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Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen:
Well I have done it..... I have been able to re-unite two comrades that fell together during the Boer War......
Sergeants D. B. Hammong and D. J. McGregor
Please excuse the duplication of the Hammond information.....
Mike
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HAMMOND, DAYTON BROWN
BOER WAR - PART ONE
REG. NO.: 129
RANK: DRIVER
REGT: "C" BATTERY, ROYAL CANADIAN FIELD ARTILLERY
BARS: CAPE COLONY, RHODESIA, TRANSVAAL
REMARKS / HISTORY:
1. VERIFIED IN BOOK, KNOWING NO FEAR BY JIM WALLACE
2. 12 PAGES OF SERVICE DOCUMENTS
3. PHOTOGRAPH OF THE GRAVE OF D. B. HAMMOND
4. ENLISTMENT DOCUMENT
ENLISTED AT: TORONTO, ONTARIO
ON: 2ND FEBRUARY 1900
AGE: 22 YEARS
BIRTHPLACE: OWEN SOUND ONTARIO
FORMER CORPS: 31ST GREY'S BATTALION
TRADE OR CALLING: FARMER
RELIGION: CHURCH OF ENGLAND
NOK: FATHER, ROBERT HAMMOND, OWEN SOUND
ADDRESS NOK: OWEN SOUND, ONTARIO
MARRIED OR SINGLE: SINGLE
NUMBER OF CHILDREN AND AGES: NONE
HEIGHT: 5' 9 1/2"
MARKS ON PERSON: NONE
MEDICAL REPORT: FIT
DATE OF DISCHARGE: 30TH NOVEMBER 1900 TO JOIN HOWARD'S SCOUTS / CANADIAN SCOUTS
BOER WAR - PART TWO
REG. NO.: 129
RANK: SERGEANT
REGT: HOWARD'S / CANADIAN SCOUTS
BARS: ENTITLED TO ORANGE FREE STATE, SOUTH AFRICA 1901 NOT WITH MEDAL
REMARKS / HISTORY:
ENLISTMENT DOCUMENT
RANK: SERGEANT
REGIMENTAL NUMBER: 129
ENLISTED AT: CAPETOWN, SOUTH AFRICA
ON: 1ST DECEMBER 1900
AGE: 23 YEARS
BIRTHPLACE: OWEN SOUND ONTARIO
FORMER CORPS: 31ST GREY'S BATTALION / "C" BATTERY ROYAL CANADIAN FIELD ARTILLERY
TRADE OR CALLING: FARMER
RELIGION: CHURCH OF ENGLAND
NOK: FATHER, ROBERT HAMMOND, OWEN SOUND
ADDRESS NOK: OWEN SOUND, ONTARIO
MARRIED OR SINGLE: SINGLE
NUMBER OF CHILDREN AND AGES: NONE
HEIGHT: 5' 9 1/2"
MARKS ON PERSON: NONE
MEDICAL REPORT: FIT
DATE OF DISCHARGE: KILLED IN ACTION, 27TH JANUARY 1901, EERSTE FABRIKER
LETTER TO FATHER, ROBERT HAMMOND FROM LIEUTENANT T. RYAN:
(Officer in Command of Patrol) (Italics Mine not in letter)
Standerton
February 17th, 1901
Dear Mr. Hammond
I arrived here from Ermelo Friday. We started for Belfast with four hundred sick and wounded and got within twenty miles and had to turn back. Had had to fight every mile to within five miles of here. The escort was very small and we had we had twenty-five hundred head of cattle and horses (unable to read) and hundred Boer families.
I suppose you have heard I was captured by the Boers and lost one Colt gun, two men killed, (Hammond and McGregor) and one very badly wounded on 27th January. It was not far from where Borden was killed, between Whitpoort and Diamond Hill. I was sent with the advance line of Scouts of Gen. Alderson's column with our Colt gun and five men, Gen. Knox on our right and Campbell on the left and it was twelve miles between them that we had to cover. Our Canadian Scouts, only seventy-five, had to keep in touch with both columns in order to do this, leaving a gap in the center of about one mile and a half where I was ordered to go which was the main road, another great mistake.
