Penn Symons
Sir William Penn Symons | |
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Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath | |
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Early life and family
William Penn Symons was born on 17 July 1843 at
Military career
Symons was promoted to lieutenant on 11 December 1866[2] and captain on 16 February 1878.[1][3] His first combat experience was in South Africa during the Ninth Xhosa War (1877–78) where as a captain of the 2nd Battalion of the 24th Foot faced the native Gcaleka and Ngqika tribes led by King Sandile kaNgqika. In 1879 he took part in the Zulu war and on 1 July 1881 he obtained his majority.[1][3]
He then served during the
On 31 September 1891 Symons was promoted to regimental lieutenant colonel
Second Boer War
Colonel Symons was given the staff rank of
When Symons arrived in South Africa there were around ten thousand troops spread between Cape Colony and Natal.
However, before White arrived at Cape Town Penn Symons (who was known as a "fire eater"), had on his own authority deployed one of his brigades seventy miles north of Ladysmith at a town called Dundee.[17] The position of both Ladysmith and Dundee was precarious as they stand in a triangle of Natal north of the Tugela River with the Orange Free State to the west and the Transvaal to the east. White wanted to recall the Dundee garrison to Ladysmith but because of political pressures from Sir Walter Hely-Hutchinson, the Governor of Natal, he agreed to leave them there.[18] The Boers declared war on 11 October and began crossing the Natal borders the following day.[19]
Battle of Talana Hill
On 20 October 1899 as dawn broke, men of the Dundee garrison spotted Boer troops on the nearby Talana hill (at 28°6′49″S 30°12′18″E / 28.11361°S 30.20500°E) who proceeded to open fire on the town with their Creusot 75mm guns. Symons was annoyed by the "impudence" of the Boers to attack before breakfast.[20] The British guns moved to return fire as the general surveyed the Boer positions and gave orders to his commanding officers.[21]
Symons believed in old-fashioned military tactics of
At 7:30 am the infantry battalions set off from the east of the town; first the 2nd Battalion
Death
In excruciating pain from a severe wound to his stomach, Symons was taken to the 20th Field Hospital at Dundee. Despite this, all that he wanted to know was, "have they got the hill?"[21] While the battle was won, their position at Dundee quickly became untenable. After a few wasted days, Symons' replacement, Brigadier General James Yule, decided to abandon the town along with the most severely wounded to the Boers, stealing away at night to Ladysmith. The next day, the town surrendered and thus Symons became a prisoner of war along with many others. He clearly felt betrayed by Yule and just before he died on 23 October he implored the medical officer, Major Donegan, to "tell everyone I died facing the enemy, tell everyone I died facing the enemy".[22]
Winston Churchill wrote in his telegrams to The Morning Post:
So Sir Penn Symons is killed! Well, no one would have laid down his life more gladly in such a cause. Twenty years ago the merest chance saved him from the massacre at Islandhlwana, and Death promoted him in an afternoon from subaltern to senior captain. Thenceforward his rise was rapid. He commanded the First Division of the Tirah Expeditionary Force among the mountains with prudent skill. His brigades had no misfortunes: his rearguards came safely into camp. In the spring of 1898, when the army lay around Fort Jumrood, looking forward to a fresh campaign, I used often to meet him. Everyone talked of Symons, of his energy, of his jokes, of his enthusiasm. It was Symons who had built a racecourse on the stony plain; who had organised the Jumrood Spring Meeting; who won the principal event himself, to the delight of the private soldiers, with whom he was intensely popular; who, moreover, was to be first and foremost if the war with the tribes broke out again; and who was entrusted with much of the negotiations with their jirgas. Dinner with Symons in the mud tower of Jumrood Fort was an experience. The memory of many tales of sport and war remains. At the end the General would drink the old Peninsular toasts: 'Our Men', 'Our Women', 'Our Religion', 'Our Swords', 'Ourselves', 'Sweethearts and Wives', and 'Absent Friends'–one for every night of the week. The night I dined the toast was 'Our Men'. May the State in her necessities find others like him![23]
Memorials
The Durban Light Infantry erected a memorial stone over his grave at Dundee. Another monument to his valour was raised in Victoria Park, Saltash, Cornwall.[3]
A memorial was erected in December 1902 in
Notes
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/26898. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ "No. 23196". The London Gazette. 11 December 1866. p. 6886.
- ^ a b c d e "Major-General Sir William Penn Symons KCB". Saltash History and Heritage. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ "No. 25650". The London Gazette. 26 November 1886. p. 5976.
- ^ "No. 25761". The London Gazette. 25 November 1887. p. 6376.
- ^ "No. 26087". The London Gazette. 12 September 1890. p. 4933.
- ^ "No. 26133". The London Gazette. 10 February 1891. p. 747.
- ^ "No. 26416". The London Gazette. 27 June 1893. p. 3642.
- ^ "No. 26642". The London Gazette. 9 July 1895. p. 3880.
- ^ "No. 26937". The London Gazette. 11 February 1898. p. 859.
- ^ "No. 26968". The London Gazette. 20 May 1898. p. 3165.
- ^ "No. 27082". The London Gazette. 28 May 1899. p. 3257.
- ^ "No. 27122". The London Gazette. 3 October 1899. p. 6008.
- ^ "No. 27129". The London Gazette. 24 October 1899. p. 6387.
- ^ a b Pakenham 1979, p.76-77 & p.82.
- ^ Pakenham 1979, p.93 & p.96
- ^ Pakenham 1979, p.98-99
- ^ Pakenham 1979, p.108-109
- ^ "No. 27157". The London Gazette. 26 January 1900. p. 497.
- ^ Burnett 1905, p.13
- ^ a b c d Pakenham 1979, p.125-130
- ^ Pakenham 1979, p.142-147
- ^ Churchill 1900, ch.I
- ^ "Court Circular". The Times. No. 36960. London. 25 December 1902. p. 7.
Sources
- "South Wales Bourderers: Sir William Penn Symons". britishempire.co.uk. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
- Bruce Hunt. "William Penn Symons". brucehunt.co.uk. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
- Burnett, Maj. Charles K. (1905). The 18th Hussars in South Africa: the records of a cavalry regiment during the Boer War, 1899–1902. Winchester: Warren & son. ISBN 9781845749071.
- Churchill, W.S. (1900). London to Ladysmith via Pretoria. London: Longmans, Green & Co. at Project Gutenberg
- Lloyd, Ernest Marsh (1901). Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography (1st supplement). London: Smith, Elder & Co. . In
- E.M. Lloyd and Rev. James Lunt. "Symons, Sir William Penn". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
- ISBN 0-394-42742-4.