GROUPS AND SINGLE DECORATIONS FOR GALLANTRY x89
‘I would especially mention Sergeant Sharkey who with a party of five men held an exposed position on the roof during the whole siege, keeping the look out, informing me of every movement of the rebels and putting down fire from their position on the Stony Koppie with excellent effect to judge from the number of men seen to fall.’
An official report submitted by Major W. E. Montague in command at Standerton, refers, dated at Fort Alice on 29.3.1881, and addressed to General Sir Evelyn Wood (Ref. T.N.A. WO 32/7833).
The excessively rare First Boer War D.C.M. group of three awarded to Sergeant P. Sharkey, 94th Regiment (Connaught Rangers), a veteran of the Zulu War who was decorated for his gallant work during the siege of Standerton in December 1880 to March 1881: some twenty years later - during the Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902 - he re-enlisted as a Scout in the Scottish Horse, thereby earning a possibly unique combination of awards
DISTINGUISHED CONDUCTMEDAL, V.R. (L./Sergt. P. Sharkey, 2/Conn. Rang.); SOUTH AFRICA 1877-79, 1 clasp, 1879 (732 Corpl. P. Sharkey, 94th Regt.); QUEEN’S SOUTH AFRICA 1899-1902, 2 clasps, Transvaal, South Africa 1901 (175 Scout P. Sharkey, Scottish Horse), the first two with tightened suspension claws, although still loose on the Zulu Medal, occasional edge bruising, otherwise nearly very fine or better (3)
£10000-12000 Just 20
D.C.Ms were awarded in respect of the First Boer War 1880-81.
D.C.M. Submitted to the Queen 14 March 1882; the original document, signed by the Queen, survives in The National Archives (a copy is included).
Patrick Sharkey was born about 1857 and appears to have been a native of Omagh in Co. Tyrone, Ireland; certainly his father was living there at the time of the census in 1901.
Zulu War and operations against the Sekukini
Sharkey was serving with the 94th Regiment (Connaught Rangers) when it disembarked from the S.S. China at Durban in April 1879, as part of the reinforcements which arrived after the major opening battles of the Zulu War. He was subsequently present at the final battle of Ulundi, where the 94th was the only regiment in Newdigate’s Division that had six companies present and suffered casualties of two men killed and 18 wounded.
When hostilities against Sekukuni in the Lydenburg district of the Transvaal were resumed in November 1879, four companies of the 94th formed part of the 1400 Imperial troops which attacked the reputedly impregnable stronghold, assisted by 800 colonials. Sekukuni escaped after the attack on his stronghold, but he was pursued by ‘B’ Company of the 94th and captured on 2 December 1879. Two Privates of the 94th, Francis Fitzpatrick and Thomas Flawn won the Victoria Cross for rescuing and carrying out of action, Lieutenant Dewar of the King’s Dragoon
Guards.Two of the regiment’s officers were created Companions of the Order of the Bath and five were mentioned in despatches. For his own part, Sharkey was promoted Sergeant on 24 December 1880.
First Boer War - Standerton - D.C.M.
The 94th Regiment remained in South Africa after the Zulu War, and was serving at company strength on garrison duty in a number of Transvaal towns about the time of the outbreak of the First Boer War; three companies were at Standerton, namely seven officers and 250 men, Sharkey among the latter.
The remainder of the regiment was marching from Leydenberg to Pretoria when, on 20 December 1880, it was ambushed by Boers at Bronkhorst Spruit, thereby giving rise to the First Boer War. The regiment’s losses on this occasion were serious - 54 killed in action, 21 died of wounds, 77 wounded and 82 taken
prisoner.Captain Froom, who had command of the 94th’s men at Standerton, decided to make a stand there, with the support of one company of the 58th Regiment (one officer and 75 men); command devolved on Major W. E. Montague following his arrival at the end of December
1880.The garrison improvised a heliograph out of mirrors procured locally. South of the town, the Vaal River formed a natural protection and forts were built on the surrounding koppies and outworks constructed.
A good impression of the circumstances under which the siege was conducted may be found in the following extract taken from a contemporary newspaper report:
‘Visitors described Standerton as a miserable-looking place. Without trees or gardens, the fifty-odd iron-roofed houses looked to the traveller C. L. Norris-Newman ‘as if they had been a mud-splash thrown at random on the bare veld’. The one object of interest was the octogenarian ‘General’ Stander, a sturdy Voortrekker who had fought the British at Bloomplaats [33 years earlier] and given the town its name.
Standerton sprawled on a slope which overlooked a ford across the broad, sparkling Vaal to the south. The fort in turn lay below rocky kopjes rising to the north and east, and the towering, flat-topped Stander’s Kop which guided distant travellers on the veld.
Situated midway on the main road between Newcastle and Pretoria, Standerton’s strategic importance was obvious. On 21 December two companies of the 94th and one of the 58th marched in from Wakkerstroom and began making fortifications. Major W. E. Montague was still on his way from Pietermaritzburg to take command. The assignment was not to his liking. ‘I don't want to go, sir,’ he had told Colley, ‘I dislike the Transvaal more than I can say, but if you think there is any necessity for my going, I am ready to start at an hour’s notice.’ Colley thought it vital, and advised the Major, who had an outstanding record in the Zulu War, ‘You will find Standerton an excellent position for defence, strengthen it, take care they don’t get you unawares, and hold till I come [20 January] ... we shall march together on Heidelberg.’
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