Xavier joined the army and in 1891 was a private with the 12th (Prince of Wales’s) Royal Lancers cavalry regiment. His service number was 3177. The regiment was based at the Seaforth Barracks on Claremont Road in Seaforth.
In October 1899 he deployed to South Africa for service in the Second Boer War. They sailed on City of Vienna and Mohawk and arrived at the Cape in mid-November. They then joined General French at Naauwpoort and soon undertook some patrol work and skirmishing. They were then sent north to the Modder River on 2 December, a few days after the battle there, to join the British advance along the railway line from the Cape to relieve the garrison under siege at Kimberley. The British forces, under Lieutenant General Lord Methuen, soon found their path blocked at Magersfontein by a Boer force that was entrenched in the surrounding hills.
The British attack began on 10 December with an artillery bombardment, and then a difficult night march towards the enemy positions through horrendous weather. In the early hours of the 11th the leading brigade was engaged by hidden Boer trenches at the foot of the hills and were decimated. The 12th Lancers were on the right flank and had a great deal of dismounted work to do, being heavily engaged from early morning till dusk. Losses were 5 killed and 17 wounded. It was a tactical defeat for the British, who fell back to the Modder River where they waited for another two months.
It was a very difficult campaign, with poor logistics resulting in men often having to go without basics such as food and water. The long period following the defeat, whereby vast numbers of troops were held at Modder River, created ideal conditions for the outbreak of disease. It was not long before a contaminated water supply led to a mass outbreak of typhoid fever.
Xavier was taken ill and died at De Aar (where there was a large military hospital) on 11 February 1900 when aged 28. Of the 556,653 men who served in the war, 57 684 contracted typhoid with 8,225 deaths, more than those killed in action. Xavier is remembered on the Obelisk in Albert Park, Middlesbrough; at the Royal Garrison Church in Aldershot; and on the Edwardian Cross at Duncombe Place in York.
Units
- 12th (Prince of Wales’s) Royal Lancers (1891-1900)
Medals
See also
