The Record of a Regiment of the Line | Page 3

as the Regiment was entraining.
On September 16th, 1899, the 1st Battalion Devonshire Regiment,
under the command of Major C.W. Park, left Jullunder by rail for
Bombay with a strength as under:--
25 officers, 1 warrant officer, and 842 sergeants, rank and file.
The following officers accompanied the battalion:--
Major C.W. Park, commanding. Major M.C. Curry, second in
command. Captain M.G. Jacson. Captain J.O. Travers. Captain E.C.
Wren. Captain E.M. Morris. Lieutenant P.H. Price-Dent. Lieutenant
J.E.I. Masterson. Lieutenant A.F. Dalzel. Lieutenant N.Z. Emerson.
Lieutenant G.H.I. Graham. Lieutenant T.B. Harris. 2nd Lieutenant G.I.
Watts. 2nd Lieutenant D.H. Blunt. 2nd Lieutenant H.R. Gunning. 2nd
Lieutenant S.T. Hayley. 2nd Lieutenant H.W.F. Twiss. Captain and
Adjutant H.S.L. Ravenshaw. Captain and Quartermaster H. Honner.
Warrant Officer Sergeant-Major G.E. Mitchell.
The following officers were attached for duty to the battalion:--
Major Burnside, R.A.M.C., in medical charge. Lieutenant E.G. Caffin,
Yorkshire Regiment. Lieutenant H.W.R. Cowie, Dorset Regiment.
Lieutenant A.M. Tringham, The Queen's West Surrey Regiment.
Lieutenant J.A. Byrne, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. Lieutenant E.E.M.
Walker, Somersetshire Light Infantry.
[Illustration: En Route to Ladysmith]
The following officers were absent from the battalion on leave in
England:--
Captain W.B. Lafone. Captain G.M. Gloster. Lieutenant H.N. Field.
Colonel J.H. Yule, commanding the battalion, was appointed to the
command of the Indian Infantry Brigade, South Africa, with the

temporary rank of brigadier-general. Major A.G. Spratt was placed in
charge of the depot and details left at Jullunder.
The Regiment arrived without incident on September 21st at Bombay,
having halted, for a few hours only, at the following places:--
On September 17th at Aligarh. " " 18th at Jhansi. " " 19th at
Hoshangabad. " " 20th at Deolali.
Embarkation took place immediately on arrival, the transport Sutlej
taking five companies, head-quarters, band and drums, under Major
C.W. Park; and the transport City of London taking three companies
under Major M.C. Curry.
On the latter vessel sailed also Sir George White's Staff and the Staff of
the Indian Infantry Brigade.
The Sutlej sailed at noon on September 21st, and it was reported that
the ship was under sealed orders, and that her destination was Delagoa
Bay.
The days on board were occupied in keeping the men fit with physical
drill, free gymnastics, etc., and with instruction in first-aid to the
wounded and the use of the field-dressing and the method of adjusting
it.
On September 28th Agalega Island was sighted, and on the 30th the
ship was off the east coast of Madagascar.
On the 2nd October the S.S. Purnea with the 60th Rifles on board was
spoken, and communication by flag signal established, both vessels
inquiring for news. The Sutlej was the last to leave port, but had
nothing new to communicate.
At 7 a.m. on October 5th, in rough and foggy weather, the Sutlej
arrived off the coast of Africa, and the fog lifting about midday, she ran
down the coastline for two hours, and arrived outside the bar at Durban.

The ships conveying the 60th Rifles and the 53rd Battery arrived an
hour later. The Sutlej waited till 2 p.m. to enter the harbour, and arrived
alongside the quay at 4 p.m., when disembarkation commenced at once
in torrents of rain and heavy wind squalls.
A deputation of the Durban "West of England" Association met the
Regiment on arrival and presented an address.
The first news received on landing was that war had not yet been
declared, but that it was inevitable, that President Kruger had seized
half a million of money on its way from Johannesburg to the Cape, and
that orders had been given by him to shoot any one crossing the frontier.
This may or may not have been true; a good deal of perfectly reliable
information was being circulated about this time.
On the night of October 5th-6th the Regiment left in three trains for
Ladysmith. The rain and cold caused some inconvenience to the men,
as they were packed into open trucks, and obtained neither shelter nor
sleep. They were new to the game then, but they saw the inside of
many a coal truck later.
The journey to Pietermaritzburg was in the nature of a triumphal
procession, for at various points along the line small knots of old men
women and children, waving Union Jacks, cheered the troops most
lustily as the trains passed.
A remark frequently heard was "How glad they are to see us," and it
was evident that these people at least, who were interested and
possessed homes in Natal, had not underrated the power and intentions
of the Transvaal. The Regiment had an enthusiastic reception, as indeed
did all troops passing to the front, flags and handkerchiefs being waved
from every house farm and village. At some stations where a short stop
was made to allow of other trains getting on ahead,