Extracts and Comments
(from Sources as shown) | |
Murray: Lance Corporal killed near Donnerpoch 20.6.1900.
Source:# 54 Corporal grave Diamond Hill Cemetery, photo.
Watson: Pontville, Franklin & Hobart Tas. photo killed in action Queen's South Africa medal and 4 clasps.
HAGSOC: Memorial Diamond Hill.
URL3: war memorial Launceston Tas.
Roe: war memorial Hobart Tas.
URL6: BETTS A from Brighton Tas.
URL7: died aged 21, Assistant School teacher at Macquarie State School and Pte. in Brighton Detachment.
URL8: letter from Roy Chalmers 1TMI re death of Cpl. Harry BETTS.
URL9: In Memoriam notice.
URL10: Pte. A BETTS from Brighton, amongst the officers and men of the First Tas. Contingent quartered in the barracks 23.10.1899.
Launc. Tele.: THE SOLDIERS' MEMORIAL, an imposing ceremony. For the first time in its history Launceston yesterday [10.11.1902] witnessed the ceremony of laying the foundation of a memorial to soldiers, who were its citizens, and had fallen by wounds or disease on the battlefield. Yesterday was the first anniversary of the reigning monarch since he was crowned, and the first celebration of the kind since South Africa became British territory, hence the occasion was very appropriate for laying the stone to the honor of some of those men who gave their lives in the struggle, which has assured British supremacy in what has long been known as the 'Dark Continent', but may now look reasonably for a peaceful future. The names of the northern Tasmanians who died in fighting for the present peace are to be engraved on a worthy monument in the City Park. The corner stone of the structure was laid yesterday in the presence of a large and deeply interested crowd, and with a duly impressive ceremony. The intended monument has already been described. It is to be executed mainly in Tasmanian brown stone, and besides containing effigies of men in khaki will be surmounted by a winged figure, probably in white marble, representing the Commonwealth, in the consolidation of which the sending of contingents to the war did much more than is often mentioned, for it quickened the aspirations of the people for a national life. The ceremony commenced shortly before 11 in the morning, when a detachment of infantry, under Lieutenant-Colonel MARTIN and headed by the Headquarters' Band, marched into the Park, and ranged up facing the site of the monument. Colonel CAMERON accompanied the military, and his appearance was greeted with cheers. The Mayor was present to perform the ceremony, and amongst the prominent citizens in attendance were most of the city aldermen, Senator JH KEATING, Messrs. RJ SADLER, P MCCRACKAN and SJ SUTTON MHA's, Canon BERESFORD, as chaplain to the forces, Rev. H JONES MA and others. The Headquarters' Band played the 'Dead March' from Saul very impressively, while all the assemblage stood with bowed beads, after which the Mayor declared the stone well and, truly laid, and said - Colonel CAMERON, officers and men, and ladies and gentlemen, some three years ago, on October 27, 1899, the first contingent of Tasmanian soldiers went away to South Africa; they were under the command of Colonel (then Captain) CAMERON, and they embarked from this place. (Cheers.) From time to time other contingents have left us on the same mission, the men who left us totalling 835 in number. But, alas! of that gallant company 27 will never return home again; they lost their lives as heroes in the cause of the Empire in that far off land. The birthday of his Majesty the King is being celebrated today and this has been thought a fitting time to lay the foundation stone of this memorial, which is to be raised by the people Launceston and the northern part of the State, out of respect to our fallen soldiers, and with a feeling of respect for their relatives, many of whom are here to witness this ceremony. By this monument we will show that those heroes are not forgotten; their names will be graven here, and handed down to history to be an example of patriotism to the rising generation. It will be, I Hope, some little consolation to the sorrowing relatives to know that we have thus remembered our heroes. (Cheers.) Colonel CAMERON, who was received with loud applause, then delivered a stirring address in which be referred to the work done by the army in assuring peace in South Africa. Some of their fellow-citizens had laid down their lives in that cause, their graves, and those of many other gallant men, were dotted over a vast territory, measuring a quarter of the Empire to-day, which their blood had brought under the sway of Britain, and the freedom only enjoyed under the Union Jack. (Cheers.) Colonel MARTIN also spoke, referring to the pride and respect with which citizens of generations to come might look upon the memorial, which would, he hoped, move them to live up to a high and healthy ideal of national life. (Applause.) The band then played the music for Kipling's 'Recessional Hymn', in which portion of the military, conducted by Sergeant-Major DRANSFIELD, and the public joined vocally, and the National Anthem, and the firing of a salute, terminated the proceedings. The names to be cut on the tablet are as follow - First Tasmanian Contingent, killed Corporal HA BETTS, Privates E BAILEY, A BUTTON, A GILHAM. Died of enteric Privates TW BARKER, H BLACK, T GALPIN, RV PITT, RP DOOLIN. Died of peritonitis Private J BUTLER. Tasmanian Bushmen's Contingent - Killed Private ER JACSON. First Imperial Contingent - Killed Lieutenant CH WALTER, Private P MCLAREN. Died of wounds Captain AA SALE, Private GH BROWN. Enteric Privates LFJ LETTE, WA WADLEY. Second Imperial Contingent - Killed Lance-Corporal J ORR. Died of wounds Private JE WARBURTON. Enteric Quartermaster-Sergeant DM LYNE, Privates FG COWELL, LP HUTTLEY. Dysentery Private P PHEGAN. 'E' Company, Third Battalion Australian Commonwealth Horse. Died of enteric Private AE FITZALLEN. Hepatic abscess Quartermaster-Sergeant FE MORRISBY. Died of pneumonia on the Drayton Grange Privates C CUNDY and VL HODGMAN. The hon. secretary (Mr HC LITTLER) is especially anxious to get in the names of those Tasmanians that unattached to any of the island contingents, fell in the Empire's service in South Africa. The foundation stone bore the inscription - 'This stone was laid by FK FAIRTHORNE, Mayor of Launceston, November 10, 1902.' Under it were placed copies of the two daily newspapers, a printed record of the sending of the contingents, and the usual official memoranda. A sum of £8 16s 6d, in response to an invitation by the Mayor to those present to give further donations to the memorial fund, was laid on the stone before the gathering dispersed.
