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4

OUNTED POLICE OF
NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA v

BY STAFF-SERGEANT G.d. DUNCAN ° a

Staff-Sergeant G. J. Duncan Gives Our Readers an Interesting Account of “The

History of the Natal Mounted Police’”—Batile of Isandhlwana Cost Lives of 689

Imperial Troops and 133 Colonial Volunteers—Prince Napoleon Is Killed in
Action—Siege of Ladysmith—Life in Zululand.

IN THE year 1910 the four South Afri-
can Colonies, or Provinces, joined in con-
stituting an Empire Dominion under the
title Union of South Africa. This brought
about many changes in the government of
the country, and in a short time steps were
taken to unite the different colonial police
forces into one body, which important move
was carried out in 1913. Prior to that
each colony maintained its own armed and
mounted police force, which lost its iden-
tity after the new body, known as the
South African Police was formed.

The change brought about was no doubt
a step in the right direction, as it central-
ized police administration and increased
efficiency; thought it took some time for
the members of the different forces to ad-
just themselves to the new order of affairs.

Among the police forces absorbed this
way was the Natal Police, which policed
Natal and the Territory of Zululand. This
force was started in 1874 and had a fighting
record second to that of no similar body
of men in the world. On two occasions it
had the distinguished experience of cover-
ing the retreat of British troops. The first
was during the retirement of Lord Chelms-
ford from the Isandhlwana massacre in the
Zulu War of 1879, and the second was
after the disasterous battle of Laing’s Nek
in the Boer War of 1881. The force was
originally formed as the Natal Mounted
Police and was always known by that name,
though it was officially termed Natal Police
when it absorbed the force that did duty on
the Natal Government Railway, the Water
Police of Durban Harbour and the Gaol
Service.

On ACTIVE SERVICE

In September, 1901 the writer enlisted
in this force at its headquarters in Pieter-
maritzburg, the capital city of Natal. The
South African War was being waged and
the Police Field Force was operating on the
Transvaal border in Zululand, where the

WINTER EDITION

Boer General, Louis Botha was attempting
a second invasion of Natal. After a few
weeks’ training I was sent to the Field
Force and was on active service until peace
was declared on June Ist, 1902. Later I

xStaff-Sergt. G. J. Duncan, while serving as a
Trooper in the Natal Mounted Police.

went on outstation duty in Northern Natal;
most of the police buildings in that part
of the colony had been wrecked in the
war and in many places block houses (x)

and tents were used for police stations.
After a year of station duty I returned to
the Field Force and remained with it until
I left the force in January, 1905. Life on
the Natal Police Field Force was a rough
and hardy one. Our duties were almost
entirely military; we were armed with
Lee-Enfield rifles and Webley revolvers,
had two Maxim guns and a detachment of
signalers, and operated as a squadron of
cavalry. When the country was not at war
the Field Force patrolled wherever native
unrest was reported, or where tribes were
fighting each other. It was our duty to
suppress this inter-tribal warfare and we
were kept continually on the move. Our
baggage went on mule wagons; twelve
mules to a wagon. We camped in bivou-
acks on the open veldt or bush with our
horses tethered to picket lines at night,
and when not in use, turned loose to graze
under guard by day. When all was quiet
and we were not on the trek, we were
given plenty of drill, both mounted and
foot. It was roughing it in the extreme
for man and horse, but everyone seemed
to like it.

History OF NATAL

Before giving a short history of the
Natal Mounted Police an account of the
country of its origin may be of some in-
terest to the reader. Natal, owing to the
greenness of its coastal slopes has been
called the garden colony of South Africa.
Sugar, tea, coffee, cotton, and tropical
fruits are grown in abundance on the coast,
while the interior, or high veldt, produces
good crops of corn and hay, and has good
grazing for cattle. The country was given
its name by Vasco da Gama, the famous
Portuguese explorer, who first saw its
shores on Christmas Day, 1497, and
named it Natal, which means Christmas in
Portuguese. He was charmed by the beau-

(x) Small forts.

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