WILLIAM STUD BOVEY
On 8th March 1872, at Stoke, Mrs Bovey, of a son. This was the birth entry in the Nelson
Colonist Newspaper for William Stud Bovey. Known as Bill, his second name was the
family name of his mother Elizabeth Stud Bovey, née Greaves, which was passed down
to Bill. All Bill’s early life was spent in Stoke, working as a Labourer, possibly with his
father John, who during the 1890’s was a Gardener. It maybe that Bill learned gardening
from his father which could’ve helped him secure a job as a Gardener later on in life.
Bill Bovey never married, it would seem he preferred a Bachelor’s life.
Early in 1899, with all the talk of the coming war in South Africa, Bill joined up with the
Stoke Rifles. War in South Africa broke out in October 1899 and the New Zealand
Government offered the British Government assistance with Mounted Infantry, and this
was gladly accepted by the British. The first three contingents New Zealand sent were on
the whole regular troops. By the time the Fourth Contingent was being put together it
was made up of volunteers. The Stoke Rifles made their way to Dunedin, where Bill
Bovey was signed up and sworn in for service on the 22nd March 1900. Bill’s description
at the time was, 28 years old, height 5 feet 11 inches, chest 36 inches, weight 12st,
religion Wesleyan, Regimental number 1158, Horse 1256, Carbine 1551.
Two days later on the 24th March they sailed from Dunedin on board the Monowai. The
ship reached Beira in Portuguese East Africa, today Mozambique, on the 26th April 1900.
After a brief stay near Beira in unhealthy conditions, particularly malaria, the contingent
entrained for Marandellas in Rhodesia, arriving towards the end of May.
The Fourth Contingent ‘rough riders’ joined the Rhodesian Field Force, which operated
from bases in British territory north of the Transvaal. Major Francis with two squadrons,
which Bill Bovey was part of, left for Bulawayo on the 7th June, reaching there on the 2nd
July. On the 11th July the squadrons pushed onto Tuli, just north of the Transvaal border,
but were recalled to Bulawayo and entrained on the 8th August for Mafeking. On the 14th
August the contingent marched from Mafeking with a convoy of supplies for Lord
Methuen. On the 16th near Ottoshoop, found the Boers strongly positioned on the Zeerust
road. By an out flanking movement the New Zealanders turned the Boers and chased
them onto the next ridge, but by doing so the Kiwi’s had exposed themselves, without
artillery support, to heavy fire from the Boers. The New Zealanders paused and when all
squadrons were in place Captain JA Harvey ordered a bayonet charge. The Boers did not
wait to come to grips with the Kiwi’s, but they were able to inflict some casualties before
they rode off. The New Zealanders had behaved with magnificent courage. Captain
Harvey was one of those who fell in this action, which became know as Bufelshoek. The
contingent remained in possession of this hill for two cold days and nights, without
blankets and with little food. Boers were still in the area but the conduct of the Kiwi’s
did not encourage them to renew the attack.
On 19th August the whole force fell back on Ottoshoop and the next day was ordered to
move in the direction of Lichtenburg to see what enemy forces were in that quarter.
Three miles out they made contact with Boers, a skirmish took place before the
contingent was ordered to withdraw.
Bill’s contingent was Employed on patrol and outpost duty, or guarding convoys between
Ottoshoop and Mafeking until the 9th September when they, as part of a column went on
a trek in the Western Transvaal. On the first day the column came across some Boers,
the New Zealand contingent were given the task of crossing the Malmani River and
turning the Boers right flank. This manoeuvre was done with good success, capturing
several prisoners as well as wagons and ammunition. The column reached Lichtenburg
on the 13thm went onto Rustenburg and then to Zeerust.
On the 18th October, at Daenburg, to forestall early morning sniping into their camp, the
Kiwi’s sent out a party at 2.30am to occupy a hill a mile away, unfortunately the Boers
were already in place and the detachment was subjected to heavy fire until
reinforcements came up and relieved the pressure. During the columns march the Boers
clung to them, causing continuous annoyance with their sniping. The principal work of
the column was attacking and dispersing small parties of Boers, capturing sheep, cattle,
horses, wagons and searching all houses within reach for arms and ammunition.
