Major Cecil T W Grimshaw, died 1915
Grimshaw, Maj. Cecil Thomas Wrigley, D.S.O. 1st Bn. Royal Dublin Fusiliers. Killed in action 26th April, 1915. Age 40. Son of Thomas Wrigley Grimshaw C.B.; husband of Violet Agnes Grimshaw, of "Grattons", Dunsfold, Godalming, Surrey. He is buried at "V" Beach Cemetery, Helles.
The following is a copy of Cecil Grimshaw’s experiences in the Boer War. He was captured at the Battle of Talana, and was later a POW in Pretoria along with Winston Churchill. He was killed in Gallipoli in 1915. It is on this Grimshaw web
My Experiences of the Boer War (1899-1900) by Cecil T.W.Grimshaw Lt. 2nd Battalion Dublin Fusiliers
During September 1899 rumours of war with the Transvaal were getting more and more prevalent & there appeared to be more truth in them, than previously. On the evening of the 16th we received orders that our Mounted Infantry company to which I belonged was to leave (at that time they were stationed in Pietermaritzburg) for Ladysmith on the following Tuesday the 19th & to march up. This did not give us much time to get ready. However things worked out alright & everything was packed and we marched off passing the Quarter Guard at about 6.30 am. We had, as well as our company transport, all the regimental transport carts and wagons. We did a very good march and ended it at Dangle Road where we halted for the night.
Next morning we started off for Nottingham Road & arrived there in very good time, but some of the transport got stuck on the road opposite George Melster’s farm, owing to heavy rain which came on shortly after our arrival; making the road at that spot, where it was very heavy in ordinary times, almost impassable for heavy wagons. The result was that the wagons had to stay there all night with Lt. Parmry, regimental transport officer, in charge. However we got them all out by 9 next morning & fed and watered & started off again for Mooi River, our next camp which we reached in pouring rain, but just managed to get our tents up before the place was very wet. Next morning we were on the move again for Estcourt, a very long and tedious march, but we did it in very good time, arriving with all the transport about 3.30 pm. There we again camped & next morning left for Colenso, the hottest & driest march we had, here we camped again & spent all the next day (Sunday) resting.
I may mention that after Mooi River we took very great military precautions in case of anything unforeseen cropping up of a dangerous nature. Here at Colenso we got the first news of anything disquieting. About midnight a telegram came for Capt. Lonsdale telling him to “Endeavour to reach Ladysmith with transport”. Previous to this we had heard a rumour that our regiment had been sent up in a great hurry to Dundee or Glencoe, so we were more or less on the alert, expecting to hear something. Well this telegram did not effect us very much at the time, it simply meant us leaving punctually & making no mistake about getting to Ladysmith the next day. However early next morning our Color-Sergeant brought in another telegram which had arrived at 2.00 am but was not given to him till then (about 5.30 am.). This telegram said “My previous wire should have meant that you should reach here by 11 am”. As soon as we got this I went out with orders from Lonsdale to get ready to start as soon as possible. This we did & after a forced march over pretty steep hills we reached Ladysmith at the right time, which was very creditable considering we had all the transport with us.
On our arrival at Ladysmith we of course found our regiment gone & it took the authorities a long time to decide where we were to be put, and to our astonishment they wanted us to go on another march to Sunday’s River at once, but Lonsdale said we couldn’t, which was quite right, as the transport mules were rather done after such a hard march. We eventually occupied the lines our regiment had been in & the ponies were put in the RA (Royal Artillery) stables.
We, the officers, were very kindly & hospitably looked after by the Liverpool Regiment. Next morning we had to start again for Sunday’s River. I went over to the AGC stores to draw rations etc. our Color Sergeant having failed to get anything out of them. I found when I arrived, the place in a state of chaos & the storeman half drunk, with the result that I had to get the keys from him & issue the stores myself. I might have taken the whole place away for all he knew or seemed to care, but I had the form from the office with the amounts on, so I was alright. At last we started off for Sunday’s River & arrived there about 4.30 pm after a very long march.
Here we spent an awful night, with rain, wind, no tents, & had to keep a strong guard & picquets out.
Next morning we started off again for Dundee & when we got to Glencoe Pass it began to rain & it was really wonderful how the mules got the wagons up it all, but we arrived alright about 4 pm. On the way through the pass we met a Boer trekking in his wagon. With all his family & a MP came along & searched it & took his rifle from him, which he first refused to give up, but eventually had to.
