Bakenlaagte, 30th October 1901

The Battalion was concentrated at Middelburg in the Transvaal, and was placed under the command of Major C. L. E. Robertson-Eustace until January, 1902, when he was succeeded by Major W. S. Kays.

The Battalion thus organized was composed of experienced Officers and Riflemen who had been in the field from the beginning of the war. It joined Benson's column at Middelburg, a column of which it was said that no Dutchman dared sleep within thirty miles of its bivouac. The ceaseless activity and success of Benson eventually decided Louis Botha, the Boer Commander-in-Chief, to make a determined attempt to destroy his force. To achieve this purpose he collected nearly 2,000 men, and attacked the column while on the march near Bakenlaagte on 30th October. By a rapid charge he overwhelmed the rearguard, captured two guns, killed Benson, and surrounded the column, but was eventually beaten off. The 25th Mounted Infantry upheld the traditions of the Regiment, losing in the action 11 men killed, and 5 officers and 45 men wounded.

The Mounted Infantry Battalion of the Regiment ended its short but brilliant career by taking part in all the great "drives" in the Eastern Transvaal and north-east of the Orange Free State, and was finally at Greylingstad when peace was declared on 1st June, 1902.

Conclusion Of The War

The Peace of Vereeniging was signed on 31st May, 1900. The two Boer Republics were annexed to the British Crown. The 60th Rifles, as has been seen, had played a distinguished part, with four Regular battalions, one Militia battalion and a Mounted Infantry battalion. Three more battle honours were added to its list; and 29 officers and 517 Riflemen had been killed in action or died.

H.H. Prince Christian Victor

Among the casualties the Regiment mourned the loss of H.H. Prince Christian Victor, Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, who died at Pretoria on 29th October, 1900. A grandson of Queen Victoria, he joined the Regiment in 1887, and had served almost continuously in the 4th Battalion, but was attached to the staff of the Commander-in-Chief at the time of his death. He had served in four separate campaigns.

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