MANDERS Richard Henry West

Born 21st September 1872 at Kildare, Ireland.

Mentioned in Despatches, London Gazette no 27282 page 946 published on 24th January 1900.

The following information has been researched by and is courtesy of Dave Scrimger:
Siblings: Emily Anna Manders, Alice Mabel Manders, Yelverton Manders, Classina Frances Mary Manders, Arthur Edward Beaumont Manders, Issac Manders.

Spion Kop is a hill on a plain that stands over 1400 feet above the valley. This was occupied by the Boers at the centre of their line. It was decided to attack up the steep southwest face of the hill. Thorneycroft’s Infantry lead the way and were undetected until they crested the hill and were fired upon. In the darkness and the mist, the British thought they were at the top of the hill and started to dig into the rocky soil but managing only to get trenches 16” deep or so. In the dawn they found that their positions were overlooked by the Boer held peak The Little Knoll. The British held all day under rifle fire and artillery shelling taking many casualties because of the poor protection. After a series of Generals and Colonels in charge were all killed. Colonel Thorneycroft took command. He had little communications with his superiors, low on ammunition and water plus the constant shelling that the British artillery could do nothing about; he ordered a retreat down the hill from their positions during the night. Because of the lack of men to carry stretchers many of the wounded were left on the hill.

As Manders was a Private, there is no mention of his name that an officer would have had in death. No way of knowing exactly where or what time he was killed during the battle. The British lost 243 killed and 1250 wounded or captured during the battle. Of the 18 officers and 180 men of Thorneycroft’s Mounted Infantry 6 officers and 20 men were killed, 4 officers and 41 men were wounded and 1 officer and 12 men were missing. An attrition rate of almost 50%.

Sources: AngloBoerWar.com, My Heritage, Boer War Casualties Catalog