I was doing advanced guard this day with my section &when I got near to Glencoe Junction, I saw on the hill behind the station a lot of men whom I couldn’t make out for ages. At last I discovered it was Lt. Ferreau with his company who were there on picquet, so we passed on, to Dundee camp, which turned out to be much larger than we had thought.
There were the 18th Hussars, batteries of the RA, the Leicesters & our own regiment. We were camped beside our own.
Having got the men & horses settled I took up my own abode with Erran and Shewan in their tent.
This ended our march up from Maritzburg taking in all 9 days, arriving on the 27th having left on the 19th.
For the first couple of days we rested & cleaned up the horses & everything after the march. Then we started reconnoitering for miles round Dundee, right over to the Buffalo River & up towards Newcastle. This was the daily routine, intermingled with mounted and dismounted piquets by day and by night. Then rumour began to fly about, about the Boers massing on the border etc. On the 12th October war was declared, on the night of the 13th a rumour came that the Free Staters were advancing on Ladysmith & our regiment left that night about 1.30 by train. The next day we moved our camp to higher ground on account of the heavy rains.
The regiment returned on Saturday the 14th about 10 or 11 pm having done nothing except a long march out to meet the enemy who never turned up.
This over we went on as usual with nearly every night a piquet to be furnished somewhere & we (the Subalterns took it turn about with these picquets.
One night about the 16th or 17th the KRA were sniped at by some lawless Natal Dutch & created quite an excitement. I mention this as being perhaps the reason why certain things happened afterwards.
In the afternoon of the 19th of Oct (Thursday) orders came in to us at 3.30 to furnish a picquet of 12 men on the Landsman’s Drift road in the vicinity of the cross roads leading to Landsman’s Drift & Barrts Drift.
I was sent for Piquet & left camp at 4.30 pm, having given the men their dinners & had the horses fed, going round by a circuitous route to my post.
Here I arrived just at dusk and I don’t know why, but somehow, I thought that something was going to happen, so I fell the men in & warned them to be very careful & alert & that if anyone advanced without answering their challenge after the third time to shoot them, unless they had very good reasons for thinking they could not be heard. After this little oration I sent out my patrols warning them that I was going to move the position of my picquet after dark. This I did, leaving a sentry (double) on the road. About 7 pm it began to pour & we were all pretty well soaked through in an hour. Just about 8 pm, my sentry on the road challenged someone who did not answer, he challenged twice, but still no answer, I rushed over to see what it was & luckily recognized Mr. Robinson, one of our intelligence officers with another man & 2 bantu scouts. It was very well I did as the next moment he would have been shot as the sentry had loaded & I had drawn my revolver ready to shoot.
I asked him why he had not answered & he said he had passed my scouts & told them who he was & thought that was alright.
He had never been given any “countersign” or anything, & if I had not happened to have known him from meeting him sometime before at polo it might have been a very serious thing. However from him I learned that a force of Boers, about 200 strong, had moved across Mulamgeni Mountain about 6 miles to my front, moving in a southerly direction. This seemed to be all he knew about them, but it was quite enough for me, as I knew that there was a commando behind the Doorneberg, so it kept me on the “gin-some”. All went quite smoothly & at 1.30 am I relieved my patrol, or rather sent out the relief.
Just after the old relief had come in & settled down, I heard horses hoofs clattering on the road some distance out in front, as if they had galloped off the veldt across the road & on to the veldt again. I turned to my sentry & asked him if he had heard it, & he said “yes! It sounded like horses”.
About 10 minutes after this I heard my patrol out in front challenging and getting no answer. They challenged three times Then they fired and I knew the show had begun as their fire was returned at once. As soon as my patrol was clear I opened fire & kept it up for a bit on the mounted figures of men in front, as soon as the enemy’s bullets began coming near the picquet all the ponies who were linked went off like a streak of lightening knocking down their guard & cleared.
The Boers came on, I should think there were about 20 of them & I retired slowly back up the hill towards the neck keeping off the road, which I maintained saved us, as we had heard the bullets pinging on the road to our left.
