Diary and letters relating to the service of Stanley Spencer Reid, 1900-1901 - Part 1

(1)
Middelburg
Aug 12^th 1900
My dearest old Father & Mother
We move camp to day 4 miles out & I want to write a
letter to you before we move as no means of Communication may
exist out there; Another general advance is reported for the 15^th on
to Meshadesdorp, 40 miles from here. Another member of the
contingent, Campbell, & myself only returned yesterday after a 16
days' absence from our company. And a rather exciting time we
had; this is shortly how it happened. A general advance
was made from Pretoria about 3 weeks ago. After 2 days
march we arrived at Bronkhurst Spruit; & there were left
behind to look after a waggon that had not arrived. In
order to catch up we struck across country & as it turned
out afterwards got far ahead of our division, & reached
Middelburg 30 miles ahead; moreover our division camped
for a week there. So we attached ourselves to French's scouts
for 4 days & then having ascertained the position of our
troop set back to rejoin them. On the way we decided
to reconnoitre some country where there were said
to be 800 head of Cattle guarded by several armed
Boers; we arrived at the brink of a deep gorge & after
consultation decided to cross it. We camped that night
& in the morning found there were Boers to our rear
so that retreat was put off; so we dodged along
the gullies, or dongas, as they call them here, keeping out
of sight. When night fell we decided through hunger

to storm a farm where the Kaffirs told us there were

2 armed Boers; we darted up; I dismounted & at

that moment Campbell called out "There is a man

running away behind the house; I whisked round

& covered him with my rifle calling out "Hands up"!

he wisely did so; it turned out to be a youth.

who I am afraid wd have got a nasty shock

had he not obliged. Here we camped for the night & got

what we wanted to eat. Next day we kept on striking

for a pad between high Kopjes & in the opposite

direction to the way we had come in. On reaching the 

(2)
crest of a rise we noticed a farm about 50 yards down,
& after a [[f?]] [[?]] there, saddled horses tied
to the fence [[?]] the [[?]] from us & 4 or 5
armed men; who were already there, the only thing to do
was to brazen it out . At that moment 3 more men
mounted & [[?]] [[?]] [[?]], so we were evidently in
for it. We got to the [[?]] & not one attempted to
capture us [[act?]] [[?]] there were 10 altogether. After
some communicating we found out they had met together
to consider the advisability of laying down their arms
in accordance [[?]] Lord Roberts proclamation; we of
course emphasized we [[?]] this proclamation &
they [[d?]] to lay down their arms; so far so
good, but in [[?]] [[?]] signature to give them
passes for [[?]] [[?]] we could not do that.
Finally however the difficulty was overcome by sending
to a farm some miles away where an officer was to
call that day, they told us, [[?]] about 4 hours he
arrived, took over their arms & gave them free passes to
go where they [[?]]. The officer gets all the "Kudos"
while we did the work & [[involuntarily?]] incurred
the danger had they been [[moved?]] to fight or take
us prisoners. We told him of the Boers in our rear
& he said it it was a wonder we were not shot already
He being under the white flag was safe. low if
we had gone away with him, it would have led us
farther & farther from our corps, so we still decided
to try [[N?]] [[?]] [[?]] [[?]], altho' the
disarmed [[?]] [[?]] was dangerous. So on
we went got among some fearfully rough
country, in the vicinity of what they call
"Hell". We struck the path & had got to within
about 1200 yards of a Kopje right in front.
when we noticed an heliograph flashing; of
course we knew it was Boers as no English
soldier had penetrated so far. We cautiously
advanced about another 200 yards when
plip-plop came the report of the Mausers, so we 

(4)
And so here I am safe & sound & in good
health & spirits. We are all wishing for
the war to end & surely it can't be long now,
since over 5000 Boers have capitulated
in the Free State. A paper was sent round
by the Major for the names of all who we
go home to England after the war, of course
it may never come off. I really don't know
whether to go or not if I have the chance. In
a letter received yesterday from you, you
mention this contingency & advised me to go; I
shall think about it. Yes mother I received
a letter yesterday & you don't know how glad a
fellow is to get them; it's date is June 13^th, so
it has taken a fair while to come. I think the
majority of your letters come to hand all right,
altho' by no means in the order they are written.
Your address is not too good; I will give it here;
S.S. Reid No 41 2^nd W.A. Cont. Mounted Infantry, c/o
Major Pilkington, Sth Africa. The rainy season will
be commencing before very long, & I sincerely
hope the war will be ended before then, as it is a
bit uninteresting being without tents at that time.
Lydenburg is our destination. You ask in this
letter whether we have been in a battle yet?

Well of course by this time we have been in a
good many; but the battles are not the most
dangerous to Mounted Infantry as a rule; it is
the everyday scouting without knowing what
is ahead. Our contingent has obtained a very
good name & are in Lord Roberts & General
Pole-Carew's good books. "My West Australians"
the General calls us, & as we are the only
Mounted Infantry in the 11^th Division there is
no-one to supplant us in his affections. Poor
old Subiaco; it seems hopeless. I hear no
further mention of the Bubonic plague in
W.A. so I suppose Frank has not yet made
his fortune. My dear mother during my absence
from the corps I was attacked by the vermin
plague & of course could not get a change of
clothes; but on my return boiled everything
& put on a clean rig, so now I am free
again. After all at home have read this, I
hand it on to Mrs Lyall please. Now I must
pack up my kit for the road.  With all my
love to both of you & the kids & boys I am
Yr loving son Stanley 
(3)
retired gracefully. Blocked again was our
thought, & night was falling, getting out of
sight we turned to the left & having gone
about a mile, heard Mauser shots again, but
it could not be avoided. In a little while we
got to the brink of Hell itself & found it absolutely
impassible for man or horse; a deep
fearful looking basin with precipitous sides &
huge rocks; this region is called also by the
Boers "The end of the world", We turned back
a little & as it was dark Camped near a
farm for food, my horse being about done.
Early in the morning we made a start; I
having to commandeer a horse near at
hand, & back we come to see if the Gorge we
had entered by was clear; happily we found
it so & got out of a very warm corner
after being hemmed in for 3 days. When
we arrived 2 days later at the place where
our troop was supposed to be we found they
had moved on 2 days previously to Middelburg;
so after 2 days there we returned &
rejoined them on the evening of the day before
yesterday. Our information seems fairly
valuable, as the British were not able to
locate Hell although it was well known
as the headquarters of a commando of Boers.
During our absence 2 of our fellows got
wounded on the march up, & yet we two
got through safely. But the worst of it is
that the news of our being missing was
Cabled home to Australia & perhaps you
will have seen it; I do hope not, & mother
dear don't you believe any reports you hear
or see in the papers; they jump at shadows.
I was going to cable out, but the Major
was doing so, therefore it was useless.
PR04267
PR04267

Kroonstad
May 21^st 1900
My dearest Father & Mother
Although it is not a week since
last I wrote to you, I will commence
another letter, for it may be some
time before it can be finished.
We are to-day out grazing our
horses, for feed has run short
along with provisions on
account of the bridges & rail lines
not being repaired to Kroonstad
yet. From this you may gather
that we are on very short
commons as at Vosberg & Van
Wyks Vlei, but such is not the
case; any quantity of mutton &
beef from our commandeering
expeditions; & altho' the infantry
regiments are on half rations we
are always "plein". As you see by
the heading we are still at
Kroonstad, for Lord Roberts has
not provisions sufficient to
move on his force of 50,000
men, for that is the number of
the various parallel columns
which are in a line covering 

(2)
a face of about 8 miles. Naturally
life in camp is uneventful, so
my letter can't be very interesting.
Last night (Sunday) I walked
in to the Wesleyan Church &
heard the same man as last
Sunday, one of the Army Chaplains,
& enjoyed it much better
than the previous Sunday.
Reports are current in camp
that General Butler has
captured General Botha, the
commander in chief of the Boer
army, & also that De Witter is
surrounded, but you will
know more about the truth of
this than we. Mafeking is I
believe evacuated by the Boers.
Our contingent is rapidly
dwindling away. Twenty-four
out of the original hundred
are now either sick or wounded,
nearly all sick either with
enteric fever or dysentery, &
yet amidst it all I never
(3)
enjoyed better health in my life.
You should see me eat fried
chops with knife & fingers, often
with the latter alone; you wd
have no fear for your boy if
you did. Six chops is a fair
breakfast for me, & yet there
are many with whom I don't
stand a chance. An English
mail arrived yesterday, but no
Australian letters came for us;
it was most annoying to
watch the Tommies reading their
letters while we were without
them; I shall just have to
re-read the old ones. Our
contingent is so small that a
great many letters seem to go
astray, while a mail for a
well-known regiment like the 
Coldstream Or Grenadier Guards
who are camped near us sees
seems to arrive safely. The
nights here are becoming very
cold indeed, while the days
are often too hot to be pleasant. 

