After the relief of Ladysmith, the 3rd Battalion with the Light Infantry Brigade of the 2nd Division took part in the advance through Northern Natal, in the passage of the Biggarsberg, and in the attacks on Botha Pass and Alleman’s Nek, 8th–11th June. It entered Heidelberg at the end of June, 1900, and from that date until the end of October it was engaged in the neighbourhood of Standerton and Greylingstad protecting the railway. In November, 1900, Lieutenant-Colonel Bewicke-Copley was selected for command of a mobile column, which, till November the 19th, included his own 3rd Battalion. The Battalion subsequently occupied a line of blockhouses between Machadodorp and Dalmanutha, Eastern Transvaal, till the end of the war.
Fourth Battalion.
4th BATTALION.
The 4th Battalion was quartered at Cork during the earlier phases of the war, and was engaged in training and sending out reinforcements to a large extent of Mounted Infantry. It was not until December, 1901, that the Battalion, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel E. W. Herbert,[[75]] sailed to Africa. Landing at Durban, it proceeded to Harrismith, O.R.C., where it constructed and occupied a line of blockhouses running west, and remained there until the conclusion of peace in June, 1902.
Rifle Reserve Battalion.
RIFLE RESERVE BATTALION.
The Reserve Battalion, under the command of Major the Hon. E. J. Montagu-Stuart-Wortley, was organised at Pieter-Maritzberg, and composed of officers and reservists of The King’s Royal Rifle Corps and of The Rifle Brigade, who were intended to re-inforce the battalions shut up in Ladysmith. It joined the 11th Brigade at Chieveley, Natal, in January, 1900, and took part in the operations of the 13th to the 27th of February, namely, Cingolo, Monte Christo, Hlangwane, Hart’s Hill, and the final battle of Pieter’s Hill. After the Relief of Ladysmith this improvised Battalion was broken up, and the officers and men of the Regiment were distributed between 1st and 2nd Battalions.
Ninth Battalion.
9th BATTALION (NORTH CORK MILITIA).
This Militia Battalion of the Regiment, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel William Cooke-Collis,[[76]] volunteered for active service, and, their services having been accepted, embarked for the seat of war in January, 1900. Landing at Cape Town on February 1st,[[77]] it proceeded at once to Naauwpoort, and took part in the operations round Colesburg. Leaving Naauwpoort in March, the Battalion was employed protecting the main line of communication and the reconstruction of the railway through the Free State in rear of Lord Roberts’ army. It eventually took charge of the line between Vereeniging and Honing Spruit, where it remained for a year, during which its section of the line was never once cut by the enemy; this successful result was in a large measure due to the good work done by the company of Mounted Infantry raised from the Battalion.