Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

The Kiama Independent, and Shoalhaven Advertiser 30th Jan 1900
LETTERS FROM PRIVATE G. GREY AND PARKER PRIOR
Major H. H. Honey, commanding the Kiama Infantry Company, has received a letter written jointly by Privates. Geo. Grey and Parker Prior, the two members of the Company who left with the first New South Wales Contingent for the Transvaal. The letter is as follows:-
Enslin, (Orange River),
24th December, 1899.
MAJOR H. H. HONEY,
Dear Sir,-We take the liberty (says Private Grey) of sending to you these few lines to let you know how we are doing. Of course you see by the " dailies" how we are doing (much more truthfully than we could tell you). We are encamped here at this small station, with the Gordon Highlanders and the main body of Australians-The Victorians, South Australians and Tasmanians. We are having rather easy times: little to do-principally patrolling the railway line about 2½ miles on either side of here, and a lot of scouting around the kopjes (as they are called) or little rises from 20 to 200 feet high. This scouting is the hardest work to do, as we do one hour on and 1½ hours off. In Captain Legge we have the best of Captains-nothing seems to miss him. Infantry here is of little use, as the country is so level, and the Boers are all mounted and will not stand the charge. The Boers themselves
have the bare rifle - rifles of all descriptions and even shot guns. They are very careful not to expose themselves when firing but once the British bayonet is fixed they are off. We are about 6000 miles from Cape Town, and haven't seen a tree large enough to make a barbed wire post. In the middle of the day the heat is pretty severe, and there is no shade barring the tents.
As paper is rather scarce at our camp (says Private Prior) George Grey and I have decided to write to you on the one sheet of paper, if we are not taking too great a liberty. So far as we have gone I have enjoyed myself very much. The N.S.W. Infantry have not been in action as yet. We are securely entrenched at Enalin,on the line of communication. The position we now hold was taken from the Boers by the British a few days before our arrival.
The Boers hold a very strong position at a distance of about 500 yards to the north of the camp, on a hill (or kopje, as they are called here.) They had breast works built up of stone, on another hill-top where they
also had several large guns. The British attacked them from across a large plain, The Boers only made a short stand in their earth works, and then retired to the hill adjoining the camp. This hill the British had to take with the bayonet. They will not face the bayonet. A few days after the Boers made an attack on the British but were driven back with heavy loss. We passed through Belmont, the scene of another battle only five days before. On a
hil1 beyond the Belmont camp the dead bodies of the Boers are left partly buried. They create a frightful stench. The dead horses were left where they fell, with their saddles and other accoutrements on them. A huge battle was fought at Magerfontein. We had a view of the battle from a distance through a glass. We could see the artillery
very plainly, The Black Watch suffered heavily, also the Gordon Highlanders lost a few men. It appears infantry are of no use there whatever, as the Boers are so strongly entrenched. The hill all the way up is trenches, one after the other, with barbed wire along the trenches"
Signed-G. R. GREY, W. P. PRIOR