We got four miles in advance of the support, which was no fault of mine. After going about fifteen miles and I found no one in front of me I sent two men in advance. I could see Scouts on the left flank. On seeing a small kopje on my right front I sent another of my men to see if it was unoccupied, leaving only two men and myself with the gun. The two already out went to a farm house which was about four hundred yards to the right of the kopje and straight to my front as the roas (unable to read) close by. The one man went over the small kopje all right. When within a few hundred yards of the farm house I could see two men, as I thought the men I had sent ahead. One waved his hand. I told the Sergt. Major (McGregor) in charge of the gun to remain where he was until I went to see if everything was clear. So I put the spurs to my horse - when within one hundred yards of the house a Boer dressed in khaki with a felt hat like ours waved his hand and then walk [sic] around the corner of the house. I bolted down around the corner of the house and into the arms of seventy-five Boers with their rifles looking me in the face. Of course I dismounted. I found one of my men wounded and the others prisoners. The woulded man tried to escape and they shot him but it was back of the house and I was ahead (unable to read) hundred yards away I did not hear the shot. The same Boer thay decoyed me walked to the front and waved his hand again. The next thing I saw was the gun coming and they got within sixty yards when they saw that something was wrong and Sergt Major McGregor dismounted, unlimbered the gun but the Boers opened fire killing both the men with the gun. (Hammond and McGregor)
In about seven (unable to read) Prinsloo allowed he was in command of the Boers. I had a long talk with him (unable to read). He asked me lots of questions. Well he says, where are you going? I'm going with you I suppose. He laughed and said ok, I mean where were you going? Of course I did not know very much about things. After about three quarters of an hour he said I could send my man for an ambulance and that I could go with him as our column had halted. He was not (unable to read). Prinsloo had his staff with him, they were all dressed in khaki. Some had helmets, others had felt hats turned up at the side with a badge - the Transvaal coat of arms. When the gun was well away, he said where is your horse? I told him I did not know as they took him away. Some Boers went off with (unable to read). Well he said, as that man is badly wounded you had better remain with him as it may be some time before the ambulance arrives, and away he went. It was about three hours before the ambulance arrived.
When I reported to the Gen. He said that it was no place for the gun and I should have had an escort so I got clear of everything.
Letter ends here, looks like there was more but this is all that survived.
LETTER TO COLONEL OTTER FROM FATHER, ROBERT HAMMOND:
Owen Sound, April 14th, 1902
To Colonel Otter Stanley Barracks
Dear Sir,
Ever since the soldiers received their medals I have thought of writing to you. I do not see why the parents of deceased soldiers who fell in South Africa would not receive their medals their sons who would have received had they returned. Was not their lives given for their country? Were they not as brave as those who lived to return and receive the medals. I for one would like to receive the medal my son would have got had he lived to return. There is one part of it which I think the hardest to bear and that is he was killed by the British by a mistaken order, this we have learned from a comrade who was on the field at the time. His No. Was 129 and his name was Dayton Brown Hammond. Now I hope to hear from you soon about this as we think it right we should receive the medal. He was killed at a place called East Frabickew (sp - Eerste Fabriker) on the 27th January, 1901.
Yours truly
Robert Hammond
Spring Mount, Ontario
April 14th, 1902
To Colonel Otter
Dear Sir,
I opened this letter again just to mention that my son was in C Battery for a year and was then allowed to come home but reinlisted in Howard's Scouts and was with them from 1st Dec. until the 27th Jan. 1901 the day he was killed.
Robert Hammond
Spring Mount, Ontario
After receiving the letter, Colonel Otter started the paperwork to have the medal delivered to Hammond's father.....
The medal was infact presented to Mr. Robert Hammond personally by Colonel Otter in May of 1902.....