Hbt. Mercury: An interesting ceremony took place after the morning service on Sunday, the
11th inst. [5.1902], in the unveiling of a tablet erected by public subscription in St. Mark's Church, Pontville, to the memory of Henry Allwright BETTS. Lance-Corporal BETTS bore a name familiar in the Defence Force of twenty years ago. His father, Mr. JR BETTS, for many years resident in Brighton, was First Lieutenant in Captain (now Lieut.-Colonel) DAVIES's Company of the Rifle Regiment; was promoted to the adjutancy of the regiment, and at the time of the Russian war scare in 1885, he was appointed a Captain in the Reserve Force, under Colonel BERNARD as CO., with Lieut. Colonel Davies Major. Lance-Corporal BETTS became a member of the Brighton Rifle Corps, under Captain GATTY, and joined the staff of the Macquarie Street State School early in 1897; but, actuated by attachment to the comrades among whom he had grown up he continued as an efficient in the Brighton detachment, until his enlistment in the First Tasmanian Contingent for South Africa. His career in South Africa was marked by a steady devotion to duty. On the field of battle, his distinguished bravery
and noteworthy intelligence secured for him four "clasps" out of the five awarded in the following, campaigns - Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Diamond
Hill, and Johannesburg. The circumstances under which he fell are as follows. On June 20, 1900, he was told off to patrol with a Corporal's guard, in the
direction of the Victorian camp. The country was fairly open, with patches of timber, and the grass very high. The party saw what appeared to be cattle
in some timber. BETTS halted his men, and rode on to reconnoitre, his comrades watching. When he was about three hundred yards from them, they heard a shot, and he at once called out, "Clear for your lives." A volley followed, and he fell - shot by a Boer party within 50yds., who had crept up through the long grass to meet the patrol. On receipt of the sad intelligence, a committee was formed; to mark in some way the esteem and respect in which he was held by the general public, and to place on record a lasting token of recognition of services rendered to the Empire. Captain DE HOGHTON was appointed secretary and treasurer, and by his connection with the British naval forces, he materially expedited the obtaining of the following tablet, prepared by the Army and Navy Stores - 'This tablet, is erected by public subscription, in memory of Henry Allwright BETTS, Lance-Corporal, First Tasmanian Contingent to South Africa, October, 1899, who was killed on patrol duty near Donkerpock, Transvaal, on June 20, 1900, in his twenty-third year. 'A soldier of Christ and his Queen.' Born in Hobart, he was baptised in this church, and associated with it as Sunday School teacher and lay reader. Major CAMERON's official despatch records that his devotion to duty was an example to all. In the action near Karen, he rescued a comrade whose horse had been shot. 'Quit you like men, be strong'
The plate consists of fine sheet bronze, with the letters inlaid, in silver. The
tablet represents a likeness of the deceased soldier, with two ensigns supporting the portrait. To mark the event, many visitors assembled from long distances, including two returned members of the first contingent, who were in camp with the deceased soldier on the morning when he essayed on his last mission. The F Company of the First Battalion of Tasmanian Infantry, under Lieu
tenant JOHNSON, and the Brighton division of the A Company, Tasmanian Mounted Infantry, under Lieutenant SWAN, also attended the service on parade. The Rev. JH CONRAN preached an appropriate sermon, from the text, Thessalonians iv., 13 "But I would not I have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope." The preacher showed that the deceased soldier had died as he had lived, in devotion to duty, and that the event of his death was not a cause for hopeless sorrow, seeing that he had early associated himself with the good offices of the Church, and had surrendered his life to the dictates of Christianity. After this discourse, Captain DE HOGHTON, in unveiling the tablet, stated that the defence of the colonies at present rested in South Africa. If England could not maintain her South African colonies, she was unable to maintain any of her colonies. It was also true that the defence of England did not remain on her shores. In 1805, it was at Trafalgar; in 1815, at Waterloo; and to-day it is on the open veldt in South Africa. After the unveiling of the tablet, the congregation remained standing while the organ pealed forth the "Dead March in Saul."
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