My local boer war hero

This is a biographical tribute to Harry Crandon, who was awarded the Victoria Cross for rescuing a comrade under heavy enemy fire during the Boer War in 1901. After his military career, he settled in my hometown and is buried here. With a summary of the war to put the action in perspective and a short account of how the Victoria Cross was established.

The tension between the two independent Boer republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State and British interests in South Africa had been building up for years, until diplomacy was finally broken. In early October 1899, the 1st Army Corps mobilized in England. On October 11, 1899, Boer commando units invaded British territory; besiege the garrison towns of Kimberley and Mafeking in Cape Colony, and Ladysmith in Natal.

Fighting in their homeland in mounted commando units, in some cases with three generations of the same family, the Boers were a formidable foe. With superior firearms and smokeless ammunition, and camouflaged in the muted colors of their ordinary farm clothes, the skilled Boer marksmen knew how to hide in the rocky terrain and shoot from afar, as the British paraded across the open plain. . . Then, with excellent horsemanship, leave the scene before the British could react effectively.

British relief forces made a two-front advance during which they suffered three serious setbacks in mid-December, at Magersfontein and Stormberg in the Cape, and at Colenso in Natal, which became known as “Black Week.” As the Natal Field Force fought north, they suffered their worst defeat of the campaign at the notorious Battle of Spion Kop on February 24, 1900, before reaching Ladysmith four days later. Kimberley, under Cecil Rhodes, was retaken at around the same time, and the relief of Mafeking on May 17, 1900, which had been under the leadership of Robert Baden-Powell, who later established the world-famous Boy Scouts movement, it sparked a frenzy of imperial hysteria in Britain.

Eventually Lord Roberts, whose son had been killed in action while winning a posthumous Victoria Cross at Colenso, assumed command. Their experience turned the tide and British forces entered the Boer capital of Pretoria on June 5, 1900. The British then launched a campaign, mainly in eastern Transvaal, to locate the Boer commanders, while the Boers adopted guerrilla tactics, attacking isolated outposts. , supply convoys and patrols.

In October 1900, Herbert Kitchener took command and countered the Boer strategy by dividing the country into fenced sections, guarded by blockhouses. With their ‘Scorched Earth’ policy, hostile Boer farms were burned to diminish their chances of refuge. Their families were placed in safe enclosures, notoriously known as concentration camps, where the death rate was high. Not surprisingly, the Boers began to lose heart, but sporadic fighting by the “bitter” continued to keep British troops on their toes. Hostilities finally officially ended when a peace treaty was signed at Lord Kitchener’s dining room table in Vereeniging on May 31, 1902.

A young Liberal MP named David Lloyd George made a name for himself speaking out against the war, and the daring exploits of a young news reporter named Winston Churchill were making him “quite famous.” Seventy-eight Victoria Crosses were awarded for the campaign, one of which was Harry Crandon.

Henry George Crandon was born on February 12, 1874 in Wells in Somerset, England, the son of William Crandon and his wife Helen (formerly Hewlett).

He entered the 18th Hussars in 1893 and served in India from 1894 to 1898, when he went to South Africa. It was stationed with the British garrison at Ladysmith when the Boer War began, and was present in the defense of the city until it was relieved by General Buller’s Home Field Force on February 27, 1900.

British forces captured Pretoria on June 5, 1900, and on July 4, 1901, Private Crandon was part of a British patrol advancing through hostile country at Springbok-Laagt, east of Pretoria. He was acting as an advanced scout with a partner when a Boer commando unit with a total of 40 rifles opened devastating fire on them at 100-yard range. He and his partner, Private Berry, began to back up to report the incident to the unit, but Private Berry received a blow to the hand and shoulder and his horse was injured when he fell to the ground. Private Crandon returned to help, and with the enemy bullets falling on him, he dismounted, helped the wounded man into his own saddle, and led them on foot for about 1000 meters until they were out of range. He returned defensive fire until the main body arrived to help them.

The awarding of Victoria Cross to Private Crandon was announced in the London Gazette on October 18, 1901, and he received the medal from Lord Kitchener in Pretoria on June 8, 1902. For his service in South Africa he also received the Queen’s Medal with five clasps.

After his discharge, he settled in Swinton, near Manchester, now part of the town of Salford, and obtained employment on the estate of Sir Lees Knowles. He was a member of the Honor Guard when King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra visited Salford in 1905, and was introduced to them in the royal carriage when the Boer War Memorial was unveiled next to the Royal Hospital in Salford. Shortly after this, he emigrated to the United States.

When the Great War began he returned to the colors and enlisted with his old regiment in South Africa in October 1914. He was wounded in the left foot during the first battle of Ypres on May 13, 1915, and in his recovery he served two years in the Balkans, Thessaloniki, Egypt and Palestine.

Upon being decommissioned in 1919, he re-established himself in Swinton. He attended the VC meeting held on November 9, 1929, hosted by the Prince of Wales at the Royal Gallery of the House of Lords. On June 8, 1946, he was one of 150 venture capitalists invited to a special dinner at the Dorchester Hotel. In November 1948 he was greeted by the Royal British Legion patch at Swinton Cenotaph. However, shortly thereafter, he was the victim of a traffic accident in which he suffered two broken legs and wounds to his face that hospitalized him for several months.

Harry Crandon died at his home, 39 Kingsley Road, Swinton, on January 2, 1953, at the age of 71, and was buried in the Church of England section of Swinton Cemetery. His medals are with the 13/18 hussars (now the light dragons). There is a headstone on his grave and the Royal British Legion Housing Association has named Crandon Court in Pendlebury to honor his name.

The Victoria Cross is awarded for: “Conspicuous courage and devotion to the country in the presence of the enemy.” It was instituted by the royal order of Queen Victoria towards the end of the Crimean War in 1856, and the men who fought in that campaign became the first recipients.

Queen Victoria showed great interest in the award and the design of the medal, and the Duke of Newcastle had some interest in creating the award in his capacity as Secretary of State for War. Prince Albert suggested that it should be named after Victoria, and the original motto was ‘For the brave’, but Victoria was of the opinion that this would lead to the inference that only those who have received the cross are considered to be brave, and decided that ‘For Valor’ would be more suitable. The design was not to be particularly ornate or of high metallic value. All the medals have been released by Hancock’s in London, using bronze from the helmetbels of weapons that the Russian forces had captured from the Chinese and the British had captured from the Russians at Sevastopol. Rank, long service, or injury should not have a special influence on who qualified for the award. The first notices of the recipients were published in the London Gazette on February 24, 1857, the investiture took place in Hyde Park, London, on June 26, 1857, when 62 Crimean veterans received the medal from the Queen herself. . He originally had an annual pension of £ 10, which became £ 100 in 1959, and was raised to £ 1000 in 1995.