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Attached to the 1st Australian Regiment--the pre-Federation unit
combining contingents from all the Australian Colonies--William J. Lambie, the
senior military correspondent (representing the Melbourne Age), and
another correspondent A.G. 'Smiler' Hayes got separated from a patrol at
Jasfontein. Suddenly 40 Boers surrounded them, demanding surrender. Lambie and
Hales galloped off. The Boers fired a volley, and Lambie fell dead, with two
bullets through the head and one through his heart.
Another correspondent, Major Reay of the
Melbourne Herald rode out under a white flag to ascertain the fate of the
missing journalists. Lambie's watch and other articles were given to him by the
Boers. He was shown Lambie's grave.
Recalling the fatal incident later,
survivor 'Smiler' Hales explained how he and Lambie had become separated from
the advance party, and how they were rushed by Boers who had been hidden among
low hills nearby. 'A rain of lead whistled around us', Hales wrote. The Boers
were shouting for them to surrender. Lambie and Hales decided to make a dash to
safety.
'We were racing by this time, Lambie's
big chestnut mare had gained a length on my little veldt pony, and we were not
more than a hundred yards away from the Mauser rifles that had closed in on us
from the kopjes. A voice called out in good English: 'Throw up your hands, you
d----- fools'. But the galloping fever was on us both, and we only crouched
lower on our horses' backs, and rode all the harder, for even a barn-yard fowl
loves liberty.
'All at once I saw my comrade throw his
hands up with a spasmodic gesture. He rose in his stirrups, and fairly bounded
out of his saddle, and as he spun round in the air I saw the red blood on the
white face, and I knew that death had come to him sudden and sharp. Again the
rifles spoke, and the lead was closer to me than ever a friend sticks in time of
trouble, and I knew in my heart that the next few strides would settle things.
The black pony was galloping gamely under my weight. Would he carry me safely
out of that line of fire, or would he fail me?
'Suddenly something touched me on the
the right temple; it was not like a blow; it was not a shock; for half a second
I was conscious. I knew I was hit; knew that the reins had fallen from my
nerveless hands, knew that I was lying down upon my horse's back, with my head
hanging below his throat. Then all the world went out in one mad whirl. Earth
and heaven seemed to meet as if by magic. My horse seemed to rise with me, not
to fall, and then--chaos'.
William Lambie. Photo published in
In Memoriam: In Memory of the
Gallant Officers and Men who died
in defence of our Empire in the
Transvaal War: G. A. Osboldstone:
Melbourne: 1900.
When he awoke, 'Smiler' Hales was taken
to a shady spot and was laid down gently. A Boer bent over him and washed the
blood that had dried on his face, and then carefully bound up the wound. Hales
enquired about Lambie, who he supposed would be left to rot on the
veldt.
'The Boer leader's face flushed angrily.
'Do you take us for savages?' he said. 'Rest easy. Your friend will get a decent
burial. What was his rank? When told that Lambie and Hales were war
correspondents, the leader said 'Sir, you dress exactly like two British
officers; you ride out with a fighting party, you try to ride off at a gallop
under the very muzzles of our rifles when we tell you to surrender. You can
blame no one but yourselves for this day's work'.
When Hales was moved with other wounded
prisoners to a far away Boer farmhouse hospital, he noted that at every farm
they passed people came out to see them. 'Not one taunting word was uttered in
our hearing, not one braggart sentence passed their lips. Men brought us cooling
drinks, or moved us into more comfortable positions on the trolley . . . while
the little children crowded around us with tears running down their cheeks as
they looked upon the blood-stained khaki clothing of the wounded
British'.
William Lambie as a dapper reporter for TheAge
in 1888. Photo in the holdings of Public Record Office Victoria*.
Hales stated that every soldier he
questioned who had been wounded and captured by the Boers, without one single
exception, declared they had been treated grandly. Boer and British wounded had
been treated identically, receiving the best medical attention that could be
given.
The Premier of Victoria , Mr McLean,
later told the Legislative Asssembly of Victoria about the death of William
Lambie:
Mr Speaker, I desire to express my deep
regret at the sad intelligence conveyed to us through the papers this day with
regard to the first death that has occurred in connection with troops sent from
Victoria to South Africa. The gentleman who has been killed was well known to
members of this House. He was an able journalist and an excellent authority on
military matters, and I am sure his genial face will be very much missed in the
chamber. Of course, I need hardly tell you that I refer to Mr Lambie, the War
Correspondent of The Age.
