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| Capt. Rolleston - a man with his own caption "South Notts Hussars Commanding Officer" |
They had a foretaste of their roving Boer War activities when they undertook a practice wargames expedition called a flying column. The "enemy" was their fellow north Notts Hussars, the Sherwood Rangers. Of course it was also a good excuse for a few days of adventurous horse riding which Capt. Rolleston would have loved. In charge of the baggage convoy was Troop Sgt-Major Pilbeam, who we looked at in a previous article. The Official History book of the South Notts Hussars takes up the story...
On the morning of 31st July, the column paraded in two detachments, in marching order, at two rendezvous, viz., Nottingham Race Course (Mansfield Road), and Hucknall Torkard, the baggage being in the charge of two Troop Sergeant-Majors and two men, with four horses. The detachments met at the latter place, and proceeded thence with all military precaution to Mansfield via Annesley. Not finding any indication of the enemy's presence in that town, it was decided to proceed further. On reaching Church Warsop, the column was halted and a camp formed, at 6.45 p.m., on the south bank of the river Maun; guards were set at 9.30 p.m., and lights out sounded at 10 p.m,
The following is a list of the officers, non-commissioned officers and men, who served on this flying column :Captain L. Rolleston, B Troop, in command
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In the autumn of 1884 Captain Rolleston organized and took command of a flying column¹ in the northern part of the county; the expedition only extended over five days, but was conducted with great spirit and enthusiasm throughout.
The idea of the expedition was that a hostile force was advancing from the north, the column under Captain Rolleston being despatched from Nottingham, where the head-quarters of the opposing force were supposed to be, to get touch of the enemy and report his strength, the composition of his arms, etc. This column consisted of Captains Rolleston and Heymann, Lieutenants Pratt-Barlow and H. F. Smith, Regimental Sergeant-Major Burnaby, Troop, Sergeant-Majors Bailey, Pilbeam, and Simpson, Troop Quartermaster J. H. Bradwell, Trumpet Major Wakefield and twenty-three men. No grooms, servants, or camp followers were allowed ; each man paid four shillings a day for himself and horse, everything else being found...
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| Yeomanry on manoeuvres - mildly poking fun at the local part timers² |
On the morning of 31st July, the column paraded in two detachments, in marching order, at two rendezvous, viz., Nottingham Race Course (Mansfield Road), and Hucknall Torkard, the baggage being in the charge of two Troop Sergeant-Majors and two men, with four horses. The detachments met at the latter place, and proceeded thence with all military precaution to Mansfield via Annesley. Not finding any indication of the enemy's presence in that town, it was decided to proceed further. On reaching Church Warsop, the column was halted and a camp formed, at 6.45 p.m., on the south bank of the river Maun; guards were set at 9.30 p.m., and lights out sounded at 10 p.m,
On the following day camp was struck at an early hour, and the column continued to march in a northerly direction. In the neighbourhood of Cuckney they fell in with the Cavalry of the opposing force, which consisted of a squadron of the Sherwood Rangers, under Captain Bromley. Lieutenant Barlow, with three men, very cleverly engaged the attention of his opponents whilst Captain Rolleston worked round their flank, forcing a crossing of the river at Carburton Ford, in order to accomplish this. The manoeuvre was exceedingly well executed, and resulted in the capture of twelve prisoners, after a pursuit of several miles. The force pitched their camp this night at Sparken Hill [Worksop], where the 2nd Notts. Volunteers were already encamped. The following day was again devoted to instructive military work, this time in conjunction with the Volunteers, under Major Lord Newark. A fresh camp was formed in the evening, in Thoresby Park, where Sunday was passed, the detachment attending Divine Service in Edwinstowe Church. The camp was astir at 3.45 a.m. on Monday; tents were struck, and the column was on its homeward march by 6.30 a.m., travelling via Ollerton and Oxton to Nottingham, where the men were dismissed about noon, after a most successful and instructive few days of hard work.
His training methods won him praise from on high... "Sir, In returning the accompanying reports and sketches, I am directed by the Major-General commanding to express his high appreciation of the ability, energy, and soldier-like aptitude evinced by all ranks of the Detachment of the South Notts. Yeomanry Corps employed in Reconnaissance duties, from July 31st to August 4th, 1884. You will be good enough to communicate to Captain Rolleston the Major-General's approval of the manner in which the Detachment in question went through their course of instruction."
