In 1900 he was Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in the Boer war in South Africa. Here again he displayed his self-sacrifice and determination.
His winning of the Victoria Cross had showed that, though a very small man—he was very nearly rejected from the Army because he was so small—he had great pluck. And he also had a great heart.
His pluck and self-control were perhaps better proved by his bracing himself up to send men to their death in battle when he loved them and would gladly have saved them if duty and the good of the Country were not at stake. And it was in South Africa that he met with the sorrow of his life, when his only son was killed in trying to save the guns at the battle of Colenso.
For his gallantry on this occasion young Roberts was awarded the
Victoria Cross, although he was dead. It is seldom that the Victoria
Cross has been won by both father and son.
In South Africa Lord Roberts again did me a kind act by riding out many miles to meet me on my coming into Pretoria after the siege of Mafeking.
On his return to England after that war, Lord Roberts became
Commander-in-Chief of the British Army.
When the Boy Scout movement began, he took the greatest interest in it, because he was always fond, of boys and knew how useful to the Country they might be if only they were trained to it.
So he came on the Council of the Scouts' Headquarters, and he reviewed the Scouts at a big Empire Day parade in Hyde Park.
When I went to stay with him, he talked of little else but the Scouts; and the Scouts at Ascot, who were raised and organised by his daughter, Lady Aileen Roberts, miss their great friend.
The Ascot Scouts formed part of the Guard of Honour which escorted his body through that place on its way to burial in London. At St. Paul's Cathedral I was glad to see also a Guard of Honour of Scouts, who had come to pay their last respects to our national hero.