disastrous for both parties. She had known Booth for a number of years, but the marriage quickly ran into trouble and the two were clearly incompatible. Booth was moody and drank a fair amount, and on occasions struck his wife. Not surprisingly, Mrs Booth filed a petition for divorce on the grounds of cruelty, but it was dismissed. The couple did agree to separate, but in 1925 Booth planned to visit his wife’s home, The Lodge, Effingham, Dorking, Surrey, and wrote informing her of his impending visit. He was told that, if he appeared, steps would be taken to restrain him.

On his arrival and finding the house open, Booth went into the sitting room and sat down. He was requested by three servants to leave the house, but refused unless he spoke to his wife first. A police inspector was called and Mrs Booth gave instructions for her husband to be removed from the house. While warning the inspector and servants that he would summons them if he was touched, Booth was seized and during a scuffle managed to knock one of the servants down before being finally ejected with the assistance of a groom, chauffeur, cowman, two gardeners and the police inspector.

Later Booth accused five of the servants and the inspector of assault and four of the servants were fined a nominal shilling. Booth himself was bound over for twelve months for using threatening behaviour towards his wife and was placed under court protection, which he considered unfair.

Now without a home, Booth entered Dorking Workhouse where he was allowed to stay for a week. During this time he had sought offers of employment in London and was given a week’s work in a store dumping furniture. However, later offers of work did arrive as his difficulties became known.

According to a report in the East Anglian Daily Times (5 March 1926), Mrs Booth, who had changed her name to Pauling in January 1926, lost some of her jewellery which was being repaired by a London jeweller. The jeweller delivered it in October 1925 without permission to 34 Phillimore Gardens, which was one of her homes that Booth (later captain) was residing at while she was living at St George’s Court, Hanover Square. She had taken this house in her husband’s name in July 1922. Booth signed for the jewellery and it is not known what happened to it.

In November 1929 Booth attended the VC Dinner at the House of Lords, hosted by the Prince of Wales. Several years later and in preparation for the May 1937 Coronation of King George VI, he helped with the organising for the reception of Rhodesian troops visiting London.

Mrs Pauling, who had moved to France, died in July 1938, and it appears that when she and her husband separated she had agreed to pay an annuity of £500 ‘so long as he led a chaste life’. In 1941 Booth made a claim on his wife’s estate and was awarded £6,547.

Between the two world wars the British South African Police used to hold regular reunions and Booth was a guest of honour at their annual dinner in 1938. After the Second World War broke out in September the following year, he volunteered for the Army and served with the Military Pioneer Corps in 1940 and was stationed in East Lancashire. He had been appointed second lieutenant in April and later left for France with the rank of captain.

After the end of the war, Booth attended the VE celebrations in London on 8 June 1946, followed by dinner at The Dorchester. In 1956 he attended the VC centenary commemorations in London and represented Rhodesia. At one point in the 1950s he was employed as a warehouseman in Bayswater.

Frederick Booth died in the Red Cross Convalescent Hospital for Officers, Percival Terrace, Brighton, on 14 September 1960, aged 70, and was buried five days later in the Red Cross Plot in Bear Road Cemetery, Brighton, reference ZKZ–36. His name is commemorated on a VC Roll of Honour Board at Cheltenham College. Other VCs remembered on the memorial include George Moor, Philip Neame and James Forbes-Robertson. His VC is not publicly held. In fact, his decorations, which also include the DCM, 1914–15 Star, BWM, VM (1914–19) and MiD Oakleaf, King George VI Coronation Medal (1937) and Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal (1953) seem to have disappeared. It is probable that Booth returned them to his regiment in Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), but they have not been seen in public since 1980.

INDIA

E. JOTHAM

Spina Khaisora (Tochi Valley), India, 7 January 1915

Stationed on the North-West Frontier prior to the First World War and acting as scouts, the 51st Sikhs’ main duties were to guard against sporadic raiding parties by Pathan tribesmen. As part of this defence, a chain of outposts with telegraphic links was established along the frontier, which was 300 miles long and 100 miles deep. One of the provinces on the Punjab Frontier was Waziristan, which had been the scene of much fighting in the early part of the war.

The North-West Frontier had a history of conflict, although the responsibility for any fighting in the war years could hardly be laid at the British or even Turkish doors, but was still serious enough to need the involvement of at least twenty British or Indian regiments for the duration of the war. The main tribes involved in attacks against the British included the Tochi, Mohmand, Bunerwal, Swat and Mahsuds.

Despite Afghanistan having twice been at war with the British, the Amir of Afghanistan indicated in 1914 that the country would not make trouble for the British during the war. However, the subsequent entry of Turkey into the conflict on the side of Germany made the likelihood of disturbance on the frontier much greater. Although the 51st Sikhs had been initially ordered to guard the Suez Canal from November 1914, several officers had been left behind in charge of the remainder of the scout forces. Captain Eustace Jotham, who returned from leave in England in September 1913, was one of them and was ordered to join the North Waziristan Militia.

Each British officer in this militia was responsible for about 200 troops, drawn from the Pathan and Mahsud tribes, who were known for their fiery tempers and so required diplomatic handling. The North Waziristan Militia HQ was at Miranshah and was responsible for eighteen posts, each with between seventy and eighty men, in the upper and lower Tochi Valley on the 60-mile long Bannu–Datta road.

In November 1914 Jotham was involved in an operation which successfully dealt with a native attack against Miranshah.