Dean McCleland

On Imperial Service with the 10th Hussars during the Boer War Dean McCleland

Arthur John Montgomery enlisted in the 10th Hussars on 4th May 1897 just in time to be ready for deployment when war was declared with the puny Boer Republics in 1899. They were shipped out on two vessels, one of which, the SS Ismore, sank on the western coast of the Cape Colony. All the men survived but their horses were not as fortunate. After obtaining remounts, they were railed up to Colesberg where they immediately engaged the Boer forces. From there, they were involved in the Relief of Kimberley and the capture of Johannesburg and Pretoria and at the final conventional battle of the war: Diamond Hill. From this point until the end of the war, they were involved in small unit actions and skirmishes against the guerrilla tactics employed by the Boer. This book provides a Trooper-eye view of the Boer War as Arthur provides details of the operation of war at the sub-unit level, the privations endured by both to man and horse, as well as the tactics and the narrow escapes that he experienced.