TOPIC:

Hot on the heels of a recent post in respect of Dunning who served with the N.T.C. during the Bambatha Campaign comes Wilfred Powell who first served with the Imperial Yeomanry in the Boer War before being one of only three Sergeants in the N.T.C. - what I find especially resonant is that Dunning and Powell would have known each other and would have been in action together. For all we know Powell might have been Dunning's Platoon Sergeant.

Wilfred Powell

Private, 57th Company, 15th Imperial Yeomanry – Anglo Boer War
Sergeant, Natal Telegraph Corps – Bambatha Rebellion

- Queens South Africa Medal with clasps Cape Colony, Transvaal, Wittebergen and South Africa 1901 to 10456 Pte. W. Powell, 57th Coy. 15th Impl. Yeo.
- Natal Rebellion Medal with 1906 clasp to Sgt. W. Powell, Natal Telegraph Corps

Wilfred Powell was born in Skipton, Yorkshire on 18 November 1878 the son of William Powell and his wife Elizabeth. At the time of the 1881 England census the family were living at 3 Armenia Terrace in Leeds where Mr Powell was employed as a Bus Conductor. The family was a small one with 2 year old Wilfred the only child aside from his sister Ada (4). An unemployed domestic worker, Matilda Grainger was visiting on the day the census was taken.

According to the 1891 census a 12 year old Wilfred had been sent to live with his Aunt, Jane Heaton of 9 Brook Street, Skipton whilst he was at school. He was very likely a pupil at the Boys Grammar School around the corner in Gargrave Road which, at the time of the census, had been “shut up on account of the Measles”. He wasn’t alone at home with his older cousins still all in residence.

Victorian England, as the 19th century wind down to a close, was a bustling place with an Empire to match its foreign expansion policy. Several “small wars” had been fought over the last few decades mainly against tribes and peoples who were inferior in both weapons and tactics and the sun, as the saying went, “never set on the British Empire.” Unbeknown to many this complacency was about to be given a serious jolt by two obscure little Boer Republics in South Africa who declared war on the might of Great Britain on 11 October 1899. Initially the thinking was that these upstarts would be quelled and that the troops “would be home by Christmas” – unfortunately no-one mentioned which Christmas as the woefully inadequate number of Imperial troops were rolled back in a number of engagements with the Boers in what became known as Black Week.

This occasioned a mild hysteria on the part of both the British public and the Government and a call went out for volunteers to serve in a number of Imperial Yeomanry battalions being raised for the purpose of augmenting the numbers in South Africa. The first contingent was of a better stamp of man than those subsequent to it with recruiting done amongst the clerks and well-to-do of the country.

Powell, a Post Office clerk by occupation, heeded the call and, on 14 February 1900 at Buckingham he completed the attestation papers for Short Service (One Year with the Colours). Confirming that he was 21 years and 3 months old he was 5 feet 7 inches in height, weighed 133 pounds and had a fair complexion, grey eyes and light brown hair. Having been passed as Fit by the Doctors he was assigned no. 10456 and the rank of Private with the 57th Company (Buckinghamshire) of the 15th Imperial Yeomanry.

After a sojourn of just under a month at home he and his comrades sailed for South Africa and were put in the field after arrival on 16 March 1900. Powell’s service saw him concentrated mainly in the Orange Free State and Transvaal. He earned for himself the Wittebergen clasp to his Queens Medal – this was awarded to all troops who were inside a line drawn from Harrismith to Bethlehem, thence to Senekal and Clocolan, along the Basuto border, and back to Harrismith, between July 1stand 29th, 1900, both dates inclusive. At this phase of the war the British were undertaking great sweeping drives in the Orange Free State and Transvaal in an effort to hem in the scattered Boer Commandoes. The eastern Free State where the Wittebergen (White Mountains) were to be found was particularly active in this regard.

After 1 year and 137 days with the Yeomanry Powell returned to England from whence he took his discharge on demobilisation on 1 July 1901 at Buckingham. His Conduct and Character while with the Colours was rated as Very Good. The sun and soil of Africa must have appealed to Powell as he made his way back to South Africa settling in Durban in the Colony of Natal.

Early 20th century Natal was not a happy place to be – the Anglo Boer War had drained the Colonial purse and every effort was being made to haul the fragile economy out of recession by its very bootstraps. One measure decided upon by the authorities was to impose a Hut Tax on the head of every male Zulu above the age of 18. This would be collected by the Resident Magistrates accompanied by Natal Police members for their security and protection.