(4)
What do you think of my new
method of letter-writing? I
have got 3 or 4 note books &
just write in them & when the
letter is finished tear the
pages out; it keeps the paper to
some extent. clean which is
a great consideration when often
days elapse before it can be
finished. By the way after my
letters have been read by all
in W.A. I want you to send
them on to Ethel in China, for
I really can't manage to write
more than I do; you can't
understand how even in
Camp we are always on the
move. I am collecting the badges
of the different regiments as I go
along; but they are difficult
to get as all Imperial
troops have left their badges etc
with their brilliant home
toys, as they are not allowed
(5)
to wear any embellishments
with the Khaki. Some of the
Highland Regiments have very
pretty crests. We put them in
our belts as a good & convenient
way of keeping them. Kru
Kruger coins there is also a
great rage for; I had a set of
them from 3d upwards but gave
them away & shall now start
again to collect. When we are
to move on I can't say; in fact
nobody seems to know; but the
sooner the better for then Pretoria
will be reached all the quicker;
in addition my inside hungers
after poultry again, which we
have not had for 3 or 4 days;
it is when on the march that
such can be procured. The
"lice" plague is increasing in
vehemence, but still I am free.
One fellow found himself
afflicted so so exchanged his
pants with a Kaffir & washed
them thoroughly in cold water,
but alas within an hour of 

(6)
his putting them on, they were
literally surrounding him; he
took off the pants & overhauled
them & captured some dozens of
large & lusty beasts not counting
hundreds of eggs. He thereupon
boiled those pants with soda &
now I believe is free from the
pest. As regards clothes we are
getting in a very shabby 'condition'
out a knees & elsewhere, & no
chance whatever of obtaining
more as far as I can see. My
nether garments at present consist
of a pair of dark brown corded
moles, already done for; the
colour itself is very un-Khaki
like, but one must be

covered somehow. Really my
dear father & mother I don't know
what to write about in this letter,
nothing has occurred since the
last was written - nothing at
all. There ought to be four
sergeants in our contingent, but
just now there is but one only.
Two went down to Cape Town or
Bloemfontein yesterday sick with
(7)
enteric fever; & the Sergeant-
Major went the day previous to
that. Soon there will be no
contingent at all. I am afraid
some of those who have turned
sick are malingering to a
certain degree; being full up of
soldiering to turn sick is a
good expedient. A lot of
Boers have been coming in
lately & giving themselves up,
& wise men that they are, for the
British advance is as irresistible
as the sea; even if one
column were cut to pieces,
the others would pursue
their path straight on Pretoria
& like the land-crabs would
be stopped by nothing. Well
my dears I want to go home; had
about enough soldiering I
reckon, altho' it has been
a grand experience; & you
will probably see me bob
up serenely shortly. looking
& feeling much the better for
what you think my silly
venture. I wrote the other 

(8)
day a joint letter to Frank
& Jack; it was a long one
to make up for past delinquencies.
I hope they are both
doing well in their several
professions. Jack has a
good position if he can
stick to it, & Frank with
£100 per annum from the
Health Officership ought to
make a decent living. Now
I will have to stop for a time
& look after the horses. Adieu.
(9)
Pretoria
June 8^th
My letter not yet posted as no
means have existed of doing
so; but to-day a mail goes.
Pretoria was taken on
Tuesday 5^th, & some of us had
pretty narrow shares. It was
a very poor stand they
made. Only one 'day's fighting
& then the town surrendered.
I was with the Victorian
contingents on that day, having
sneaked off as ours were
too far back. Lay alongside
Bidstrup of the 1^st Contingent
in the firing line. Yesterday
we moved camp from
Pretoria to this place
almost 7 miles out & while
I write the Boer shells
are bursting in the
Camp, & dangerously 

(10)
near the Guards. I went
over both the big forts of
Pretoria & was the 2nd
man in one of them. I have
a cavalry sword & Transvaal
flag taken from it.
Whether we Australians 
will be going home now
or not I can't say. The
Boers have retreated &
fixed their Capital at
Lyndenberg or some such
name about 80 miles
from here. To show you
what the Boers are capable
of. Several thousands of
British prisoners were
at Waterfall about 8 miles
from Pretoria, when the
town was taken them cld
not carry them further.
So they set them free. But
(11)
when they reached (the
Boers) reached the Hills
they shelled the Hospital
& these defenceless
prisoners. Kruger has
cleared out no one
knows wither. The Major
this morning paraded
us all & gave a
message from the General
to the effect that he was
more than pleased with
our splendid work on the
way from Bloemfontein.
We have a brilliant
reputation the Major says,
& he asked us not to
sully it. The Guards are
on the march now to
attack the Boers, but
evidently we are not to
participate. Thousands 

(12)
of men have never fired
a shot for weeks past,
& the Boers seem quite
demoralised. I am pretty
well convinced that
the Boer are not brave
As long as they get behind
a Kopje it is all right,
but they run like rabbits
in the open. Pretoria
is a very pretty town;
mostly Dutch, while
Johannesberg is mostly
English. We are still
feeding well & I am
in the very best of
health. In my next
letter I will give you a
fuller description of
(13)
Pretoria & its forts; but
this mail must not be
missed for anything.
The Royal Engineers have
done a wonderful work
as regards mending the
railway line & making
bridges for a train came
through from Cape Town
yesterday; it is marvellous
what 20^th century
engineering skill can do.
No Australian mail
has come to hand
since we left Bloemfontein,
but we expect
one before we leave
this, for hundreds of bags
of letters are lying along
the line which ought
soon to arrive.