McGREGOR, DUNCAN JOHN
BOER WAR - PART ONE
REG. NO.: 134
RANK: GUNNER
REGT: "C" BATTERY, ROYAL CANADIAN FIELD ARTILLERY
BARS: CAPE COLONY, RHODESIA, TRANSVAAL
REMARKS / HISTORY:
1. VERIFIED IN BOOK, KNOWING NO FEAR BY JIM WALLACE
2. 7 PAGES OF SERVICE DOCUMENTS
3. PHOTOGRAPH OF THE GRAVE OF D. J. MCGREGOR
4. CITY OF TORONTO WELCOME HOME MEDAL, NAMED SERGEANT MAJOR D. MCGREGOR. (Most likely claimed by his father as he was KIA when the medals were given out)
5. ENLISTMENT DOCUMENT
ENLISTED AT: TORONTO, ONTARIO
ON: 2ND JANUARY 1900
AGE: 22 YEARS
BIRTHPLACE: TORONTO, ONTARIO
FORMER CORPS: 14TH FIELD BATTERY ROYAL CANADIAN ARTILLERY
TRADE OR CALLING: MACHINEIST
RELIGION: PRESPERTERIAN
NOK: FATHER, RICHARD MCGREGOR
ADDRESS NOK: 99 GLADSTONE AVENUE, TORONTO, ONTARIO
MARRIED OR SINGLE: SINGLE
NUMBER OF CHILDREN AND AGES: NONE
HEIGHT: 5' 9 1/2"
MARKS ON PERSON: NONE
MEDICAL REPORT: FIT
DATE OF DISCHARGE: 30TH NOVEMBER 1900 TO JOIN HOWARD'S SCOUTS / CANADIAN SCOUTS
BOER WAR - PART TWO
REG. NO.: 129
RANK: SERGEANT
REGT: HOWARD'S / CANADIAN SCOUTS
BARS: ORANGE FREE STATE, SOUTH AFRICA 1901
REMARKS / HISTORY:
ENLISTED AT: CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA
ON: 30TH NOVEMBER 1900
AGE: 22 YEARS
BIRTHPLACE: TORONTO, ONTARIO
FORMER CORPS: 14TH FIELD BATTERY ROYAL CANADIAN ARTILLERY AND "C" BATTER R.C.F.A.
TRADE OR CALLING: MACHINEIST
RELIGION: PRESPERTERIAN
NOK: FATHER, RICHARD MCGREGOR
ADDRESS NOK: 99 GLADSTONE AVENUE, TORONTO, ONTARIO
MARRIED OR SINGLE: SINGLE
NUMBER OF CHILDREN AND AGES: NONE
HEIGHT: 5' 9 1/2"
MARKS ON PERSON: NONE
MEDICAL REPORT: FIT
DATE OF DISCHARGE: KILLED IN ACTION, 27TH JANUARY 1901, EERSTE FABRIKER
LETTER TO E.F. JARVIS FROM FATHER, RICHARD MCGREGOR:
Toronto, Nov. 11th, 1901
To: Ernest Jarvis, Esq. Ottawa
Re: Medal of Late Sergeant Major D. J. McGregor, Canadian Scouts
Dear Sir,
I quite expected to have received my sons medal before this date. You will recollect that I signed for it at the Armouries here and you promised to forward it to my address by registered packet. Trusting you will give the matter early attention.
I am yours truly:
R. McGregor
99 Gladstone Avenue
LETTER TO R. MCGREGOR FROM E. F. JARVIS:
REGISTER
Ottawa, 12th Nov., 1901.
Dear Sir,
In reply to your letter of the 11th instant, I have the honour to forward herewith, registered, your late son's South African War medal, with clasps, which this day have been received.
I regret not having forwarded you the medal sooner, I must have in some way mislaid the note I made that I was to do so.
You will kindly acknowledge reciept.
Yours very truly,
E. F. Jervis
FROM:
THE COLONIALS IN SOUTH AFRICA 1899-1902 by John Sterling. (Quoted for research purposes only, Page 316)
"As it appears from Lieutenant Moeller's Diary, the Canadian Scouts were constantly in the very front, and of course they had to pay the price; indeed on the following day, 27th January, he records that 2 scouts were killed. These were Sergeant Major D. J. M'Gregor and Sergeant D. B. Hammond. Sergeant W. S. Gordon was wounded. All three had served with 'C' Battery Canadian Artillery."
