NEW FROM THE FRONT.

Te Aroha News, Volume XVI, Issue 222049, 10 February 1900, Page 3

NEW FROM THE FRONT.

LETTER- FROM J. F. STRANGE.

The following letter from Mr John F. Strange (of the First New Zealand Contingent) to his sister, Mrs F. Scott, will be read with interest by his many friends in Te Aroha and surrounding district:—

“Rendsburg, sih Jan., 1909 * “I have just’arrived back in camp and received your welcome letter, which io tho firs|Sjppm home since I arrived in Africa. You must excuse me for not writing sooner as letter-writing at the ‘front’ is very difficult. Lately we spending less than half our ttJPPhder canvas; we just get the . up, and we do not know whenwe shall get back to camp again. we spend a night out on the pjes, and sometimes two, with only our overcoats to in and a. flatsided stone for our pillow, with the dust and stones raked to one sid^; but it is wonderful how well we sleep between s<-n ry goes ’ or night j>atr»ls in spite of the cold, which, on account of the great height we are above the sea (some.4ooo feet) is much cobler than in Zealand. “6th.—l wish I had kept a diary from the time we first landed in South Africa, as letter-wrring would then hove b r en made easier by having the events of each day on paper, and the letters would be more interesting. The fighting we g<> in for is totally different to anyhing we read ab *ut. Some portion of Major - General French’s c lumn (to which we belong) are fighting every day. Our nrti.iery have a duel with the enemy’s every , morning, but the Boer losses at this game are far morejheavy than ours on account of being inferior, though there is no mistake about their being able to shoot straight and find the true range, as we find to our discomfiture. Oifly this morning the last shot they fired from their ‘ Long Tom’—a gentleman we know well, and which has a range of about 8500 j'ards, while our guns have only about 5500—struck nose. The shot was fired from a dis■tanee q£ over three miles, and a few c daj'S before the same feat was performed when one of these pill boxes passed ’twixt me and the next m in, Bearing six months’ growth out of h signaller who.was riding close behind; it alongside of him and exploded doing n> damage, eze pt to eau e a laugh. It is exeting and interesting to wait and w itch, after we see the flash or smoke from the enemy’s gun, for the shell to come screeching through the air to land eith r a short distance in advance or in rear of the long.thin line of horsenen and send its bullets across the plain when it ex plodes. “Wo have an ambulance train the station her * wili.4o to 50 wounded on board, and if the messages fr «m our fighting line are true there will be about 100 more to come in to-day from the Suffolk regiment, who lost 140 kHJgd and wounded this morning when we attacked the enemy in their kopjes: There were no casualties in the cavalry column, with which I went out this morning in company with two guns of the Royal Horse Artillery. We simply went out to make a demonstration to attract the enemy’s attention fr >m the p >int where the infantry were making the real attack, and. also to attract the fire of ‘ Long Tom’ to see where he was located and if he was alive; we were only partially successful. At one point of our fighting line the Berkshire regiment and a strong party of Bo rs y occupy one kopje between them, separated by a distance of only 40 yards. They have been entertaining each _other in this position for several days, and if a man shows his head abi ve or bgftween the rocks , he immediately has a hole drilled in it; for example, one of the Berks officers, who had potted seven in this manner, saw one of his men shot while trying to level his rifle through a crevice in the rocks, and cautiously raising his head to locate the / Boer who fired the shot, was in his turn shot dead. A large per centage of officers are among those killed, though so far we have lost none of our New Zealand officers. “Wo found two graves here, when the Boers retired, with the names of the occupants on pieces of board at the head of each. One was. our poor old comrade, Bradford, of Ohitiemuii, who died on the 28th December, 1899. There is a movement on foot to erect a /headstone to his memory ; he was respected by all wh-> knew him, and had the option of being a sergeant but declined on account of his inferior horsemanship. . “ We witnessed a grand sight while t>ut on picket a few nights ago. It "was the sight of about 30 trucks burning at a spot on the railway line which the Boers had blown up wiihin easy range of their guns. The trucks were supposed to have been carelessly uncoupled from the engine, and they boltejk.Aown hill for about five miles andf&j&iff at tbe blow-up, where we sawnQpi when day commenced to breakr ''■“Later on in the day an armoured train and troops came from camp to try and rescue them, but •Long Tom’ objected,.so the,attempt trap abandoned, and the trucks became a decoy for the Boers who afforded a target for our artillery guns, and towards evening the Lancers set fire to the trucks to prevent the Boers getting the provisions they con'ained. Their ~ contents were valued at about £SOOO. “There are all sorts and conditions

of Tommys here in thi« camp—Guards of the Household Cavalry just arrived, of the Union Brigade,

6th Dragoon Guards, Australians Berkshire Mounted Infantry; Remington Scouts, 10th Hussars, and New Zealand Mounted Infantry—form the cavalry division. There are also a regiment of the Berks, one of Suffolks, and one of Essex, who form the foot portion of the Brigade. “ The artillery with us are the Royal Horse, three batteries with range not so long as the Boer guns, but the shells are far more effective. . . . . .

“We leave camp in the morning taking three days rations with us, so I must finish this letter and get it posted to-morrow by those who cannot go with us on account of sick horses, etc. “I hope the volunteers are still rubbing along under Capt. O’Meagher and Lieutenant Scott ? With love to all I must now closp, and best wishes for a happy New Year.”