Note: Several
ex-patriate Victorians who served with irregular regiments raised in South
Africa were killed in earlier actions.
(William Lambie had been wounded while
reporting the earlier conflict in the Sudan).
_________
* Photo published here with
permission from the Keeper
of Public Records. In VPRS 840:
Vol. 1: p. 17.
Do you know of other photographs of William
Lambie, his writings, diary?
AUSTRALIA'S EARLY WAR CORRESPONDENTS
By Max Chamberlain
Several Australian newspapers sent war correspondents
to the Boer war to report events for a public eager to read about their
contingents in action. Among them was Australia's senior military reporter, W.J.
Lambie (Melbourne Age, Adelaide Advertiser, Sydney Daily
Telegraph), who had been with the New South Wales contingent in the Sudan in
1885, where he was wounded. Other Age representatives were D. Pontin and
G. King.
Some Australians represented English papers: M.D.
Donohoe (London Chronicle), M. Mempes (Black and White) and A.A.G. Hales
(Daily News). Others, like Frank Wilkinson (Sydney Daily
Telegraph, Melbourne Age, Adelaide Advertiser), Donald
Macdonald (Melbourne Argus) and W.T. Reay (Melbourne Herald),
wrote on early campaigns and later produced books on the Australians in various
engagements. Lambie was the first Victorian to die in this war when, accompanied
by Hales, he was with a patrol that was attached by 40 Boers at Jasfontein on 9
February 1900. As they tried to escape Lambie was killed and Hales was wounded
and captured. Reay and J.A. Cameron (Reuters, Daily Chronicle, West
Australian) later rode out to visit Lambie's grave site, being blindfolded
by the Boers under de la Rey, who expressed regret at the death of a
non-combatant.
A.B. (Banjo) Paterson (Reuters, Sydney Morning
Herald, Melbourne Argus) and H. Spooner (Sydney Evening News)
were with General French when he entered Kimberley, and Paterson gave some
account in his book Happy Dispatches and in his poem With French to Kimberley.
Together with H.A. Gwynne (Reuters) and P. Landon (Times), he was first
into Bloemfontein ahead of the army. Spooner was another war correspondent to
die in this war when after observing the action at Glen Siding, he had a
recurrence of fever and died at Deelfontein in May 1900.
Macdonald returned from the siege of Ladysmith a sick
man, wrote How we kept the flag flying and articles on the Australian
participation, notably the series Bushmen in battle, and Victoria's fifth. After
the capture of Bloemfontein Reay also returned ill and his reports were gathered
into his book Australians in war with valuable reference to the action at Pink
Hill. Hales also gave an account of Pink Hill as told to him by a Boer captor,
in his book Campaign pictures of the war in South Africa. Bert Toy (Perth
Morning Herald) wrote on actions including Koster River and returned to a
distinguished career in New Zealand and Sydney.
Most of the Australian war correspondents had
returned by late 1900. Frank Wilkinson accompanied NSW units until about
September 1900 and some account of their experiences were included in his books
Australian Cavalry and Australia at the Front. Chaplain James Green was at
Elands River and contributed newspaper articles and later wrote The Story of the
Australian Bushmen. Thereafter firsthand accounts of the Australians relied on
occasional mention in the London cables or letters from serving troops. For this
reason the history of the later contingents is fragmentary.
It is surprising that no attempt was made to utilise
the war correspondents' experience in preparing an Australian official history
of the war, as happened in later wars with C.E.W. Bean and Gavin Long.
Macdonald's The Australasian contingents in the South African war - Their work
for Queen and Empire - A historical record is perhaps the most readable
narrative of the colonial participation although with noticeable gaps. For The
Story of South Africa Volume II the editor attempted a similar task. It was
extended in successive editions as the war progressed and also has important
omissions. It included chapters by Paterson, Wilkinson and Padre Green as well
as serving troops. Green's account of the Australian Commonwealth Horse in the
final edition is a valuable contemporary account of the first Australia-wide
force sent overseas.
The war correspondents faced the same hardships as
the troops, risked their lives and health in difficult situations and rode long
distances to get their stories dispatched. They suffered at the hands of
Generals an censors, but these early Australian war journalists gave the people
at home some idea of the colonial experience and achievements in the first year
of the war, and left valuable permanent records for future generations.
Max Chamberlain is a member of the Anglo-Boer War Study
Group of Australia.
William Lambie as a dapper reporter for The Age
Do you know of other photographs of William
Lambie, his writings, diary?
