The son of a Crimean war veteran and doctor, Neville Reginald Howse was born in Stogursey, Somerset, in 1863. Qualifying as a doctor in 1886, he migrated to Australia in 1889 for health reasons ('weak lungs') and set up his own medical practice in the New South Wales (NSW) city of Newcastle, then in the town of Taree. Deciding to become a surgeon, he returned to Britain to attend the Royal College and returned to Australia in 1899, setting up a practice in the central NSW town of Orange. When Britain declared war on the Boer Republics in October 1899, launching the Second Boer War, Howse volunteered for military service with the second contingent, New South Wales Army Medical Corps. Commissioned as a lieutenant, he departed for South Africa on 17 January, arriving in Capetown on 18 February. He contracted typhoid and was hospitalised for eight weeks.
In May, fighting near Doornkop, about 11km west of Johannesburg, a recovered Howse was mentioned in dispatches for his work treating casualties in the field. Two months later he was attached to a column of the 4th Brigade of Mounted Infantry commanded by General lan Hamilton under Brigadier-General Charles Parker Ridley, chasing the formidable and mosteagerly sought Boer general, Christiaan de Wet.
This story is from the Issue 113 edition of History of War.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the Issue 113 edition of History of War.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
THE OTHER OPERATION OVERLORD D-DAY'S GHOST ARMY
Historian Taylor Downing discusses the cunning use of intrigue and deception during Operation Fortitude
D-DAY LANDING CRAFT
Over 4,000 Allied landing craft took part in the Normandy Landings with a huge range of designs created for specific roles and capabilities
UNDERGROUND WREN
Deep in the bowels of Fort Southwick, radio operator Marie Scott was one of the first to hear reports as Operation Overlord got underway, passing critical communications between the men on the beaches and high command
SWORD BEACH
The easternmost sector of the 6 June Normandy Landings was a mostly British affair, and Saw some of the biggest territorial gains of the first day of the Allied invasion
WHAT IF...D-DAY HAD FAILED?
The consequences of an unsuccessful invasion would have been felt for decades to come
'HATRED IS NOT THE WAY'
Speaking to mark the publication of his new memoir, Ivor Perl describes how he survived both Auschwitz and Dachau concentration camps during the Holocaust
JOHNSON BEHARRY
Two acts of valour from this young private saved the lives of his comrades in the narrow streets of Al Amarah, Iraq
CORPO TRUPPE VOLONTARIE
During the Spanish Civil War, tens of thousands of Italian soldiers fought in Spain to support the fascist Nationalist forces of Francisco Franco
PREPARING FOR KURSK
Dr Ben Wheatley of the University of East Anglia reveals the huge German and Soviet preparations for the largest tank battle in history
BATTLE OF JINGXING
Strategic brilliance and an audacious plan ensured victory for the underdog in this legendary clash in ancient China