On the 24th October the Fourth Contingent took part in the operation to surround the
Boers and their Commando de la Rey, who were in a strong position at Kaffir Kraal to
the north west of Zeerust. The Boers abandoned their position in time to escape
envelopment but lost 35 dead and wounded and 25 prisoners, as well as losing many
sheep, cattle and some wagons. On 28th a reconnaissance towards Ball Kop was
undertaken where 200 sheep and 900 cattle were captured.
On 1st November the column resumed its criss cross progress through Western Transvaal,
marching from Kaffir Kraal to Mabaalstadt, seeking Commando de la Rey, but the Boers
proved hard to bring to action. On 9th the column marched from Mabaalstadt to
Ventersdorp with the intention of surprising the town at daybreak on the 11th. There was
a brief brush with the Boers, who escaped while, as usual, a large booty of sheep and
cattle was taken. On the 12th the contingent headed towards Klip Drift, by hard riding
overtook and captured a party of Boers driving 720 head of cattle and 1500 sheep. Next
day, by a similar gallop, the New Zealanders secured more cattle and sheep. The column
moved on by Palmietfontein to Klerksdorp, which was reached on the 16th after an
inconclusive action with the Boers. On 27th the column left Klerksdorp and began to
clear the country between Klerksdorp, Potchefstroom and the Vaal River of both
population and stock. Marching by Koekoemoer and Tigerfontein to Lindeque Drift,
near Vereeniging, which was reached on 2nd December, then turned back to
Potchefstroom where on the 6th it rounded up 70 men, 930 women and children, 5600
head of cattle, 14300 sheep, about 380 horses and mules, besides a number of wagons. It
was General Lord Kitcheners policy of clearing the country and virtually devastating it
by the removal or destruction of both standing crops and stored forage, driving off all
flocks and herds and the imprisonment in concentration camps of the whole European
population.
On 26th December the column left Klerksdorp for Ventersdorp which was reached on the
28th and remained in that vicinity until 23rd January 1901, where they took part in two
sweeps to clear the country. On 24th the column moved to Cyferfontein, where it
remained until 6th March before returning to Ventersdorp. At this time Bill Bovey fell ill
with Enteric Fever, another name for Typhoid, an acute infectious disease affecting the
small intestine, characterised by severe diarrhoea and profound weakness. Enteric Fever
was responsible for more deaths in South Africa amongst the troops than were killed in
action.
Bill Bovey was taken to hospital in Johannesburg to recover well enough to travel by
train to Capetown in April, leaving on board ship 14th April for New Zealand with two
stopovers at Melbourne and Sydney, Australia, before arriving at Auckland on the 27th
May and then Wellington on the 31st, arriving home in early June 1901. The Fourth
Contingent returned to New Zealand in June 1901 and was disbanded on 21st July 1901.
Being invalided home Bill remained on the pay roll. For nine months Bill was receiving
treatment from a Nelson Doctor but wasn’t getting much better. In March 1902 Bill was
asked to undergo an operation, before submitting to this, Bill was to be examined by the
Medical Board in Wellington. Instead of his request being granted Bill was struck off
without pay, even though he was still an invalid.
Bill wrote to Prime Minister Richard Seddon, who on the 18th March 1902, advised him
that the matter had been referred to the Under Secretary of Defense for him to deal with.
On 26th May Bill was advised that he may consult some other medical man, but that it
must be done at his own expense. Another round of letters, this time to the Minister of
Defense, Hon. Hall-Jones, who agreed Bill Bovey had been ill treated. Bill was paid the
money owed to him and he went in to Nelson Hospital for the operation in June 1902.
William Mackie, the Surgeon at Nelson Hospital, reported that “Trooper Bovey is
making steady progress. The symptoms for which I admitted him are rapidly
disappearing. There is now ever suspicion of an abdominal aneurysm” [widening in the
course of an artery], dated 14th June 1902. After this Bill was granted two months leave
and then discharged from the army. His character was described as very good, medals
received were 2nd Boer War, Cape Colony, Transvaal and Rhodesia. In February 1907
Bill also received a clasp for SA 1901.
