War Diaries of Reginald Oxley 1891-1916 NW Frontier, Boer War & WW1
OXLEY, Brigadier General Reginald Stewart – His war diaries
*A collection of 5 diaries compiled by Oxley, written by him when he was on active duty in 3 wars during his career, along with a map, an ephemeral leaflet and 2 modern portraits*
1891 – Anglo-Manipur War.
This was a short conflict between British Colonial forces and the Manipur kingdom. The conflict lasted between 31 March and 27 April 1891 and was about a palace coup between family members of the ruling family. The British led by James Quinton attempted to arrest the agitators, leading to them all being executed. A young Lieutenant Oxley was part of the punitive expedition sent to resolve the conflict. He kept a diary starting from 31 March and lasting until 24 May 1891.
The diary itself is small 8vo, and 16 completed pages, the front board is detached, and the paper binding has mostly perished, the pages are holding; it is the diary out of the 5 in most distress and overall good. The 30-year-old lieutenant recorded any conflict that mostly occurred within a few days from 25 April 1891. Astonishingly he was one of the first to walk into the deserted palace and described seeing the severed heads of the British officials including that of commissioner Quinton. Oxley had been involved at the forefront of the expedition.
1900 – The Second Boer War.
Oxley wrote in detail about his time in this conflict and his written account spreads to 96 pages, from 1 January to 4 December 1900. He was at this time a 39-year-old captain in the Kings Royal Rifles and soon found himself under the command of the flamboyant fighting General French. The General took him under his wing and Oxley wrote extensively about this. There was one ridiculous encounter only days after his arrival where French and Oxley rode along the front line on horse back and were shot at by the Boers, but they were 300 yards out of range. He then described being asked to take a squad and provide covering fire, whilst General French attacked one of the Boer’s flanks.
Oxley oversaw many military skirmishes over a few months, all recorded in the diary, but was taken ill and suffered from a fever, most likely malaria, that led him on a journey to a hospital in Pretoria. He would be sat next to Queen Victoria’s son in Law, Prince Christian Victor, that he simply referred to as ‘the prince’. They were visited by Lord Roberts, Lord Kitchener and Prince Francis of Teck, until Prince Christian died aged 33 of Malaria. Oxley then described his funeral, the attendees and who arrived to attend. Again, Oxley witnessed moments of history in this conflict and documented them. This diary is in very good condition and is altogether in a decent shape.
1914-1916 – The Great War.
There are 3 diaries covering Oxley’s 3 years on the western front, along with a rare ephemeral leaflet from Lord Kitchener that was given to every soldier involved in the conflict about their duty and a large map of Ypres, stamped ‘The infantry Brigade’. Oxley was part of the first British Expeditionary Force that set off for France on 15th August 1914. He was at these stage 53 years old, a colonel and initially acted in a capacity of a general staff officer. He was promoted to a temporary rank of Brigadier General during the war and served as commander of the 24th Infantry Brigade for over a year during 1915 to 1916 and briefly commanded the 8th division for a few days.
Oxley described early on the battle of mons, where the British suffered heavy losses. He said “Marched off again by night after a few hours rest. Slept a short time on the floor. Men dead tired and hungry but we dare not stop.” Oxley described a desperate situation as he and the British ‘retired’ from Mons, heavily pressed.
Reginald Oxley lay witness to some historically important events in our military history in three major conflicts and has recorded them in detail here, providing a detailed insight into life in the British Army at different levels of leadership in his career from a young lieutenant in the Northwest frontier to a Brigadier General commanding a battalion in the Great War. Provenance: by descent from the family. A full transcript is available.