Miller , Harry Rudolph (H R)

L.S Amery's The Times History of South Africa, Vol 5 pp432-442 describes the Battle of Tweefontein / Groenkop. "Gunner Owen Hassett of the Royal Field Artillery was killed in action on 25th December 1901 at Tweefontein, also known as Groenkop, in the district of Harrismith. Originally buried at Groenkop, his remains and those of his comrades were disinterred to the Garden of Remembrance in Harrismith. According to our records the grave is marked by a communal headstone and at Groenkop an obelisk marks the site where he and his comrades were originally buried." The ???History of the Royal Artillery 1860-1914, Volume 3 Page 468 states as follows concerning the action in which he died: Gnr. Hassett was serving with "I" Section, Pom-poms, R. F. A. when he was killed. "Tweefontein, 25th Dec. 1901. Still bent upon cutting the tentacles which threatened to strangle his activities, de Wet noted that the head of the block-house line that was under construction from Harrismith to Bethlehem was covered only by some five hundred yeomanry, with one gun of the 79th battery and a pom-pom. Their camp was on the slopes of a kopje, the other sides of which were almost precipitous. Up the steepest of the cliffs the burghers crept in the small hours of Christmas morning and rushed the defenceless camp. After firing a couple of rounds, the gunners fell to a man round their officer, Lieut. S. T. Hardwick, and as dawn broke de Wet marched off with the guns and two hundred prisoners." In this action "I" Section, Pom-poms, RFA lost Gnr. Hasset killed and three other gunners severely wounded and "TJ" Section, Pom-poms had 5 men taken prisoner. 79th Battery, RFA lost 6 men severely wounded and 7 men taken prisoner. 11th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry lost 45 killed, 5 died of wounds, 75 wounded, and 161 taken prisoner. Lieut. Stephen Thomas Hardwick, RFA was a regular officer in command of the Pom-pom gun and was shot through the heart while endeavouring to render his gun useless. An obelisk bearing the name of those who were killed was erected at the site of the action. The following information is from 'In Memoriam' by Steve Watt which states that: The action at Tweefontein on Christmas Day 1901 involved an attack by Boer General Christiaan De Wet on a force of about 400 Imperial Yeomanry with some artillery, the latter comprising men of the 77th and 79th Field Batteries and a Pom Pom Section. The Boers caught the British by s