After the second retirement I found one of my men lying on the ground & asked him what was the matter. He said he was shot & I said where, he said in the arm. I tried to get him to rise and walk as we were being fired on heavily & had to retire, but he said “Oh Christ, I am shot let me die”. This shows you what a trouble he was. So I had to lift him up & got him back behind the firing line & then opened fire again on the Boers, who seemed to be increasing in number & I thought trying to get round us to cut us off. Here I suddenly spied a lot of our horses up against the line & I left the men in position with Sergeant Guilfoyle who was a rotter, but I would not trust any of the men to catch the horses & I went round got behind them & fortunately found my mare was still with them. I called to her & she knew me at once, & let me come up to her, & as the others were all tied to her I captured the lot of them. Four had gone altogether, then I returned the men on them & again tried to get Pte. Brenman who was wounded up on one & send him in, but he refused. First of all I forgot to say I sent my sergeant in on one of the horses as far as he could go to take a message to the effect that we had been attacked & were retiring on the neck, that the Boers appeared to be advancing in large numbers.
Well as Pte Brenman refused or would not stay on the horse when I put him up there was nothing to do but to carry him; so in this way we reached the neck. As soon as we got down behind the neck & knew we were safe from being cut off, I sent Pte. Brenman back with four men to carry him.
Having got them off I then mounted the four remaining men and advanced up to the neck again to try & find one of my patrols which had got lost & I thought might be hiding somewhere & that we might get him away, but as we got up on the neck again the Boers fired at us from the hill on the right of the road, & drove us back. It was just daylight by this time & we could see the Boers lining the hills so I sent another man in with a message to that effect. Then the Boers started sniping at us & eventually we had to withdraw to the sand Spruit at the edge of the town.
I could not make out what had happened or why it was no one came out to relieve or support us. I had all my men in except one who I kept with me at the Spruit. Eventually I decided to go back & find out if everything was being done & left the one man on the Spruit. As I had got a little way into town I met one of my men who was coming back with a message to say that there were two companies coming to my support.
These I met, commanded by Capts Welden and Dibley. Welden sent me to recall his advance guard to the Spruit, which by that time had advanced towards the hill. Then he sent me out with 3 or 4 men as scouts to guard his front and flanks while he was deploying his 2 companies.
I was then employed in carrying messages between Welden and Dibley when suddenly we saw some mounted men on our left flank & Welden sent me out to find out what they were, & we discovered they were the Cavalary Picquet coming in from Lehulty’s farm & were going up to Selana Hill to see who it was on the top when they were fired on and retired. This news I took to Weldon & then asked him if I would take my men & horses &myself in to feed &clean up ready to start out again.
Just as I got into the town the Boer’s pitched a shell just in the rear of the Sandspruit where Dibley had a section of his company.
As I came up through the town & got to the market square another shell pitched in the market square which made all the people scuttle away who had crowded out to see the show. Then as I got into camp there were shells flying about all over the place & having reported myself to the Adjutant, I went in search of my company. This I found had been moved in the rear of a small koppie. Having found my groom with my second charger I changed on to him and left ‘Gipsy” with Kelly to be taken care of, & fed, & told him & McDarly, my servant, that they had better go out with their companies. I then went off and joined my company.
Just after I arrived with my company we got orders to move off with the 18th Hussars under Col. Moller to do a flank attack on the enemy’s right rear.
We started off & were shelled heavily by the Boers from Talana Hill, crossing the open, but eventually arrived under cover on the Sandspruit. There we halted for a few minutes &were then ordered to move on again & galloped across the open again being shelled till we arrived under cover of a small koppie on the Boers’ right flank. This was an ideal position for taking the enemy in the flank and rear & our company dismounted & the cavalry machine gun came up on our left. We had not been there five minutes & were just going to open fire when for some unknown reason we were taken away, by an order of Col. Moller sent by Lt. Shore AVD, he having previously taken his regiment away on account of some rumour of some Boers being down below us.
There was a thick mist & for some time we could not find the cavalry but eventually found them dismounted in the middle of the plain in the rear of the enemy’s position. Here we also dismounted. After a couple of minutes a party of Boers appeared on the main road on our left rear as we looked at Talana & Lonsdale told me to take my section over & capture them.
