Lieutenant Nicholas Gifford Edmonds of the 2nd Battalion, the Black Watch (Royal Highlanders), was the son of William Edmonds of Wiscombe Park, Colyton. He was educated at Wellington College between 1887 and 1890, then entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, as a Gentleman Cadet. He was commissioned into the Black Watch on 21 October 1893 and promoted to Lieutenant on 13 July 1898.
He embarked for South Africa with the 2nd Battalion in October 1899, the battalion arriving at the Cape about 13 November. Along with the 1st Highland Light Infantry, 2nd Seaforth Highlanders and 1st Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, they formed the 3rd or Highland Brigade under Major‑General Wauchope. The brigade was part of the Kimberley Relief Force. Before joining the main body they were employed in the De Aar–Naauwpoort district, reaching the Modder River shortly before the action at Magersfontein.
The Highland Brigade’s attack at Magersfontein on 11 December 1899 has been extensively documented. The brigade advanced at night in mass of quarter column, moving off at 12.30 a.m. in darkness and heavy rain. As the official account records, “the brigade was to march in mass of quarter column, the four battalions keeping touch, ropes to be used if necessary” (Stirling, Our Regiments in South Africa). At daybreak, as the battalions attempted to extend into attack formation, they came under sudden and heavy fire from Boer trenches concealed on the flat ground before the kopje.
The 2nd Battalion Black Watch formed the leading battalion of the brigade. According to the same source, “the fire from the Boer trenches burst out” as the battalion was deploying, and the opening minutes produced severe casualties. Surviving officers later stated that the battalion moved through the thorn scrub in good order and that “there was no confusion in the Black Watch when moving through the bushes… the battalion moved through in file and formed up in perfect order on the far side” (Stirling).
The battalion pressed forward under close fire. Many of the Black Watch were found dead close to the Boer trenches, “the best evidence that the battalion got forward a considerable distance from the point they were when fire opened” (Stirling). For over twelve hours they lay under fire with little cover, suffering losses of about 44 per cent. Lieutenant Edmonds was among those killed in the early stages of the action. He was buried on the battlefield; his remains were later reinterred at West End Cemetery, Kimberley.
He is commemorated on the Black Watch Boer War memorial in Market Street, Edinburgh, and on the Black Watch memorial at the Magersfontein battlefield in the Northern Cape.
