Lt.-Col. Philip Le Gallais

Lt.-Col. Philip Le Gallais

A Topical series, by Andrew Gilliam, of the distinguished military men and women of the Channel Islands

(Jersey Topic 1967)

IT WAS A WARM DAY in St. Helier on July 19, 1871. A young boy stared at a group of brilliantly dressed officers and men of the Island Militia and in his mind were sown seeds of ambitious military ambitions.

Years pass. The sun slowly sets over the South African town of Pretoria. British troops are dusty and tired but elated. The year is 1900. The men, under the command of Lord Roberts, had taken the undefended town and this had given them a much needed taste of victory and a sense of satisfaction.

In the administrative buildings General Lord Roberts sits at a long table reading reports. He knows that the struggle is far from over. The Boers are the masters of commando warfare and they rarely risk fight¬ing a formal battle. They used their knowledge of the terrain to maintain a supremacy which is causing anxiety and embarrassment not only to Lord Roberts but also to the whole British nation. But the idea of British troops adopting tactics to suit the terrain is still foreign to the High Command.

Some miles from Pretoria a lone figure on horseback, wearing bush clothing and high riding boots, is observing the distant camp fires. Suddenly he hears a crackling amongst the trees some distance behind him. His hands move swiftly to his rifle. After a minute or two he recognises the silhouette of a known messenger. The man advances and salutes. The whispered message is in Afrik-aans .... papers pass between them. The horseman now knows that a force, under the British Commander, Ian Hamilton, is coming to Pretoria.

Lord Roberts was also studying a report which gave him this news. He recognises one name, the name of a man whose sole purpose would be to seek out one Boer general.

The general—the horseman who had earlier been spying on the camp—was Christian de Wet, and his appointed hunter was the Jerseyman, Lieutenant-Colonel Philip Le Gallais.

The wheels of fate had been set in motion and the two men were now set on an inevit-able and fatal course of collision.

De Wet had been harassed for several months by various groups under the command of General Lord Mathueu. But, in the hun¬dreds of square miles of undulating veld, de Wet had managed not only to avoid capture but also to maintain liason with the various groups under his command, and with the ever-moving Boer leaders. He hounded the British over a vast area: an unexpected swoop on a body of Imperial Yeomanry at Lindley, inflicting heavy casualties, cutting lines of communication, destroying railway lines and even ambushing and forcing the surrender of a militia battalion of Derbyshires near the Rhenoster.

Days pass, and soon various detachments of British troops are on their way out into the veld to begin the search for de Wet. Lieutenant-Colonel Le Gallais has decided to search the Valsch River area as intelligence reports have indicated that de Wet might be approaching the area with a view to raids into the Cape Colony area.

With great care, avoiding obvious trails and tracks, Le Gallais heads towards the Valsch River. At night they pass by small camps of Boers and make detours to avoid skirmishes. There are no other British troops in the area, and for once, the element of surprise is with the British. Le Gallais wishes to use this powerful weapon in a most devastating way—if only he can find de Wet.

Next day General de Wet and a detachment of commandos head off toward the Cape Colony. November 5, 1900. The sun has set and de Wet is giving orders for the setting-up of camp not far from Bothaville and within sight of the Valsch river.

There has been a slight skirmish with some British troops earlier in the day. De Wet was sure that they were merely a scouting party

he had had negative reports from his scouts as to the possibility of a large British detach¬ment in the area:The scouting party were seven miles to his rear and in the morning his troops were to split up.

But Le Gallais had patiently waited all day with his unit on hiding, across the river in front of de Wet.

All day the Jerseyman had thought on the situation. To confront de Wet in open battle would be futile as de Wet would merely fan out his troops. The terrain did not even lend itself to an ambush that would work. De Wet's superior weapons and fresh horses gave him too many advantages. Le Gallais could not risk sending a messenger around to the scouting party which did not know of his presence. Capture of the messenger would remove any element of surprise.

So he decided on an early morning attack with his men in fixed positions on either side of the valley. He planned to take enough men across the river and station them on either side of de Wet's camp and to leave a front line of troops in his present position. He hoped to give the impression that the encamp-ment was surrounded and force de Wet to surrender. Le Gallais also hoped that the scouting party at the rear of the enemy would quickly appreciate the situation once the firing broke out and would advance.

Throughout the night the Jerseyman moved his men slowly down the slope, across the river, and up to the positions he had chosen. A hot sticky night with the threat of a storm in the air. With extreme delicacy Le Gallais' men moved amid the constant noise of bush animals and insects. Sweat pours down and soaks the men's tunics .... even the river is lukewarm and unrefreshing. Soon all is ready, Le Gallais is within sight of his finest hour.

There is a deadly hush over the valley. It is a few moments before sunrise and a slight steamy mist rises from the river. And then ... shots ring out. Bullets pour into the Boer camp from 300 paces.

Immediately the Boers are awake and seek-ing shelter as best they can. De Wet has hurriedly dressed and is out trying to organise his men. He fears the worst. He feels caught in a situation in which he himself has caught others. There is chaos everywhere .... men seeking shelter from the deadly rain, others trying to mount horses or trying to reach the heavy Krupp guns. Men fall about him. Bullets tearthrough the undergrowth, ricochet off tree trunks and hit his men with terrifying rapidity.

For five hours the battle rages .... the Boers fighting for their very survival and receiving no quarter from the attacking force. The three-quarter encirclement is slowly closing in on the Boers. Le Gallais is there slowly bringing de Wet closer to capture or a fighting death.

The air is full of smoke and dust, shouts and cries. Then, General de Wet gets a message. There are no British at his rear. There are no troops waiting to advance in on him. The way is clear for retreat. But word spreads fast and within minutes Boers are leaping onto horses and there develops even greater chaos. De Wet tries desperately and unsuccessfully to halt his fleeing men.

Le Gallais, seeing the enemy pulling back, instantly realises that his bluff has been called. The scouting party had long since withdrawn. His horses are across the valley. He now sees that de Wet is slipping away and he must make one last desperate attempt. He advances down the short slope and, in their hundreds, his men follow.

  

De Wet sees this and he himself retreats at a gallop. Le Gallais' men are unable to follow and, in that final charge the Jerseyman is fatally wounded.

Of Lieutenant-Colonel Philip Le Gallais Christian de Wet was later to write "Without doubt one of the bravest English officers I ever met."