This I did extending my section fan shaped & going round them. In rear of this party of Boers was an ambulance & rear of it again another party of Boers about 6 or 8 in number. These to my astonishment I saw being charged by one of the squadrons that was then left with us, as the other two had gone I don’t know where. It seemed to me an awful shame this squadron charging with drawn swords on those few men, who were quite ready to give in, but nevertheless were slashed & cut by our sabers. These men were then brought up to where other prisoners were & were dismounted, their arms taken from them & put in our medical store cart, which heaven only knows how it followed us over the country it did, The prisoners I was ordered to tie together with rope & take the braces off. Then at last we were dismounted and told to take up a position on the south of Landsman’s Drift road absolutely in the open without any cover & for the first time opened fire on the enemy’s rear, it long range, drawing all their fire on to us, as at that time they were retiring from Talana Hill. The result was that we had very soon to leave & were driven back to another position, this also was an absolutely rotten one & consequently had to leave it in a few minutes. From there we retired to another, & this we had to leave by the Boers coming around our right flank, & we retired then on to another position, which was our last in that phase of the fight. This was a very good one & we held the Boers in check & they were actually going back, but still Moller, who was in the rear of where I was with the lead horses & could not see anything, ordered us to retire, which took sometime to be carried out as no one seemed to understand.
He first called out to retire & I who had kept galloping forward from the lead horses to see how things were getting on & saw it was alright took no notice, till he came closer & called to me individually to tell them to retire. So I galloped up to the firing line & even Lonsdale could not understand what was meant, & took sometime to order the retirement, wanting to know the reason for it. I said I did not know, but Col Moller had ordered it. This position was the only one in which the cavalry ever fired a shot & they had a splendid opportunity of manouvering round our right flank & rolling up the enemy, but no advantage was taken of it. However from this position we retired through a narrow neck over the sand river leaving the machine gun behind without anyone to look after it. A section of the RRR’s had been told off as ……. To the machine gun, but earlier in the day it was taken away & put on the exactly opposite flank & consequently when the company was withdrawn the machine gun was left alone, eventually falling into the hands of the Boers, all the machine gun section being either killed or wounded.
Having passed through this neck we were perfectly safe from the Boers, & as we were driven off our best plan naturally was to return to camp, but in spite of all advice & remonstrations about going back either in front of or behind Inyati Mountain, we were galloped on I believe with a view to striking the Newcastle Road & eventually ran into Grasine’s commando who then attacked us & we were obliged to take up position, or rather Col Moller insisted on taking up a position, on a spur of Inyati Mountain. Then the Boers began to close round us & after a lot of difficulty I got our horses under cover by distributing them about behind little elevations & rocks.
This being done I took nearly all the No 3s away leaving the horses in charge of Sergeant Fletcher & as few men as possible, sufficient to hold them,& sent the others under Sergeant Caroll, to drive the Boers back from Le Mesurier’s left. This we succeeded to do, but it merely had the effect of driving them back further onto the plain & they then went up another spur of Inyati Mountain & were coming around in our rear. Seeing this I at once went down &told Col. Moller & suggested that if we wanted to get away we ought to go then, & showed him the direction; but he said no, that some of his horses were shot so he could not go. At this time there were only three shot, & we could easily have managed to have taken three men on our own horses. We might, & probably would have lost some men, but it would have been better than loosing the whole lot. Then I wanted him to let me go and get help, but no, I was not let. Then the Boers shelling us, & eventually we had to surrender, which came as a surprise to us, & did not seem to surprise or worry our Commanding Officer, who seemed to take it all in the days work. I know I and the others never felt so bad in our lives, as we and all the men were prepared to fight to the end, instead of being handed over as we were to the Boers, as a present.
After a lot of counting & worrying & being stripped of our swords, revolvers & everything, & one man even wanted me to hand over my rings, but I stuck at that. After all was over we found that we had two men killed, one in the 18th Hussars killed & nine wounded altogether, & 15 18th Hussars horses more or less wounded & had to be shot.
Then we were marched off to the Boers’ Laage at the navigation Collieries where we were put in the dining room of a sort of store hotel, with a guard, & really were very kindly treated, though of course pretty rough. Here we spent the night, sleeping on mattresses on the floor, In the morning we were brought a lot of hot coffee, milled bread, biscuits, etc. Then about 10.30 we were driven to Dannhauser station, on buchs wagons & put in the train, & started off to Pretoria where we arrived the following morning the 22nd October (my birthday) about 12 o’clock.
