Lt. G. Pardoe 1st Btn 13th (Somerset) Light Infantry

Lt George Astell Pardoe.Died on 14 July,1879, at the Umhlatoosi River. Buried at Fort Marshall.
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Lt. G. Pardoe 1st Btn 13th (Somerset) Light Infantry, mortally wounded at Ulundi - Memorial Tablet (Highcliffe)
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Lt. G. Pardoe 1st Btn 13th   (Somerset) Light Infantry, mortally wounded at Ulundi - Memorial Tablet   (Highcliffe)
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Photo By Tim Needham.


The Death of LT PARDOE of the 13TH LIGHT INFANTRY


“SURGICAL EXPERIENCES IN THE ZULU AND TRANSVAAL WARS 1879 AND 1881. By DUGALD BLAIR BROWN.

LT PARDOE of the 13TH LIGHT INFANTRY, was hit in the engagement at ULUNDI, and i saw him almost immediately afterwards.
The bullet entered the right thigh about its middle passing through a direct line without injuring vessel or bone, and entered the thigh of the opposite limb about its upper third, causing severe comminution of the femur, and then escaped on the other side. The wound in the right thigh healed, without a drop of pus coming from it in a few days. The wounds were small, clean, and round and no difference was perceptible between the entrance and exit. Those in the left thigh were different, the wound of entrance being twice the size of that of the other limb, and that of the exit being large, deep, and gaping and there was considerable hemorrhage present. I put the limb up in a long splint at the time, and immediately after the battle i wished to remove the limb. This was not agreed to, and i lost sight of him for 2 days. When seen then his leg was still in the splint i had put on, but the case had become more complicated. A considerable tumor, pulsating strongly, occupied SCARPA"S SPACE. Ten days later the wound began to bleed alarmingly and all efforts failed to check it. The limb was then amputated - i assisting - but the patient died on the table. The following was the condition of the limb i found on making an examination afterwards. The whole of the femur, except a few inches near the TROCHANTERS and CONDYLES,
was fractured, and existed only in fragments; large, loose, sharp edged and pointed pieces. The MEDULLARY CANAL was full of fungoid mass smelling most foully, and all the fragments of bone were quite destitute of living covering. An inch below where the PROFUNDA BRANCH is given off by the FEMORAL the main artery was cut half through, evidently by one of the sharp fragments of the FEMUR, and a long dark clot was hanging from it. The tissues immediately in this area were in a softened condition, the abductors
and vastus muscles being pulpified and separated from one another, and the space filled with blood-clot.”

Article posted by forum member 90th

Lt George Astell Pardoe was born on 5 September, 1855, at Brighton, the son of a former army captain, and was educated at Cowes and Eton. After a year at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst he obtained his commission in the 13th Regiment, Prince Albert's Light Infantry, later Somerset Light Infantry, and in May, 1876,joined the 1st Battalion of the Regiment in South Africa. Lt Pardoe carried the colours of the 13th Regiment at Pretoria at the formal annexation of the Transvaal on 12 April, 1877. Soon afterwards he was invalided home in consequence of a serious illness, but rejoined the regiment before the Sekukuni Campaign of 1878 in which he served. He was with Colonel Evelyn Wood's column throughout the whole of its operations on the Transvaal frontier and during its subsequent advance into Zululand. He was wounded at the battle of Ulundi by a Martini Henry bullet passing through his right thigh and lodging in the left thigh where it fractured the bone. For some days he seemed to be progressing favourably and was on his way to the base hospital at Utrecht when, despite skilful treatment and nursing, his condition worsened and it became necessary to amputate his left leg as the only possible means of saving his life. The shock was too much for his system and he died on 14 July, 1879, at the Umhlatoosi River and was buried the next day at Fort Marshall. His character cannot be better described than by quoting from a letter written by one of his brother officers :- 'A more honourable, high-minded, generous young fellow did not exist; he was a favourite with everyone, from the Colonel down to the youngest bugler.' Private McToy writes, 'Living a soldier's life, he has died a soldier's death, and will be honoured, as a soldier should be, in the memory of all who served with him in the campaign.' His death was all the more sorrowful in that he was wounded in the last action in which his regiment took part after serving for so long in South Africa and after having marched so far. As McToy says, 'a distance, in all, of at least 2 000 miles'.

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Memorial Window
Church of St Mark
Hinton Wood Avenue
Highcliffe
England

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1 & 2 Lt Pardoe's Grave ( Headstone )
3 There are 4 or so others who are buried in the small Cemetery with Lt Pardoe , basically across the road from where Ft Marshall was situated.

Photo's and text by 90th