FROM:
KNOWING NO FEAR, The Canadian Scouts in South Africa 1900-1902 by Jim Wallace. (Quoted for research purposes only)
On January 27th, Alderson's column marched via Kleinfontein and Tweedracht to Kameelkraal. Two companies of the Mounted Infantry went to the left via Puntlift to Witfontein then back to Roodekoppies along the right bank of Bronkhorstspruit, driving about 60 Boers ahead of them. As they moved forward, the Scouts suffered their first fatal casualties at Vlakkraal, when SERGEANT MAJOR DUNCAN MCGREGOR and SERGEANY DAYTON HAMMOND were killed, Sergeant Walter Gordon was wounded and one of the Scouts' Colt guns was captured by the Boers. As Anderson's column moved forward, with Knox's column on their right and Campbell's on their left, the Canadian Scouts formed a screen well in advance of the main column. Seventy-five Scouts had to keep in touch with both flanking columns over a front of twelve miles. Lieutenant Ryan, with five men and a Colt ghun, was ordered to fill a gap of about a mile and a half in the centre where the main road ran.
After advancing some 15 miles, Ryan's men found no sign of the enemy. Two of his Scouts were in advance and Ryan could see them going to a farmhouse ahead of him. When he a small kopje on the right he sent a man to see if it was occupied and watched him as he went over the hill. When Ryan was within a few hundred yards of the farmhouse he saw two men who, he believed, were the two he sent forward. When one of the men waved to him, Ryan told SERGEANT MAJOR MCGREGOR, who was incharge of the gun, to stay where he was with SERGEANT HAMMOND while he, Ryan, checked to see if the way was clear. Ryan then put the spurs to his horse and when within a hundred yards of the house saw a figure in khaki, with a felt hat, wave his hand and go around the corner of the house. Ryan followed him "around the corner.... Into the arms of seventy-five Boers with their rifles looking me in the face." He found his men, other than MCGREGOR AND HAMMOND, had been taken prisoner and one of them, Sergeant Gordon, was shot and wounded when he attempted to escape.
The Boer who decoyed Ryan then walked to the front of the house and waved MCGREGOR forward with the Colt gun, When he was about sixty yards out, MCGREGOR sensed that something was wrong so dismounted and unlimbered the gun. The Boers immediately opened fire, killing both MCGREGOR AND HAMMOND. Ryan said the Boer commander Prinsloo, and his staff were dressed in khaki, some with helmets and others wearing felt hats turned up at the side with a badge of the Transvaal coat of arms. When Ryan was captured, he talked to Prinsloo for three quarters of an hour and was then allowed to send for an ambulance. Prinsloo told Ryan to stay with his badly wounded man until the ambulance came then he and his Burgers left, retireing to the silver mines and Kromdraai. The ambulance arrived about three hours later.
When Ryan reported to Anderson, the general was of the opinion that it had been no place to send a gun and Ryan should have been provided with an escort so he was cleared. Major Howard was, understandably, highly upset at the loss of the Colt gun and he quickly set off with a few Scouts to track it down. The party returned early the next morning after an unsuccessful search and Howard to his men that any individual or group who recaptured the gun would be given $500.00. Within a few weeks a portrait of Sergeant McGregor was unveiled at the Gladstone Avenue School in Toronto where he had been a puple.
There is some mystery surrounding the reports on the death of SERGEANT HAMMOND. In his documents there is a letter from his father (see above) to Lieutenat Colonel William D. Otter, which states "There is one part of it which I think the hardest to bear and that is he was killed by the British by a mistaken order, this we have learned from a comrade who was on the field at the time." Presumably the "mistaken order" was sending Ryan forward without an escort for the Colt gun, but this is not explicit in the letter and it is clear from Ryan's account that the casualties were directly from Boer fire.
End Quote.....
PICTURES...................
1. Queen's South Africa Medal to Hammond
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2. Photo of Grave Site
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3. Queen's South Africa Medal and Toronto Welcome Home Medal to McGregor
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4. Book of Rememberance in Peace Tower with entry for Hammond
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5. Book of Rememberance in Peace Tower with entry for McGregor
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6. Map showing location where they were both killed in action
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Well I have done it..... I have been able to re-unite two comrades that fell together during the Boer War......
