The Matabele Rebellion 1896 With the Belingwe Field Force

By D Tyrie Laing

“The struggles for Africa

There can be few more interesting and evocative periods of British imperial history than the struggles for south-eastern Africa. The empire had found itself colliding with the interests of many native powers across the globe during the decades of its expansion. Many had fought to maintain their independence and some, like the Sikhs of the Punjab, were sufficiently well versed in the practice of warfare as to be a serious threat. This could not be said of the tribes which rose from the Zulu nation, yet the Zulu War of 1879 gave British forces a chilling and brutal lesson in what a 'primitive' African tribal army was capable of achieving on the field of battle. The Matabele, as an off-shoot of the martial Zulus, also inevitably came into conflict with the British during the closing decade of the 19th century. The First Matabele War did not decisively subjugate the tribe and in 1896 it rose again laying siege to Bulawayo with over 10,000 Ndebele warriors.”-Print ed.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Porirua Publishing
• Release date: Apr 18, 2024
• ISBN: 9781991141651

D Tyrie Laing

Brevet Lieutenant Colonel David Tyrie Laing, Commander-in-Chief's Bodyguard. In Nov 1900 Lord Roberts authorised the raising of the Commander in Chief's Body Guard a fighting regiment, 570 strong, with 2 guns, 2 pom-poms, and 2 machine-guns, commanded by Major Laing, an officer who had served in the 91st and 93rd regiments (Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders), and had settled in South Africa. The corps took the field in the Orange River Colony. He was in command of a force sent to reconnoitre from Lindley to Reitz. They were suddenly attacked at Kromspruit on 3 Jan 1901, and Lieutenant Colonel Laing fell, shot through the heart. This was their first major contact and 18 were killed and 22 wounded. He was Mentioned in Despatches by Field Marshal Earl Roberts (London Gazette 16 Apr 1901), who stated that he deeply deplored his death, and that he had shown himself "an officer of great merit, and I am much indebted to him". Lieutenant Colonel Laing was a Fellow of the Royal Colonial Institute, and his name was inscribed upon a memorial tablet in the hall of the building in Northumberland Avenue, London (memorial since lost).-Memorial

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