With his health recovered Bill went to work in Stoke as a Butcher, possibly alongside his
brother Edward at the Tahunanui Abattoirs. About 1913 Bill moved to Levin, where two
brothers Joe and John already lived, and took a job as a Gardener at the Levin
Experimental Farm, on CD Farm Road, living at Mako Mako Road, Levin. Bill remained
here until joining up for service in the Great War, WW1, the war to end all wars.
Bill enlisted on the 5th January 1917, he was to spend the next four months at Trentham
Training Camp before leaving on a troop ship for Europe on the 26th April 1917. Bill
spent a day in hospital during the voyage, maybe his old complaint or just a touch of sea
sickness. Bill disembarked at Devonport and was marched into Sling Camp on the 20th
July 1917. The next six weeks were spent with more training, being fitted out and a bit of
leave before leaving for France on the 5th September and was marched into camp at
Etaples on the 9th September. At this stage in the war 3rd Ypres, or Wipers as it was
known, was in the final two months of its offensives, which had begun on the 26th May
1917 with the bombardment of the German Lines on Messines Ridge, which was taken
on the 7th June.
The offensives for Passchendaele, which the next stage was known as, began on the 31st
July and were to continue through until the 6th November. Bill Bovey joined his
Battalion on the 16th September and was posted to 1st Company in the field. The next
stage of the Passchendaele offensive had begun on the 13th September with seven days of
bombardment on the German Lines. Bill’s company was part of the 2nd Anzac Corps.
The 2nd Anzac’s were held in reserve for the assault on the Germans, which began on the
20th September. By midday on the 20th the assault had been successful, virtually all
objectives had been reached. So successful had this operation been that the next stage of
the offensive was put into effect on the 26th. The assault was known as the Battle of
Polygon Wood and was to clear the remainder of the Gheluvelt Plateau. By the evening
of the 26th the Allied objectives had been reached. The 2nd Anzac’s replaced the 1st
Anzac’s in the front trenches. Bill Bovey was only to spend a couple of days in the front
lines, for on the 30th September he was detached for a working party at the Divisional
Dump. Bill missed the offensive of the 4th October, which had been preliminary assaults
in the lead up to the major offensives which were to take place on the 9th and 12th of
October.
Bill rejoined his Battalion on the 7th October, the 2nd Anzac Corps were to take part in the
offensive set down for the 12th. The plan was for the 3rd Australian Division to capture
Passchendaele village itself, while the New Zealand Division took Bellevue and
Goudberg. Zero hour was 5.25am, the supporting barrage proved almost completely
ineffective, as the New Zealanders tried to advance towards their objectives they came up
to dense lines of barbed wire, none of which had been affected by the previous
bombardment which was supposed to cut the wire to pieces. As the Kiwi’s tried to cut it
by hand and force a way through they were caught by intense and well aimed machine
gun fire. Nearly three thousand men were cut down as the division tried, with utmost
courage, to force a way forward. At the end of the day all that was to be seen for their
efforts was an almost intact network of wire and piles of New Zealand dead in front of it.
It was in this action that Bill Bovey died.
On the 15th October Bill was listed as missing, on the 20th October he was listed as killed
in action, 12-10-1917. Buried, Passchendaele, Belgium, 19th November 1917. On 13th
September 1921 Bill’s British War Medal and Victory Medal were sent to his young
brother Edward at Tahunanui. On 13trh February 1922 Bill’s Plaque and Scroll were
sent to his eldest brother George, 151 Waimea St, Nelson.
Don Auckram’s references
Nelson Colonist Newspaper
Ministry of Defence
Service Papers for 2nd Boer War
Service Papers for World War 1
Don Auckram’s Bibliography
“ The Boer War”
“New Zealanders in South Africa”
“A Tragic Victory, Passchendaele”
“History of the Auckland Battalion”
This article was researched by Wendy Bovey and written by Don Auckram.