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| Notts Yeomanry at camp |
Captain L. Rolleston, B Troop, in command
Captain A. Heymann, F Troop
Lieut. A. Pratt Barlow, C Troop
Lieut. Herbert F. Smith, E Troop
Quartermaster. J. H. Bradwell, D Troop
Regl. Sergeant-Major J. T. Burnaby
Troop Serg.-Maj. Pilbeam, B Troop
Troop Serg.-Maj. Bayley, D Troop
Troop Serg.-Maj. Simpson, A Troop
Sergeant Upton, A Troop
Sergeant Bentley, E Troop
Trumpet Major Wakefield, D Troop
Sergeant Bradbury, B Troop
Sergeant Cotton, E Troop
Corporal Jackson, E Troop
Corporal Sketchley, F Troop
Corporal Smith, C Troop
Corporal Harrison, A Troop
Corporal Hickling, E Troop
Private Allcock, B Troop
Private Footitt, C Troop
Private Spray, B Troop
Private Freeman, B Troop
Private Dexter, C Troop
Private Edin, C Troop
Private Whitby, C Troop
Private Burrows, E Troop
Private Beardall, B Troop
Private Woolhouse, C Troup
Private Smith, B Troop
Private Smith, B Troop
Private Nowell, A Troop
Private Redman, C Troop
4 Officers
10 Non-commissioned Officers
19 Privates
Total: 99
A Troop is Holme Pierrepont, B Troop is Watnall, C Troop is Nottingham (and Rushcliffe), D Troop is Bingham, E Troop is Wollaton, F Troop is also Nottingham.
The experiment was a great success and other annual camps and exercises were held in subsequent years. Here in 1888 are the officers at a camp held in Wollaton Park. What a fine array of Victorian moustaches is on display! The camp's location near Lenton Lodge is now the large housing estate either side of Middleton Boulevard.
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They wear the dress jacket with the blue and gold pill-box cap. The CO at this time was Lord Belper who is the bearded officer seated in the middle with his stick and sword forming a cross. On his left hand is Major Lancelot Rolleston and on his right hand is Major J L Francklin, who would fight next to him during the Boer War in 1900.
There are a mixture of the two types of gimp braid. Three officers have the double '88' loops and the rest have the single '8'. Rolleston, the man on his left hand, Captain Fellows, and the large officer sitting third from the left of the photo, Captain Millington Knowles all have 88.
The officer sitting on the left of the photo is wearing a different pouch-belt, in fact the old style that was replaced in 1866. This officer is the vet, Lieutenant G H Pyatt, who also wears the old style booted overalls. The surgeon Claude Taylor is standing at the back near the right of the photo with another type of pouch-belt. This is black leather with straight gold stripes. He unfortunately drowned a few months after this picture was taken on a fishing trip to the River Spean in Scotland.
The other officers are wearing the undress white pouch-belt. Next to the surgeon, on the end, is Quartermaster Bradwell who has narrower gold cord on his jacket. There is one example of the undress sabretache (document carrying pouch) on display. The rank badges are worn on gold shoulder cords instead of on the collar as was the case prior to 1881. One more gentleman, the padre, is dressed differently. This is Rev H B Hamilton. There are 21 officers here, with one absent on leave.
Aldershot Camps
A regular annual destination for camps and inter-regimental competitions was Aldershot, a town with a fine military tradition. The following group shot was taken in 1903 at Jersey Brow, a location at the time up on Farnborough Common just outside Aldershot and now covered by Farnborough Airport.
The officers wear undress serge frocks with brown leather Sam Browne belts. They have gold laced blue breeches and knee boots and the gold-laced pillbox forage cap. The blue serge frocks have silver shoulder chains with rank badges and the oak-leaf badges on the collar. This item of dress was probably introduced in the mid-1890s for the officers while the rank and file were issued with theirs in 1898. The vet, Capt Johnson, is standing at the back on the right of the photo with the old style black leather pouch-belt with gold wavy lines. The surgeon is third from the left, at the back, with the black belt and 3 straight gold lines. One officer, seated on the left, has a peaked forage cap, Captain and Adjutant J P Jeffcock of the 6th Inniskilling Dragoons. His cap has a yellow cap-band and a white cover on the blue top. There is a discrepancy concerning the gold piping around the top edge of the pillbox cap. One officer, Major Trotter sitting on a chair third from the left, distinctly has the gold edge, but many of the others do not. Unfortunately they are nearly all facing left of the photo. The photo was published with the title, Jersey Brow, Aldershot 1903. The inspecting officer is in the middle with a white topped cap, Maj-Gen Lord Chesham. Next to him, on his left hand is Col Rolleston.