Never a popular idea the tax was resented and resisted in some quarters from the very outset with some Chiefs openly defying the government and refusing to pay the tax. A young hothead chief of the Zondi clan known as Bambatha was one of the ring leaders and most outspoken critics of the tax, openly going round fomenting violent opposition to the payment thereof. This overflowed into open rebellion and the Natal Militia, the Natal Telegraph Corps among them, were called out to quell the uprising. By this time Powell had joined the ranks of the Natal Telegraph Corps with the rank of Sergeant – one of only three of that rank. For him it was a natural fit having being employed by the Post Office both in the United Kingdom and in Natal.

This Corps, according to the "Short History Of The Volunteer Regiments Of Natal And East Griqualand, Past and Present" compiled by Colonel Godfrey T Hurst, DSO OBE VD, Honorary Colonel of the Natal Mounted Rifles, was officially formed in 1903, but detachments which comprised the nucleus of the unit were in existence since 1890 as the signalling personnel of the Natal Volunteer Regiments.

The members of these detachments were regular members of their regiments, but, upon the mobilisation of the Natal Volunteer Brigade, 1899, for the S.A. War, the signalling detachments were withdrawn from their units and were formed into a signalling unit in charge of Lieutenant E. K. Whitehead, of the Natal Volunteer Brigade Staff. The unit was hastily formed and somewhat loosely organised. After the war the personnel returned to their own regiments, but the temporary organisation of the N.T.C. was retained in being during the interim before the Natal Telegraph Corps formally came into existence in 1903, when the unit organisation and former personnel were absorbed into a new permanent signalling corps, under the above title. The headquarters were in Pietermaritzburg, and the recruiting area was the whole of Natal, but mainly to Durban and Pietermaritzburg.

The peace establishment of the new corps was 50, all ranks, in two troops as a mounted unit, but on mobilisation for active service this establishment was considerably increased by recruitment from the postal and telegraph services of Natal. The first and only commanding officer was Captain F. Prater, who held the command till the corps amalgamated in 1914 with the Transvaal Signalling Corps.

As a separate unit the corps wore as a badge a device of crossed Morse flags with a telegraph pole with arms in the centre, N. on one flag, T. in the centre, and C. on the right flag. Shoulder and hat titles were N.T.C. in three-quarter inch brass block letters. Collar badges and buttons in brass bore the device of crossed Morse flags with the motto "Je Suis Pret" — I am ready and that they were for on 9 February, the Governor, Sir Henry McCallum, proclaimed martial law.

The Bambatha Rebellion was a two-phased one – after the initial flare up the resistance crumbled and the Militia were stood down. The main event, however, was still to come and later on in early 1906 Bambatha, strengthened by alliances with other powerful Zulu chiefs reignited the conflict. Eventually the rebels were trapped in Mome Gorge in Zululand where the Militia units surrounded the Zulus and aimed concentrated fire into their trapped ranks. Those that attempted to flee were mown down by a combination of rifle fire from the troops and shells from the Natal Field Artillery guns. Bambatha was shot and his head brought out for all to see – apparently a necessary measure to convince the sceptical Zulus that he was actually dead.

With Bambatha no more the rebellion largely fizzled out and the assembled men were able to return to their civilian pursuits Powell included. At some point he returned to England where, in the last quarter of 1908, at Skipton he married Alice Horner bringing his new bride back too South Africa. We next encounter him when he arrived in Southampton, courtesy of the Edinburgh Castle along with his wife and daughter, Leonoro (5) and son Leslie (2) on 30 April 1922. He was bound to visit family in Skipton before returning to Durban. His occupation according to the ships manifest was still that of a Telegrapher.

Wilfred Powell passed away at 420 Canyon Avenue, Berario, Johannesburg on 10 January 1956 at the age of 77 years and 2 months. His place of residence was 355 Sarnia Road, Rossburgh, Durban and he was survived by his wife and the aforementioned children. His wife, heartbroken at his passing, passed away from a coronary thrombosis on 3 April 1956 – less than three months after he died. His Last Will and Testament, drawn up in Seaview, Durban on 19 September 1910 bequeathed all his worldly remains to his wife. These included a 1935 Vauxhall Motor Car, ND 6902 and the proceeds of several life policies.

Very nice indeed Rory.

Great write up.

Cheers