Sergeants D. B. Hammong and D. J. McGregor
Please excuse the duplication of the Hammond information.....
Mike
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
HAMMOND, DAYTON BROWN
BOER WAR - PART ONE
REG. NO.: 129
RANK: DRIVER
REGT: "C" BATTERY, ROYAL CANADIAN FIELD ARTILLERY
BARS: CAPE COLONY, RHODESIA, TRANSVAAL
REMARKS / HISTORY:
1. VERIFIED IN BOOK, KNOWING NO FEAR BY JIM WALLACE
2. 12 PAGES OF SERVICE DOCUMENTS
3. PHOTOGRAPH OF THE GRAVE OF D. B. HAMMOND
4. ENLISTMENT DOCUMENT
ENLISTED AT: TORONTO, ONTARIO
ON: 2ND FEBRUARY 1900
AGE: 22 YEARS
BIRTHPLACE: OWEN SOUND ONTARIO
FORMER CORPS: 31ST GREY'S BATTALION
TRADE OR CALLING: FARMER
RELIGION: CHURCH OF ENGLAND
NOK: FATHER, ROBERT HAMMOND, OWEN SOUND
ADDRESS NOK: OWEN SOUND, ONTARIO
MARRIED OR SINGLE: SINGLE
NUMBER OF CHILDREN AND AGES: NONE
HEIGHT: 5' 9 1/2"
MARKS ON PERSON: NONE
MEDICAL REPORT: FIT
DATE OF DISCHARGE: 30TH NOVEMBER 1900 TO JOIN HOWARD'S SCOUTS / CANADIAN SCOUTS
BOER WAR - PART TWO
REG. NO.: 129
RANK: SERGEANT
REGT: HOWARD'S / CANADIAN SCOUTS
BARS: ENTITLED TO ORANGE FREE STATE, SOUTH AFRICA 1901 NOT WITH MEDAL
REMARKS / HISTORY:
ENLISTMENT DOCUMENT
RANK: SERGEANT
REGIMENTAL NUMBER: 129
ENLISTED AT: CAPETOWN, SOUTH AFRICA
ON: 1ST DECEMBER 1900
AGE: 23 YEARS
BIRTHPLACE: OWEN SOUND ONTARIO
FORMER CORPS: 31ST GREY'S BATTALION / "C" BATTERY ROYAL CANADIAN FIELD ARTILLERY
TRADE OR CALLING: FARMER
RELIGION: CHURCH OF ENGLAND
NOK: FATHER, ROBERT HAMMOND, OWEN SOUND
ADDRESS NOK: OWEN SOUND, ONTARIO
MARRIED OR SINGLE: SINGLE
NUMBER OF CHILDREN AND AGES: NONE
HEIGHT: 5' 9 1/2"
MARKS ON PERSON: NONE
MEDICAL REPORT: FIT
DATE OF DISCHARGE: KILLED IN ACTION, 27TH JANUARY 1901, EERSTE FABRIKER
LETTER TO FATHER, ROBERT HAMMOND FROM LIEUTENANT T. RYAN:
(Officer in Command of Patrol) (Italics Mine not in letter)
Standerton
February 17th, 1901
Dear Mr. Hammond
I arrived here from Ermelo Friday. We started for Belfast with four hundred sick and wounded and got within twenty miles and had to turn back. Had had to fight every mile to within five miles of here. The escort was very small and we had we had twenty-five hundred head of cattle and horses (unable to read) and hundred Boer families.
I suppose you have heard I was captured by the Boers and lost one Colt gun, two men killed, (Hammond and McGregor) and one very badly wounded on 27th January. It was not far from where Borden was killed, between Whitpoort and Diamond Hill. I was sent with the advance line of Scouts of Gen. Alderson's column with our Colt gun and five men, Gen. Knox on our right and Campbell on the left and it was twelve miles between them that we had to cover. Our Canadian Scouts, only seventy-five, had to keep in touch with both columns in order to do this, leaving a gap in the center of about one mile and a half where I was ordered to go which was the main road, another great mistake.
