Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

‘I need not say that I have myself very great admiration for the coolness and courage with which you assisted me at Dewetsdorp. I have always felt that unless you had taken me up on your saddle, I should myself certainly have been killed or captured, and I spoke myself very strongly to General Rundle on your behalf.’

Winston S. Churchill
[Taken from his hitherto unpublished and lengthy letter of appreciation to Clement Roberts)

The remarkable and highly important Boer War D.C.M. group of five awarded to Warrant Officer 2nd Class C. R. Roberts, South African Forces, late Montmorency’s Scouts and Frontier Light Horse, but for whose gallant deeds in South Africa in April 1900 the course of world history may well have been very different: for he saved Winston Churchill’s life in a action near Dewetsdorp, an event described in detail by the celebrated Morning Post’s war correspondent in his subsequent report to London - it seems a number of witnesses to the incident thought Roberts was worthy of a Victoria Cross, a sentiment shared by the gallant Montmorency Scout who endeavoured to persuade the War Office to upgrade his decoration by enlisting Churchill’s assistance

Distinguished Conduct Medal, E.VII.R. (Cpl. C. Roberts. Montmorency’s Scouts) official correction to unit having been gazetted as ‘Montgomery’s Scouts’; Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 3 clasps, Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal (Cpl. C. Roberts. Montmorency’s Scts.); King’s South Africa 1901-02, 2 clasps, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902 (1104 Serjt. C. R. Roberts. Frontier L.H.); British War and Bi-lingual Victory Medals (1A2nd C./W.O. C. R. Roberts, 3rd S.A.I.), generally very fine or better (5) £30,000-40,000

D.C.M. London Gazette 19 April 1901. The recommendation for the D.C.M. was submitted to the King on 18 April 1901 and the award was duly approved in AO 163/01 - the original submission erroneously listed his unit as ‘Montgomery’s Scouts’, an error that was corrected in a subsequent submission dated 3 August 1901. Official submissions aside, the best description of events at Dewetsdorp in April 1900 is that submitted by Winston Churchill on 22 May 1900, in his capacity as a war correspondent for the Morning Post:

‘A few days before, in an unguarded moment, I had promised to follow the fortunes of the Scouts for a day. I looked at the Boers, they were nearer to the white stone kopje than we but, on the other hand, they had a hill to climb, and were probably worse mounted.

It might be done, and if it were done - I thought of the affair of Acton Homes - how dearly they would have to pay in that open plain. So in the interests of the Morning Post I got on my horse and we all started - forty or fifty Scouts, McNeill and I, as fast as we could, by hard spurring, make the horses go.

It was from the very beginning a race, and recognised as such by both sides. As we converged I saw five leading Boers, better mounted than their comrades, outpacing the others in a desperate resolve to secure the coign of vantage.

I said, ‘We cannot do it,’ but no one would admit defeat or leave the matter undecided. The rest is exceedingly simple.

We arrived at a wire fence 100 yards - to be accurate 120 yards - from the crest of the kopje, dismounted and, cutting the wire, were about to seize the precious rock when - as I had seen them in the railway at Frere cutting, grim, hairy and terrible - the heads and shoulders of a dozen Boers appeared; and how many more must be close behind them.

There was a queer, almost inexplicable pause, or perhaps there was no pause at all, but I seem to remember much happening. First the Boers - one fellow with a long, drooping, black beard and a chocolate-coloured coat, another with a red scarf round his neck. Two Scouts cutting the wire fence stupidly. One man taking aim across his horse, and McNeill’s voice quite steady. ‘Too late; back to the other kopje. Gallop.’

Then the musketry crashed out, and the ‘swish’ and ‘whirr’ of the bullets filled the air.

I put my foot in the stirrup. The horse, terrified at the firing, plunged wildly. I tried to spring into the saddle. It turned under the animal’s belly. He broke away and galloped madly off.

Most of the Scouts were already 200 yards off. I was alone, dismounted, within the closest range, and a mile at least from cover of any kind.

One consolation I had - my pistol. I could not be hunted down unarmed in the open as I had been before. But a disabling wound was the brightest prospect.

I turned and, for the second time in this war, ran for my life on foot from the Boer marksmen, and I thought to myself, ‘Here at last I take it.’

Suddenly, as I ran, I saw a Scout [Roberts]. He came from the left across my front; a tall man, with skull and crossbones, on a pale horse. Death in Revelations, but life for me.

I shouted to him as he passed; ‘Give me a stirrup.’ To my surprise he stopped at once. ‘Yes,’ he said shortly. I ran up to him, did not bungle the business mounting, and in a moment found myself behind him on the saddle.

Then we rode. I put my arms round him to catch a grip of the man. My hand had become soaked with blood. The horse was hard hit; but, gallant beast, he extended himself nobly. The pursuing bullets piped and whistled - for the range was growing longer - overhead.

‘Don’t be frightened,’ said my rescuer, ‘they won’t hit you.’ Then, as I did not reply, ‘My poor horse, oh, my poor horse; shot with an explosive bullet. The devils! But their hour will come. Oh, my poor horse.’

I said, ‘Never mind, you’ve saved my life.’ ‘Ah,’ he rejoined, ‘but it’s the horse I’m thinking about.’ That was the whole of our conversation.

Judging from the number of bullets I heard I did not expect to be hit after the first 500 yards were covered, for a galloping horse is a difficult target, and the Boers were breathless and excited. But it was with a feeling of relief that I turned the corner of the further kopje and found that I had thrown double sixes again.

The result of the race had been watched with strained attention by the rest of the troops, and from their position they knew that we were beaten before we ever reached the wire fence. They had heard the fierce crackle of musketry and had seen what had passed.

All the officers were agreed that the man who pulled up in such a situation to help another was worthy of some honourable distinction. Indeed, I have heard that Trooper Roberts - note the name, which seems familiar in this connection - is to have his claims considered for the Victoria Cross. As to this I will not pronounce, for I feel some diffidence in writing impartially of a man who certainly saved me from a great danger.’

As stated above, Roberts was awarded the D.C.M. in April 1901, but in the years leading up to the Great War, he made a formal submission to the War Office to get his decoration upgraded to a Victoria Cross. He also wrote to Churchill regarding the same matter, the latter replying to him on 10 December 1913:

‘Dear Sir,

I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter enclosing a copy of correspondence with the War Office relative to your recommendation for the Victoria Cross.

I need not say that I have myself very great admiration for the coolness and courage with which you assisted me at Dewetsdorp. I have always felt that unless you had taken me up on your saddle, I should myself certainly have been killed or captured, and I spoke myself very strongly to General Rundle on your behalf.

I was very glad to see you had received the Distinguished Service Medal (sic) - a decoration of very great distinction and honour.

I fear it would be quite impossible to get the Authorities to reconsider their decision about the Victoria Cross, so many men have done brave actions in the war and especially when so many of the mounted branch have picked up dismounted comrades, that the Authorities have found it difficult to discriminate among them. Unless the General in the Field sends up a recommendation for the Victoria Cross, it is not possible for the War Office to award it; and at this distance of time, I do not think that Sir Leslie Rundle is likely to alter his decision; and if he did alter it, I do not see what grounds he would show for his change of mind.

The Victoria Cross is a decoration often very capriciously awarded and there is a great deal of chance in its distribution, but the Distinguished Service Medal (sic) is much prized and respected in the Army, and you will no doubt find it a satisfactory memento of what was, beyond all question, a very faithful and self sacrificing action on your part.

Let me, at this distance of time once again thank you for the service you rendered me.

Yours very truly

Winston S. Churchill’

In Churchill - Wanted Dead or Alive, Celia Sandys discusses her grandfather’s rescue at Dewetsdorp, her research having taken her to Durban, where she met Roberts’ daughter. From her she discovered the reason for the Montmorency Scouts transparent and touching concern for his injured mount - it was, in fact, his own horse “Rajah”, which he had bred and raised on his farm before the War. She also raises the issue of Roberts’ reward, stating that Churchill took up the matter with the High Commission in Johannesburg six years after the events that led to the award of his D.C.M. It is also clear from other sources that Churchill sent his rescuer a £10 cheque in later years, quite possibly forwarding it with the above quoted letter in December 1913.

Clement Richard Roberts enrolled in the Frontier Light Horse on 6 March, 1901, after the disbandment of Montmorency’s Scouts, and was finally discharged in the rank of Sergeant in June 1902. But he rejoined the Colours in the Great War, when he served in the 3rd South African Infantry until being discharged as a Warrant Officer 2nd Class in March 1918. He was awarded the Silver War Badge on the same occasion.

Sold with a quantity of original documentation, comprising:

(i) The original letter to Roberts from Churchill, as cited above, dated ‘Dec. 10 1913’ at 105 Mount Street, London, the top left hand corner of the first page marked ‘Private’, the ink text written by a secretary, and signed by Churchill in his own hand: ‘Winston S. Churchill’.

(ii) Cape Colonial Forces Discharge Certificate, in the name of ‘1104 Sergt. C. R. Roberts, Frontier Light Horse’, and dated ‘June 1902’.

(iii) Silver War Badge Certificate, in the name of ‘Sgt. C. R. Roberts, 7517, 3rd S.A. Infantry’, and dated at Pretoria, 22 March 1918.

(iv) Certificate of Confirmation, dated St Stephen’s Church, Barkly East, 18 October 1904.

(v) A copy of Churchill - Wanted Dead or Alive, by Celia Sandys, the title page with presentation inscription, ‘For Doris - Without her father I might not be here. Very best wishes, Celia Sandys. Durban. 28.vii.99’.

(vi) Three newspaper clippings recounting Roberts’ gallant deeds, mostly based on Chgurchill’s own account previously published in the Morning Post.

(vii) Portrait photograph of Roberts in civilian dress.

Note: Montmorency’s Scouts, strength 100, was raised by Captain the Hon. R. De Montmorency, V.C., 21st Lancers, in December 1899. Montmorency had earned his Victoria Cross for gallantry in his regiment’s famous charge at Omdurman the previous year. He was killed in a skirmish near Stormberg on 23 February 1900, when, it is said, he fired eleven shots after being mortally wounded. For services during the Boer War the unit won two D.S.O’s. and two D.C.M’s, all medals named to this unit being extremely rare.