Private Robert Scott 1st Battalion Manchester Regiment 6th January 1900 |
The dogged endurance of our soldiers under adverse circumstances has been often remarked upon, and the conduct of Private Scott furnishes an example of it which has seldom, if ever, been excelled. During the great attack on Ladysmith, January 6, 1900, when the fortunes of the hard-pressed and starving garrison so often hung in the balance, Caesar's Camp came in for its share of the work and danger. In one of the sangars Privates Scott and Pitts resolutely maintained their position, and for fifteen hours, without food or water, kept up a hot fire on the Boers, who, having shot all the fourteen men in the sangars on the immediate left, occupied their positions and poured a continuous and heavy fire on these two brave soldiers. Robert Scott is a " Lancashire
lad," having been born at Haslingden on June 4, 1874. On
February 2, 1895, he entered the Manchester Regiment, with which
he was serving in Natal on the outbreak of hostilities, October,
1899 ; served throughout the siege of Ladysmith, and during that
long time of privation and danger was never once absent from
duty. Possesses the Queen's and King's medal with many clasps,
including almost the first and the last Elandslaagte and
Belfast. |