We got four miles in advance of the support, which was no fault of mine. After going about fifteen miles and I found no one in front of me I sent two men in advance. I could see Scouts on the left flank. On seeing a small kopje on my right front I sent another of my men to see if it was unoccupied, leaving only two men and myself with the gun. The two already out went to a farm house which was about four hundred yards to the right of the kopje and straight to my front as the roas (unable to read) close by. The one man went over the small kopje all right. When within a few hundred yards of the farm house I could see two men, as I thought the men I had sent ahead. One waved his hand. I told the Sergt. Major (McGregor) in charge of the gun to remain where he was until I went to see if everything was clear. So I put the spurs to my horse - when within one hundred yards of the house a Boer dressed in khaki with a felt hat like ours waved his hand and then walk [sic] around the corner of the house. I bolted down around the corner of the house and into the arms of seventy-five Boers with their rifles looking me in the face. Of course I dismounted. I found one of my men wounded and the others prisoners. The woulded man tried to escape and they shot him but it was back of the house and I was ahead (unable to read) hundred yards away I did not hear the shot. The same Boer thay decoyed me walked to the front and waved his hand again. The next thing I saw was the gun coming and they got within sixty yards when they saw that something was wrong and Sergt Major McGregor dismounted, unlimbered the gun but the Boers opened fire killing both the men with the gun. (Hammond and McGregor)
In about seven (unable to read) Prinsloo allowed he was in command of the Boers. I had a long talk with him (unable to read). He asked me lots of questions. Well he says, where are you going? I'm going with you I suppose. He laughed and said ok, I mean where were you going? Of course I did not know very much about things. After about three quarters of an hour he said I could send my man for an ambulance and that I could go with him as our column had halted. He was not (unable to read). Prinsloo had his staff with him, they were all dressed in khaki. Some had helmets, others had felt hats turned up at the side with a badge - the Transvaal coat of arms. When the gun was well away, he said where is your horse? I told him I did not know as they took him away. Some Boers went off with (unable to read). Well he said, as that man is badly wounded you had better remain with him as it may be some time before the ambulance arrives, and away he went. It was about three hours before the ambulance arrived.
When I reported to the Gen. He said that it was no place for the gun and I should have had an escort so I got clear of everything.
Letter ends here, looks like there was more but this is all that survived.
LETTER TO COLONEL OTTER FROM FATHER, ROBERT HAMMOND:
Owen Sound, April 14th, 1902
To Colonel Otter Stanley Barracks
Dear Sir,
Ever since the soldiers received their medals I have thought of writing to you. I do not see why the parents of deceased soldiers who fell in South Africa would not receive their medals their sons who would have received had they returned. Was not their lives given for their country? Were they not as brave as those who lived to return and receive the medals. I for one would like to receive the medal my son would have got had he lived to return. There is one part of it which I think the hardest to bear and that is he was killed by the British by a mistaken order, this we have learned from a comrade who was on the field at the time. His No. Was 129 and his name was Dayton Brown Hammond. Now I hope to hear from you soon about this as we think it right we should receive the medal. He was killed at a place called East Frabickew (sp - Eerste Fabriker) on the 27th January, 1901.
Yours truly
Robert Hammond
Spring Mount, Ontario
April 14th, 1902
To Colonel Otter
Dear Sir,
I opened this letter again just to mention that my son was in C Battery for a year and was then allowed to come home but reinlisted in Howard's Scouts and was with them from 1st Dec. until the 27th Jan. 1901 the day he was killed.
Robert Hammond
Spring Mount, Ontario
After receiving the letter, Colonel Otter started the paperwork to have the medal delivered to Hammond's father.....
The medal was infact presented to Mr. Robert Hammond personally by Colonel Otter in May of 1902.....
