Lieutenant Dyer and the 2nd 24th Colour

Posts : 747 Join date : 2009-10-18

Newman states the following.

"A report had reached officers of the 2-24th, that in the flight, a tall officer,on a chestnut horse with the colour, had been seen between the Battle-field and the river, on the 22nd January; but no trace could be seen of the officer or colour, suppoed to have been Lieutenant Dyer, the Adjutant of the 2-24th"

Does anyone have further information on this. As that's all there is in the book.

Subject: Re: Lieutenant Dyer and the 2nd 24th Colour Tue Jul 05, 2011 11:12 am

Hi Mr G
In the not to distant past in a 'Durnford the scapegoat' thread we discussed the possibility of finding artifacts on the trail. During that thread I mentioned the Lt Dyer issue briefly.
Its allways been an intriguing rumour, unfortunatly only that. There was just the one mention, its not impossiblr of course. The width of the trail could very well mean that Dyer did escape and because it would have been incredibly late in the battle he would possibly be forced very wide of the established route. One day maybe something will be discovered. It would be very much against the Regimental tradition of course that no officers of the 24th left the field.

Ive often thought it would be nice to find a benefactor that would pay for a ground penetrating radar scan of the whole area, could be interesting what may turn up. Mellvills Sword for instance.

Regards

Posts : 2308 Join date : 2010-07-02 Age : 41

Quote :: The width of the trail could very well mean that Dyer did escape and because it would have been incredibly late in the battle he would possibly be forced very wide of the established route.

Daily News, 20th June,
1879.

"On the 20th, 23rd, and 26th June the burial of the remainder of those who fell at Isandhlwana was completed by a force under the command of Lieut. -Colonel Black, 24th Regiment. He carefully noted the signs of the fight, and reported that the bodies of the slain lay thickest in the l-24th camp, in which 130 dead lay (in two distinct spots), with their officers, Captain Wardell, Lieutenant Dyer, and a captain and a subaltern not recognisable ; close to the place where the bodies of Colonel Durnford, Lieutenant Scott, and other Carbineers, and men of the Natal Mounted Police were found. This is described as being a " centre of resistance," as the bodies of men of all arms were found converging as it were to the spot. About sixty bodies, with those of Captain Younghusband and two other officers, lay in a group under the southern precipice of Isandhlwana, as if they had held the crags and fought till ammunition failed. The proofs of hand- to-hand fighting were frequent. The fugitives' track, too, told its tale : " Here and there around a waggon, here and there around a tree, a group had formed and stood at bay ; shoulder to shoulder they fired their last cartridge, and shoulder to shoulder they plied the steel ; side by side their bones are lying and tell the tale."