There we were met by an enthusiastic crowd, evidently awfully pleased at such a haul of prisoners, altogether men & officers 174. Then we were marched off to the racecourse by a circuitous route, with crowds of people to look at us. On arriving at the racecourse we were put in a tin shed place, used as a lunch room at race meetings & the men were put in the grandstand. At first we were not allowed to go outside the enclosure, but eventually we were allowed to walk about in the garden attached. Of course we had a guard round us & at night were not allowed outside the enclosure.
Then we started our prison life & I was made mess president & looked after the cooking & feeding for the officers. I also did quartermaster for the men & issued their rations every day. We did practically the same every day, walking up and down the garden, reading, feeding, & sleeping. Then on Wednesday the 1st of November, the officers and men of the 12th battalion of 1st Gloucestershire Regiment & 1st Battalion of Grenadier Fusiliers arrived. Altogether about 40 officers & 900 men. Then the work and worry began. The officers I had to feed in reliefs as I only had kit in the way of plates etc for 10, but we got through it alright. It was quite evident there was no room for all these people there, so next day they moved us from there to Staats Model School. I was sent on in front to tell off the rooms etc. and get things ready for the others when they arrived.
Then we settled down to the routine of this place which consisted in walking round & round the house & reading & sleeping & feeding. By degrees our numbers were increased by batches of officers arriving, numbering from 1 to 13, till now the total number is 103. Here we were guarded by 2 ARP’s who treated us as criminals & when we complained of it nothing was done. The officers complained a good deal of their treatment altogether, but they did not seem to realize that the Boers, who called themselves civilized, certainly were not as regard to their treatment of people in our position & did not understand us. They thought if we got the same as their men did on the veldt it was all that could be expected. They did not go on the ordinary civilized formula of doing all they could to alleviate our unhappy misfortune, due generally to the fault of some senior officers & not to the individuals.
Then the next thing that occurred of note was Churchill’s escape. This he did, as all the world knows, but they do not know that he did it contrary to the agreement of his mates, who were to escape with him; & so instead of 20 officers getting away, as they might easily have done, as there was no one to know whether they were there or not, except myself; he was the only one from the School. After his escape all sorts of restrictions were put on, newspapers stopped etc. Then we started a system of signaling, with the people across the road. We got the latest and best wires to the Transvaal from their officials who told it to the people across the road, and they signaled it to us. Then all went on as usual. Prisoners kept arriving & we got the latest news, generally twice a day. Then Haldane, Les Mesieurir & I arranged to cut the wire to escape, but there was still one light which we could not get out. This proved to be worse than we hoped & when the lights did go out & we were half way across the yard, we found ourselves in bright light & had to double back again. Then there was nothing for it but wait till we ……………….. But Haldane & Le M who slept in a different room from me had a hole in the floor & down this they went that same night, with the result that the next morning when they were missed, they all thought that they had escaped under cover of darkness by the wires being cut. Well there they stayed for 3 weeks & I fed them every day. Then on March15th we were moved to the tin shed on the north of the town. Here we did much the same as before, but we had more outdoor room & played cricket of sorts & one day had sports.
Then the last week of our captivity was one of suspense. We were first told on the 31st that the British would be in tomorrow & we would be released. This proved to be a fallacy as they did not come for a week & that week we spent all day watching the hills round for our troops, and then on the 4th June we saw shells bursting on the hills all round, & one lydati gun dropped shells right over the hills. Then about 4 am on the 5th Churchill & the Duke of Marlborough galloped up. We saw them coming & rushed out en masse seized the guard & put them inside & I climbed up the flagstaff with a Union Jack in my teeth & tied it on at the head. This was made by Burrowes in prison & was the first one over Pretoria.
Then we went down the town. Next day the men arrived & we were made into provisional battalions. We were after that sent down to Irene to guard the bridge that had been blown up, & stayed there about 8 weeks . Then we went down to Kroonstad, & found our own men & remounted, & went round the Free State after de Wet. Then we came up to Pretoria & went north, then back again & out west with Ian Hamilton to Commando Neck on his way to Rustenburg, & the rest of the state & of Hickman’s force, to which we belonged went to Irene. There I joined them about the middle of August & have been here ever since.
(Transcribed) 6/11/00