McGREGOR, DUNCAN JOHN
BOER WAR - PART ONE
REG. NO.: 134
RANK: GUNNER
REGT: "C" BATTERY, ROYAL CANADIAN FIELD ARTILLERY
BARS: CAPE COLONY, RHODESIA, TRANSVAAL
REMARKS / HISTORY:
1. VERIFIED IN BOOK, KNOWING NO FEAR BY JIM WALLACE
2. 7 PAGES OF SERVICE DOCUMENTS
3. PHOTOGRAPH OF THE GRAVE OF D. J. MCGREGOR
4. CITY OF TORONTO WELCOME HOME MEDAL, NAMED SERGEANT MAJOR D. MCGREGOR. (Most likely claimed by his father as he was KIA when the medals were given out)
5. ENLISTMENT DOCUMENT
ENLISTED AT: TORONTO, ONTARIO
ON: 2ND JANUARY 1900
AGE: 22 YEARS
BIRTHPLACE: TORONTO, ONTARIO
FORMER CORPS: 14TH FIELD BATTERY ROYAL CANADIAN ARTILLERY
TRADE OR CALLING: MACHINEIST
RELIGION: PRESPERTERIAN
NOK: FATHER, RICHARD MCGREGOR
ADDRESS NOK: 99 GLADSTONE AVENUE, TORONTO, ONTARIO
MARRIED OR SINGLE: SINGLE
NUMBER OF CHILDREN AND AGES: NONE
HEIGHT: 5' 9 1/2"
MARKS ON PERSON: NONE
MEDICAL REPORT: FIT
DATE OF DISCHARGE: 30TH NOVEMBER 1900 TO JOIN HOWARD'S SCOUTS / CANADIAN SCOUTS
BOER WAR - PART TWO
REG. NO.: 129
RANK: SERGEANT
REGT: HOWARD'S / CANADIAN SCOUTS
BARS: ORANGE FREE STATE, SOUTH AFRICA 1901
REMARKS / HISTORY:
ENLISTED AT: CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA
ON: 30TH NOVEMBER 1900
AGE: 22 YEARS
BIRTHPLACE: TORONTO, ONTARIO
FORMER CORPS: 14TH FIELD BATTERY ROYAL CANADIAN ARTILLERY AND "C" BATTER R.C.F.A.
TRADE OR CALLING: MACHINEIST
RELIGION: PRESPERTERIAN
NOK: FATHER, RICHARD MCGREGOR
ADDRESS NOK: 99 GLADSTONE AVENUE, TORONTO, ONTARIO
MARRIED OR SINGLE: SINGLE
NUMBER OF CHILDREN AND AGES: NONE
HEIGHT: 5' 9 1/2"
MARKS ON PERSON: NONE
MEDICAL REPORT: FIT
DATE OF DISCHARGE: KILLED IN ACTION, 27TH JANUARY 1901, EERSTE FABRIKER
LETTER TO E.F. JARVIS FROM FATHER, RICHARD MCGREGOR:
Toronto, Nov. 11th, 1901
To: Ernest Jarvis, Esq. Ottawa
Re: Medal of Late Sergeant Major D. J. McGregor, Canadian Scouts
Dear Sir,
I quite expected to have received my sons medal before this date. You will recollect that I signed for it at the Armouries here and you promised to forward it to my address by registered packet. Trusting you will give the matter early attention.
I am yours truly:
R. McGregor
99 Gladstone Avenue
LETTER TO R. MCGREGOR FROM E. F. JARVIS:
REGISTER
Ottawa, 12th Nov., 1901.
Dear Sir,
In reply to your letter of the 11th instant, I have the honour to forward herewith, registered, your late son's South African War medal, with clasps, which this day have been received.
I regret not having forwarded you the medal sooner, I must have in some way mislaid the note I made that I was to do so.
You will kindly acknowledge reciept.
Yours very truly,
E. F. Jervis
FROM:
THE COLONIALS IN SOUTH AFRICA 1899-1902 by John Sterling. (Quoted for research purposes only, Page 316)
"As it appears from Lieutenant Moeller's Diary, the Canadian Scouts were constantly in the very front, and of course they had to pay the price; indeed on the following day, 27th January, he records that 2 scouts were killed. These were Sergeant Major D. J. M'Gregor and Sergeant D. B. Hammond. Sergeant W. S. Gordon was wounded. All three had served with 'C' Battery Canadian Artillery."
