The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, OCTOBER 9, 1901. THE NEW COMMANDANT.

Gisborne Times, Volume VI, Issue 232, 9 October 1901, Page 2

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, OCTOBER 9, 1901. THE NEW COMMANDANT.

The news that Major-General Dab- • iugton lias been offered the appoint- | inent of Commandant of the Forces | of New Zealand lends additional into- j rest to that soldier’s career. Ho was chosen for service in South Africa at j a peculiar phase in the history of the war. and under General French did ' excellent service. General James ! Melville Babington was born in ISdl, ! and entered the ICth (the scarlet; : Lancers in !573. From 1877 to ISSO i he was Adjutant of tiro regiment, and ! n 18S1 accompanied Sir Charles j Warren’sßochuanaland expedition, for his services in which he was “honorably mentioned.” From January, 1889, to July, IS9O, Captain Babington was A.D.C. to Sir Evelyn Wood when the latter was commanding at Aldershot, in itself a liberal military education and a marked compliment to the Lancer’s ability, for Sir Evelyn never had any but good men around him. Returning as a major to regimental duty, Babington succeeded to the command of the ltlth Lancers in 181)2, and hold it for four years, subsequently going to the Punjab command as Assistant Adjutant-General. This appointment ho relinquished in 1899 to become a Cavalry Brigadier in South Africa. in the Boer war, General Babington has done some exceedingly useful work on the lines . of communication, and carried out a j highly important reconnaisauco from | Belmont into the Orange Free State. j Indeed, 110 was the first British j General to enter the Free State at the | head of a hostile force, and it is prob- I able that the information he collected j was of singular value to Lord Roberts, | in connection with the earlier stages | of the latter’s magnificent march to j Bloemfontein.