Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Twenty-one year old Corporal Orr was with a scouting party of ten men when he was killed at Rietpoort near Jamestown. The party was riding at the head of a column when they were ambushed by the Boers.
Previously news was received that a commando of Boers of a hundred strong was camped at a farmhouse at Rietpoort. However, when the party arrived, the Boers were nowhere to be found. The scouts then followed the tracks some 200 yards past the farmhouse and then waited for the arrival of the column. Unbeknown to them, the Boers were lying in wait just 300 yards further beyond a small ridge (kopje). Suddenly a volley of shots rang out. Corporal Orr was shot twice in the first volley, but he bravely tried to escape. He got about 100 yards away when he was shot again through the back. He died instantly, and was later buried at the foot of the ridge where he fell.
The money pouch belonging to John Orr is on display at the Maryborough Military & Colonial Museum in Queensland. A bullet tore a hole in the pouch and bent the two South African coins contained within.

http://www.tasmanianpioneers.com/4-contingent-4.html (www.tasmanianpioneers.com)

John ORR was born in Cumberland, England

His father was William ORR - mothers name unknown

He is buried at Reitpoort, South Africa