FROM:
KNOWING NO FEAR, The Canadian Scouts in South Africa 1900-1902 by Jim Wallace. (Quoted for research purposes only)
On January 27th, Alderson's column marched via Kleinfontein and Tweedracht to Kameelkraal. Two companies of the Mounted Infantry went to the left via Puntlift to Witfontein then back to Roodekoppies along the right bank of Bronkhorstspruit, driving about 60 Boers ahead of them. As they moved forward, the Scouts suffered their first fatal casualties at Vlakkraal, when SERGEANT MAJOR DUNCAN MCGREGOR and SERGEANY DAYTON HAMMOND were killed, Sergeant Walter Gordon was wounded and one of the Scouts' Colt guns was captured by the Boers. As Anderson's column moved forward, with Knox's column on their right and Campbell's on their left, the Canadian Scouts formed a screen well in advance of the main column. Seventy-five Scouts had to keep in touch with both flanking columns over a front of twelve miles. Lieutenant Ryan, with five men and a Colt ghun, was ordered to fill a gap of about a mile and a half in the centre where the main road ran.
After advancing some 15 miles, Ryan's men found no sign of the enemy. Two of his Scouts were in advance and Ryan could see them going to a farmhouse ahead of him. When he a small kopje on the right he sent a man to see if it was occupied and watched him as he went over the hill. When Ryan was within a few hundred yards of the farmhouse he saw two men who, he believed, were the two he sent forward. When one of the men waved to him, Ryan told SERGEANT MAJOR MCGREGOR, who was incharge of the gun, to stay where he was with SERGEANT HAMMOND while he, Ryan, checked to see if the way was clear. Ryan then put the spurs to his horse and when within a hundred yards of the house saw a figure in khaki, with a felt hat, wave his hand and go around the corner of the house. Ryan followed him "around the corner.... Into the arms of seventy-five Boers with their rifles looking me in the face." He found his men, other than MCGREGOR AND HAMMOND, had been taken prisoner and one of them, Sergeant Gordon, was shot and wounded when he attempted to escape.
The Boer who decoyed Ryan then walked to the front of the house and waved MCGREGOR forward with the Colt gun, When he was about sixty yards out, MCGREGOR sensed that something was wrong so dismounted and unlimbered the gun. The Boers immediately opened fire, killing both MCGREGOR AND HAMMOND. Ryan said the Boer commander Prinsloo, and his staff were dressed in khaki, some with helmets and others wearing felt hats turned up at the side with a badge of the Transvaal coat of arms. When Ryan was captured, he talked to Prinsloo for three quarters of an hour and was then allowed to send for an ambulance. Prinsloo told Ryan to stay with his badly wounded man until the ambulance came then he and his Burgers left, retireing to the silver mines and Kromdraai. The ambulance arrived about three hours later.
When Ryan reported to Anderson, the general was of the opinion that it had been no place to send a gun and Ryan should have been provided with an escort so he was cleared. Major Howard was, understandably, highly upset at the loss of the Colt gun and he quickly set off with a few Scouts to track it down. The party returned early the next morning after an unsuccessful search and Howard to his men that any individual or group who recaptured the gun would be given $500.00. Within a few weeks a portrait of Sergeant McGregor was unveiled at the Gladstone Avenue School in Toronto where he had been a puple.
There is some mystery surrounding the reports on the death of SERGEANT HAMMOND. In his documents there is a letter from his father (see above) to Lieutenat Colonel William D. Otter, which states "There is one part of it which I think the hardest to bear and that is he was killed by the British by a mistaken order, this we have learned from a comrade who was on the field at the time." Presumably the "mistaken order" was sending Ryan forward without an escort for the Colt gun, but this is not explicit in the letter and it is clear from Ryan's account that the casualties were directly from Boer fire.
End Quote.....
PICTURES...................
1. Queen's South Africa Medal to Hammond
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2. Photo of Grave Site
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3. Queen's South Africa Medal and Toronto Welcome Home Medal to McGregor
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4. Book of Rememberance in Peace Tower with entry for Hammond
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5. Book of Rememberance in Peace Tower with entry for McGregor
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6. Map showing location where they were both killed in action
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