Ghandi

Mohandas Karamchand Ghandi was born in Porbander, India on 2nd October 1869. He was married at the age of thirteen to Kasturba who was the same age. They had their first child at eighteen. The same year Ghandi sold his wife’s jewels to finance his studies in London. At twenty-one he returned to India to start a law practice, which was not very successful mainly because the man who was to offer a new philosophy of peaceful confrontation was, in his early years, too tongue-tied to argue successfully in court.

Much has been said and written about the exploits of one Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in South Africa. The young lawyer cut his political teeth in Natal and the Transvaal, and after 21 years in SouthAfrica, he returned to his motherland as “the naked fakir, one who forsook all material possessions, and initiated the path of Satyagarha – non violence.

His association with Ladysmith was prompted by many Indian settlers seeking his legal assistance in the procurement of residential permits from the Resident magistrates. He was held in high regard by the local trading community,and early in 1899 on the retirement of Mr. GM Rudolph, the Resident magistrate, he was specially commissioned to pay tribute and to present a token of appreciation.

Gandhi’s involvement in the Anglo Boer war puzzled many people. In the six years prior to the war he had waged a relentless campaign to improve the quality of life of his countrymen, often critical of the Colonial Government. When hostilities broke out on the 11th. October 1899 between Britain and the Boer Republics of Transvaal and the Orange Free State, Gandhi said “my personal sympathies were all with the Boers but I believed then that I had yet no right in such cases to enforce my individual convictions.” But loyalty to the British rule impelled him to make a contribution as a British citizen, it was also my duty, as such, to participate in the defence of the British empire.”

On October 19th 1899 Gandhi addressed the following letter to the Colonial Secretary:

“About 100 English-speaking Indians of Durban met together at a few hours notice on the 17th. October inst. to consider the advisability of unreservedly and unconditionally offering their services to the government.” The services were offered without pay. Many of the English friends dismissed the offer, but Gandhi won the support of Dr. LP Booth of St. Aidan’s Mission. The members of the Ambulance corps were drawn mostly from the indentured Indians supplied by the estates, through the Protector’s department, and volunteers who were to act as leaders of the stretcher bearers.

Dr. Booth trained the recruits in ambulance work, and each received a medial certificate of fitness for service. Although the project was supported by Mr.Laughton and Mr.Escombe, the government refused to accept the applications. Undeterred, Gandhi sought the assistance of the Bishop of Natal through the good offices of Dr. Booth. It was at this time that the resilience of the Boer forces had emabarrassed the British forces, and the ambulance coprs were rushed into action.

The corps was made up of 1100 persons, with nearly 40 leaders. about 300 were free Indians while the rest were indentured labourers. Although Dr. Booth as Medical Superintendent was part of the group, Gandhi was obviously the driving force of the volunteer group. He enthusiastcally encouraged his colleagues to throw caution to the wind, and fulfil the task of helping the wounded. Although their primary task was to transport the wounded well away from the field of fire, at critical times they were forced to risk being shot as the helped the falled. During the Battle of Colenso the Ambulance Coprs put on a spirited show, bit the authorities expressed unhappinesss at them being put to risk. After the reverses at the Battle of Spionkop, General Buller Commanding the British troops, expressed his thanks to Gandhi and his men fetching the wounded from the battlefield. As the Boer forces repulsed the British attacks, the stretcher bearers worked within the firing line, ministering aid to the fallen, and transporting the wonded to safety. “During these days we had to march twenty to twenty five miles a day, bearing the wounded on stretchers.” The volunteer group ferried the wounded to hospitals in Ladysmith.(Unless Mr. Reddy is talking about Intombi Camp the no wounded could have got into ladysmith. My understanding is that the wounded were taken to Cgieveley or Estcout hospitals Brian Kaighin.)

The corps was dsbanded after six weeks service after the British forces suffered setbacks at Spionkop and Vaalkranz. They returned to Durban, hailed as “sons of the Empire” and to commendations in the press. General Buller mentioned their contribution in his despatch, and each of the leaders were presented with a War Medal. Gandhi was pleased that the “White man’s attitude seemed to change, and their appeared for the first time, concillatory tones between the two groups.

On April 20th 1900 Gandhi thanked each of the leaders for the contribution to the war: “you have shown your patriotism and brought honour to yourself and your country by joining the Indian Ambulance Corps as a leader and have thereby rendered service both to yourself and your motherland. It will therefore, behove you to look upon that as a reward in itself.” He pledged to offer his legal services to them for a paltry fee of five pounds a year as long as he remained in South Africa and did not leave for India. I’m grateful to Mr. RG Reddy of Ladysmith for this article.