GENERAL MONRO.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 November 1915, Page 12 (Supplement)

GENERAL MONRO.

THE NEW LEADER AT GALLIPOLI. SOMETHING ABOUT HIS CAREER, The new Conimander-inCliief ut the Allied Forces on the Gallipoli Peninsula, Major-General Sir Charles Cannichael Monro, K.C.8., is seven years younger than General Sir lan Hamilton, whom lie succeeds, being 55 years of age. lie entered the Army at the age of 19 years, and soon afterwards had twelve months' active service on the north-west frontier of India, for which he received a medal with two clasps. He was appointed brigade major at Gibraltar in 189S, but did not reach the rank of colonel until 1903. At the outbreak of the South African war lie was deputy assistant ad-jutant-general at Guernsey, but lie was one of the lirst to get .to the front, and had three years' service m a aerie- of particularly trying campaigns. With the brevet rank of lieutenant-colonel he was placed in command of a column consisting of SI'S men from Bethune's Mounted Infantry, 400 of the Sussex Regiment, two guns of the 33th Battery of Field Artillery, and one pompom. Commanding this force under General Bruce Hamilton, he took part in the long hunt after Dc Wet, which lasted from December, lflOO, to the following March, a period of 03 days. When the hunt was over, Colonel 'Monro took part m General I.yttelton's drive in the Orange Free State. Both these great movements were made by scattered columns of a relatively few,! men, but they were operations calling for the utmost endurance both in horses and men, and great resourcefulness in the leaders. During the following winter of 1001, Colonel Monro operated under Colonel (now General Sir Douglas) Haig against the Cape Colony rebels, work of a similar nature to that whkn had taxed the skill of the British leaders in the famous De Wet hunt. He was mentioned m despatches, and received the Queen's medal with three clasps.

AN INCIDENT IX THE ORANGE FREE STATE. The following incident, which was characteristic of Colonel Monro's tactics in the many small engagements in which he was successful occurred during the operations in the Orange River State. News having come that a Boer commando was m occupation of Dewetsdorp on April 7, 1901, three columns marched thither, and two days later Colonel Monro, who was leader, surrounded the town, only to find that the enemy had been warned, and had just made off. The trail pointed south-eastward, and on the morning of the 11th Monro fastened upon and pursued it with 150 men and a Vickers-Maxim gun. At the end of three hours the tracks were lost in a heavy rain, and Monro resorted to scouting. It was not .long before the commando was discovered outspanned by a group of farms, which, though protected in front by a deep donga, were surrounded by kopjes within rifle range. Instantly Monro's squadron leaders, scarcely waiting for orders, rushed for the points of vantage, and in a few minutes every commanding knoll was in their possession. The Boers who filled the donga made a hot reply, but a dash from both flanks awed them so thoroughly that ">3 of them surrendered to half their number, and the farm buildings behind lay uncovered. They were defended by some 30 riflemen, whose rapid firing showed that they were by no means daunted. Monro, scanning the horizon, saw that he must make haste, for the distant hill tops were dotted witli approaching horsemen. An immediate assault, however, was not easy, and he therefore decided to try negotiation. After a parley. Lieut. Schott, one of Colonel Monro's officers, induced the defenders to yield. Monro, who lost only five men, then marched off with S3 prisoners, including two officers, many waggons and animal-;, and arrived at Dewetsdorp at midnight, having covered 40 miles since the morning

During the period of peace that followed the war Colonel Monro was engaged in various executive commands in Great- Britain, amongst the more mv. portant being the command of the 13th Infantry Brigade, Dublin, rVom 1007 to 1912; the command of a divisional force of Territorials, from 1912 to 1914; and the command of the school of musketry at Hvthe.

Major-General Monro was made a Companion of the Bath in 1900, and in 1912 he married the Hon. Mary Towneley O'Hagan, daughter of the first Baron O'Hagan. On the outbreak of the present war, Major-General Monro was appointed to the command of a division of expeditionary troops, and in reward for his services was made a Knight Commander of the Bath on February 13 of the present year.