Maj. W. Black 2nd Btn 24th (2nd Warwickshire) Regiment.

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Maj. W. Black 2nd Btn 24th (2nd Warwickshire) Regiment, DAQMG to Lord Chelmsford - Memorial Plaque (Brecon)

Photo By Tim Needham

Black was commissioned into the 42nd Regiment of Foot in 1854.[1] He served in the Crimea War from 1855 and was present at the Siege of Sebastopol.[1] He was appointed a Brigade Major in Nova Scotia in 1867.
He transferred to the 6th Regiment of Foot in 1873 and to the 24th Regiment of Foot in 1875.He served in the 9th Xhosa War in 1877.He also served in the Anglo-Zulu War and was mentioned in despatches in 1879.He recovered the Colours of the 1st Bn of the 24th regiment which had been lost in the Buffalo River after the Battle of Isandlwana.
He went on to be Commanding Officer of the South Wales Borderers in 1880, Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster General in Nova Scotia in 1882, Assistant Adjutant General in Gibraltar in 1887, Commander of the Troops in Jamaica in 1891 and Commander in Belfast in 1893.
He became Commander of British Troops in China and Hong Kong in 1895 and was Acting Administrator in Hong Kong for a short period between February to November 1898.
He retired in 1899.His life is commemorated on a memorial tablet in Brecon Cathedral.

Hi Littlehand.
Major Black led the party searching for the colours but they were actually found by Harford , after Black had
decided to send Harford , Lt Harber and Lt Wainwright down to the bed of the river to carry out the search . Harford
when they get to the river tells Harber to go downstream close to the river's edge , and Wainwright to follow the curve
of the delta , while he ( Harford ) moved through the centre . As he Harford says we were only a few yards apart .
This from Harford's own words ; '' Scarcely had we taken a few steps than I stumbled on the colour case mixed up
with a heap of other things , picking it up I said to Harber , who was closest to me , '' Look here , here's the case
The Colours cant be far off , We all 3 had a look at it , put it on a conspicous boulder , and went on . Then , as Harber was returning to his position , I noticed a straight piece of stick projecting out of the water in the middle of the river , almost in line with us , and said to him , '' Do you see that straight bit of stick sticking up in the water opposite to
you ? It looks to me uncommonly like a colour pole '' He waded straight in , up to his middle , and got hold of it . On lifting it out he brought up the colour still adhering to it , and on getting out of the water handed the standard to me ,
and as he did so the gold - embroidered centre scroll dropped out , the silk having more or less rotted from the long
immersion in the water . Our cheers very soon brought Maj Black tearing down the Krantz as fast as precipitous rocks
boulders and thorn bush would allow him .
cheers 90th .