A brief description of the Civil Service Company of the Cape Town Guards serves to give a general idea of the nature of these valuable protectors of the city. The Company was under the command of Captain Callcott Stevens, of the Civil Commissioner’s Office, Cape Town, who had previously seen active service with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Own Volunteer Rifles in the Basuto Campaign of 1880-81. The section commanders of the Company were Lieutenant Frank W. Waldron, A.M.I.C.E., of the Department of the Commissioner for Public Works; Lieutenant William A. Collard, Deputy-Assistant Treasurer, Treasury Department; Lieutenant Arthur A. Beck, of the Colonial Secretary’s Department; Lieutenant Bertram E. Shepperson, of the Treasury; and Lieutenant Charles Murray, of the Department of Public Education. The nominal strength of the Company was 142 members. It was raised in one afternoon—immediately the ministerial authority for its enrolment was obtained. A similar degree of rapidity was manifested in many other companies of the Guards at the time of the crisis, and this martial impetuosity reflected immense credit on the manhood of the city—on its patriotism, its disinterestedness, and its pluck.
The Civil Service Company consisted of five sections, and was fully representative of the Departments of the Prime Minister, the Commissioner for Public Works, the Treasury, the Colonial Office, and the Attorney-General, together with all the offices and sub-departments controlled by these ministerial divisions. An excellent spirit was manifested throughout by all ranks; and much laborious work was done in the way of guards mounted over important arsenals, magazines, and valuable stores. The original period of three months for which the Guards enrolled passed only too quickly, but their services were still urgently required, and they continued to be called upon for further periods of service, to which an excellent response was made—thus the military authorities were enabled to release many men of the regular forces for service in the fighting line, where they were much needed.
Among the various companies of the Town Guard were many prominent Government officials and business and professional men, whose names are familiar in the colony. It would be impossible to reprint the rolls of all the companies, but a list of names of some of the well-known persons who appeared in the new character of defenders of the Empire is here quoted:—
A. Allen, G. T. Amphlett, Kitchener Andersen, H. J. Andrews, H. Arderne, Robert Armour, R. H. Atwell, R. J. Austin, R. E. Ball, F. C. Berrangé, F. L. Bishop, J. J. Bisset, G. Bolus, W. H. Bond, J. Brydone, W. P. Buchanan, J. C. Carstens, J. D. Cartwright, M.L.A., J. H. Clark, Wm. Cleghorn, W. F. Colman, Sydney Cowper, C.M.G., Peter Davidson, A. Dawson, Theo. De Marillac, R. Dickson, Dennis Edwards, E. J. Edwards, W. A. Fairbridge, Dr. E. B. Fuller, J. Garlick, C. M. Gibbs, J. Gillett, C. G. Goodison, C. R. Goodspeed, W. Hanson, W. Hare, A. T. Hennessy, J. W. Herbert, T. Herbert, Dr. J. Hewat, J. J. Hill, Norman Hilliard, J. Hodgson, C. F. Hoffman, B. Hogsett, J. W. Honey, Alf. S. Hosking, J. W. Irwin, W. H. Johnstone, Howel Jones, Sir H. H. Juta, K.C., J. M. King, J. R. Lancaster, R. A. Lambart, H. G. Legg, E. B. Lewis, Alex. Lipp, J. E. Lloyd, W. B. Low, D. A. MacDonald, Walter Marshall, A. H. Mathew, Rob. M. Maxwell, D. E. McConnell, A. M’Corkindale, D. McKee, C. S. Meechan, Donald Menzies, Stavros Mitchel, R. H. C. Montague, E. J. Moore, W. E. Moore, J. Barry Munnik, C. S. Neave, E. T. M. Notcutt, A. Palmer, D. S. Pargiter, J. Parker, Dr. T. L. Parry, J. O. Paterson, W. I. Perrott, F. Plant, A. Plint, R. H. Pritchard, A. Ransome, P. Raphael, A. B. Reid, J. Richards, H. P. B. Rigby, A. J. Robb, H. D. Robertson, G. Crosland Robinson, D. D. Ross, Pierce Ryan, J. Sandersen, P. J. Savage, A. D. Scott, G. Scott, M. W. Searle, K.C., Fred. Wm. Smith, J. H. Smithers, C. E. Solomon, Will. G. Sprigg, W. Stableford, James M. Stephen, Calcott M. Stevens, P. Stewart, F. L. St. Leger, R. Stultaford, D. Tennant, N. P. Thesen, A. W. Townshend, Geo. Trill, T. Upington, E. H. Von Witt, Joseph Walker, G. B. Williams, J. Wilson, G. Lavibond Windsor, M. Woodhead, T. J. Woodhead, J. Wyllie, R. O. Wynne-Roberts, J. A. Yallop.
Among the number were many men of independent means who were contented to fill any place assigned to them, to take their share of duty as mere privates, and go through the same drudgery of drill as the ordinary raw recruit.
In February 1901 it was computed that 11,000 South African irregulars had been raised during the foregoing three months, and that of these Cape Town itself had contributed 5000, but finally, when, owing to the extension of the area of rebellion and the invasion of the Boers, a large augmentation of the defence force became necessary, further assistance was cheerfully given, the number of District Mounted troops and Town Guards amounting in a short time to over 18,000 men. This number out of a male (white) population of 114,000 speaks for itself.
It is impossible in a few lines to do justice to all the 18,000 members of this remarkable Colonial army, this goodly band of loyalists, English and Dutch, who stood at attention, ready, every man of them, to shed his heart’s blood in the defence of his home and the maintenance of the prestige of the Empire. Noble work was done by them in various districts, work sometimes of the quiet and unostentatious kind that looks for and meets with no reward. But for these men various small towns in different parts of the Colony must have fallen into the enemy’s hands, and have made stepping-stones to still further conquest: but for them the country might have become chaos—looting and ruin would have spread wider and wider afield—but for them the idea of driving the British into the sea might have been more than an empty boast. They helped to turn the scale at a critical moment—the weight of their unanimous loyalty proved to the Boers the vanity of their dream!
British supremacy has been well maintained. The period of warfare is nearing an end, and all are thankful that a policy of generosity will be extended to the Boers. But there is an old proverb which advises us to “be just before we are generous,” and it is hoped that in the coming by-and-by the great debt that the Empire owes her Cape loyalists may not only be ever remembered but adequately rewarded.
THE SOLDIERS’ CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION
The work done by the Soldiers’ Christian Association in South Africa has been so incessant and far-reaching that it deserves special recognition. In no previous war has so much interest and sympathy been manifested in its multifarious operations, and it is difficult to define exactly how far the ramifications of this commendable undertaking extended. Innumerable War Funds, Comforts’ Committees, Soldiers’ Work Committees, Soldiers’ Home Committees, and various bodies of a similar nature were organised and set to work with the best results, whilst officers and men were united in their praise and gratitude for the splendid efforts which were made in order to ameliorate their lot in the field, in camp, and in hospital.