TO THE MEMORY
OF
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL EDEN CURRIE SHOWERS,
Late Commandant Surma Valley Light Horse; Killed at
Houtnek, South Africa, 30th April, 1900.
Erected by the Members of his Corps.
Before this monument was shipped from Glasgow to Calcutta in September 1902 a sketch of it was sent by Mr. Peters, who had taken charge of all arrangements, to Lord Roberts. In acknowledgment the Commander-in-Chief wrote:
I have received with much pleasure your letter of the 16th instant, enclosing a drawing of the obelisk that is being erected by the members of the Surma Valley Light Horse in memory of their late gallant commandant, Lieutenant-Colonel Showers, and I am much obliged to you for sending it to me. I am glad the memorial is being erected, as I feel sure it will go far towards preserving and promoting that esprit de corps which is so important a factor in all units of the forces of the British Empire.
It was esprit de corps, as Colonel Lumsden expressed it in the regimental motto, ‘Play the Game,’ that brought officers and troopers with distinction through their first fight, and the firmness with which it had taken hold of all ranks may be traced in tributes that show the finest spirit of comradeship.
The following letter, received by Colonel A.W. Rendell, commanding the East Indian[East Indian] Railway Volunteer Rifles, from Captain B.W. Holmes, who went with the Maxim gun of the E.I.R.V. Rifles attached to Lumsden’s Horse, is full of the sentiment from which mutual confidence springs: