Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Four: Lieutenant-Colonel A. G. Holland, 13th (Irish) Imperial Yeomanry, second-in-command of the battalion when taken prisoner at Lindley on 31 May 1900; late 15th Hussars, the detachment of which regiment he commanded on the Nile Expedition in 1884-85

Afghanistan 1878-80, no clasp (Lieut. A. G. Holland, 15th Hussrs.); Egypt and Sudan 1882-89, undated reverse, 1 clasp, The Nile 1884-85 (Capt: A. G. Holland. 15/Husrs.); Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 3 clasps, Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal (Lt. Colonel A. G. Holland. 13/Impl. Yeo.) officially engraved naming; Khedive’s Star, dated 1884-6, contact marks and polished but generally nearly very fine (4) £1,600-£2,000

Arthur Gambier Holland was born on 10 September 1848, at Springfield, St. Helens, Ryde, Isle of Wight. The son of George Henry and Charlotte Holland, he was first appointed Cornet in 1869, and commissioned 2nd Lieutenant on 24 July 1869, spending 27 years with the regiment. He was raised Lieutenant on 18 October 1871; Captain on 29 April 1879; Major on 12 June 1889; and Lieutenant-Colonel (half pay) on 10 September 1896. Holland first served in Afghanistan with the Quetta and Kandahar Field Forces, taking part in the advance on and occupation of Kandahar and Khelat-i-Ghilzai; operations in Yarkistan; action near Takht-i-Pul (with the Thul Chottiali Field Force), gaining a Mention in Despatches at Takht-i-Pul, when his squadron, on 4 January 1879, surprised and defeated a superior force of some 400 enemy cavalry (Despatches 7 November 1879); and the relief of Kandahar. During the second part of the campaign, he served with the 15th Hussars in General Phayre's Division. Subsequently, he saw service in the Transvaal campaign during the first Boer War of 1881, for which no medal was ever issued. During the Nile expedition of 1884-5, Captain Holland commanded the detachment of 2 Officers and 42 men of the 15th Hussars which formed part of the Light Camel Regiment, taking part in the operations with the Desert Column, including the engagement at Abu Klea Wells on 16-17 February 1885. However, he and his men were not entitled to the clasp for the action at Abu Klea on 17 January as they were just outside the area of operations for which the clasp was awarded.

Holland came out of retirement and volunteered for Boer War service, being appointed Lieutenant-Colonel, 13th Imperial Yeomanry on 21 February 1900. The 13th Battalion consisted of 45th (Dublin Hunt), 46th (Belfast), 47th (Duke of Cambridge's Own or Lord Donoughmore's) and 54th (Belfast) Companies. The Battalion was known by Roberts as the 'Irish Yeomanry’; however, the 47th Company, formed by Lord Donoughmore, who had been Commander-in-Chief of the Army for 39 years to 1895, was made up of 'men of gentle birth and wealth', who, in order to join the Company, had been required to pay £130 towards the cost of a horse, their own equipment and passage to South Africa, and to donate their pay to the Imperial War Fund for the Widows and Orphans of Soldiers.

The 13th Battalion embarked for South Africa in February 1900 and was ordered to join Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Colville's 9th Division at Ventersburg as mounted infantry reinforcements. However, the unit was delayed waiting for forage and Colville left Ventersburg on 24 May 1900 without them. The Battalion was then ordered to Kroonstad and later redirected to Lindley, where on arrival on 27 May 1900, was soon engaged, coming under fire from parties of Boers around the town. Colonel Spragge, the Commanding Officer, withdrew a short distance from Lindley to the point at which he had left his baggage, established a defensive position atop a group of hills and immediately sent a messenger to Colville, requesting assistance. Colville, considering that his force was too weak to be divided, pressed on with his advance and ordered Colonel Spragge to retire to Kroonstad. Colonel Spragge had also sent requests for assistance to Lieutenant General Rundle, some 40 miles south of Lindley, and he immediately set about relieving the pressure on Spragge's force, but was held up at Senekal.

Meanwhile, on 28 May 1900, the Boers began their assault on Spragge's position and for the next two days the 13th Battalion concentrated on maintaining its ground. However, on the evening of 29 May 1900, Piet de Wet arrived with reinforcements, bringing the Boer force surrounding the 13th Battalion up to some 2,500 men and most importantly, also brought with him four artillery guns, which were to effectively seal the fate of the Yeomanry Battalion. Colonel Spragge, finding that the grazing for his horses was becoming restricted, ordered Lieutenant Hugh Montgomery and 16 men of the 46th Belfast Company to seize a kopje 2,000 yards to the west of their position, from which Boer marksmen were causing problems. The sortie was a failure and Lieutenant Montgomery and his men were taken prisoner. The next morning, Lord Longford and 40 men of the 45th Dublin Company were sent to take the same kopje and following a bayonet charge, they succeeded. At this point, however, the Boers brought their artillery into action and Colonel Spragge's position began to deteriorate. On 31 May 1900, the Boers attacked the kopje and the Yeomanry began to fall back. Colonel Spragge sent reinforcements to this line, but stated that ‘an irresponsible Corporal raised a white flag and in the confusion the kopje fell’. On seeing the white flag Captain Robin ordered a cease-fire, and as the Yeomanry position was now overlooked and their Colt gun had been put out of action, Colonel Sprage decided to surrender to avoid unnecessary loss of life. Roberts in the meantime had ordered Methuen and Colville to relieve the Yeomanry, but they arrived two days too late on 2 June 1900.

Colonel Spragge, Lieutenant-Colonel Holland and the surviving members of the 13th Battalion were taken Prisoner of War; the casualties suffered by the Battalion at Lindley amounted to one officer and 15 men killed in action, 5 officers and 37 men wounded, and 21 officers and 440 men taken Prisoner of War. Holland was second in command of the battalion under Colonel B. Spragge, who was subsequently cleared of blame at the enquiry which followed some months later at Barberton on 25 September 1900. Lieutenant-Colonel Holland, who had been released from captivity, went on half pay on 21 October 1900.

Lord Roberts said of the disaster: ‘I consider General Colville mainly responsible for the surrender of the Irish Yeomanry and would not let him retain his command.’ Subsequently, in December 1900, Broderick, the new Secretary of State for War, announced that he agreed with Roberts that Colville was ultimately responsible for the surrender at Lindley. Colville was consequently removed from command at Gibraltar and when he would not retire he was made to do so.

Sold with research including copies of rolls, details of the enquiry, original copy of Holland's Birth Certificate and war services.