There are plenty more stories from Watnall Hall to enjoy here
The story of the South Notts's and Col. Rolleston's Boer War activities is here
and Sgt Major Pilbeam's story is here
Stories featuring the South Notts Hussars are here
Sources: History of the South Notts Yeomanry Cavalry 1794-1894 by Capt. George Fellows
Picture Credits - RC Woodville²; Watnall Hall and the Rollestons by RA Horton;
Notes:
1- A flying column is a small, independent, military land-based unit capable of rapid mobility and usually composed of all arms. It is often an ad hoc unit, formed during the course of operations. The term is usually, though not necessarily, applied to forces less than the strength of a brigade. As mobility is its primary purpose, a flying column is accompanied by the minimum of equipment. It generally uses suitable fast transport; historically, horses were used, with trucks and helicopters replacing them in modern times.
Flying columns are mentioned by Sun Tzu in his Art of War in such a fashion that indicates it was not a new concept at the time of his writing. This dates to at least the middle 6th century BC, and possibly the late 8th century BC.
The Roman army made good use of the flying columns in the early imperial era. One such commander, the proconsul Germanicus Caesar used flying columns to great effect in the early stages of the campaign against one of Rome's greatest enemies, Arminius. Scouts, raiders, and screening forces were used against the Germanic tribes responsible for destroying three Roman legions (the 17th, 18th, and 19th) in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.
Boer kommando in 17th–20th-century South Africa may be regarded as a form of flying column (unlike commandos in the more recent sense). The mobile columns employed against Boer forces, by British Empire forces in the South African War of 1899–1902, were usually of the strength of two battalions of infantry, a battery of artillery, and a squadron of cavalry, almost exactly half that of a Mixed brigade.
Flying columns have also been used in guerrilla warfare, notably the mobile armed units of the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence 1919–1921. During this period, the most successful Irish flying columns in terms of casualties inflicted on the police and military were the west Connemara, the south Mayo and the west Mayo column under the command of Michael Kilroy.
In 1919, Polish officer Stanisław Maczek created a flying company made of a battle-hardened infantry, using horses for mobility, and a lot of machineguns for fire power. They were part of the 4th Infantry Division (Poland).
In the 1920s, Defence Scheme No. 1, the proposed Canadian response to an invasion by the United States, Lt. Col. James "Buster" Brown suggested "immediate dispatch of flying columns on the declaration of war"[4] in order to counter-invade across the border and enact a scorched earth policy, forcing the USA to divert military resources towards the defense of its northern cities.
During and shortly after the Anglo-Iraqi War of 1941, British forces employed flying columns code-named Kingcol, Mercol and Gocol. Kingcol advanced into Iraq from Jordan and Palestine.
Source - Wikipedia
2- "Out with the Berkshire Yeomanry" - Richard Caton Woodville Junior 1881. Captions: 1-Carrying despatches "as the crow flies", 2-Ten minutes for refreshment - wet without but dry within, 3-An imposing spectacle!, 4-the advance guard score..., 5-"Dressed in a little brief authority" Shakespeare, 6-The long and short of it, 7-Skirmishing. WOODVILLE, Richard Caton Born London 1856; died there 1927. Woodville was the most prolific battle artist of the nineteenth and early twentieth century in Britain, producing countless oil paintings and drawings, many for the Illustrated London News. As was the case with several history painters of the Victorian period, he studied at Dusseldorf sometime with Wilhelm Camphausen, the great German military painter, and later in Paris. During his life, he was the most popular artist of the genre and he was the subject of several articles in magazines and journals. He himself wrote some memoirs in 1914 entitled Random Recollections. He was deeply interested in the army and joined the Royal Berkshire Yeomanry Cavalry in 1879, staying with them until 1914 when he joined the National Reserve as a Captain.
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