William Hardham

William James Hardham was born on 31 July 1876, the son of George Hardham, a labourer and his wife, Ann Hardham née Gregory. He was educated in Wellington, the city of his birth and when his schooling was completed, he obtained work as a blacksmith. A keen sportsman, he played rugby for the Petone Rugby Club and also represented the Wellington Rugby Football Union in the sport.[1] He would eventually play 53 games for the province. His military career began in 1895, when he joined the Wellington Naval Artillery, a part-time militia unit, serving with the Petone Company.[2]

During the Second Boer War, the New Zealand Government offered the British a mounted rifles contingent from the New Zealand Military Forces for service in the conflict in South Africa. Volunteers were plentiful and by 1900, two contingents had already left for the war.[3] Hardham was among those who volunteered and he was posted to the 4th New Zealand Contingent as a farrier sergeant major.[1] Landing in Portuguese East Africa in April 1900, the Fourth Contingent, nicknamed the "Rough Riders", were deployed as part of the Rhodesian Field Force around Mafeking.[4] Aside from a brief action at Ottoshoop in August, the Rough Riders spent the majority of their service in the war in the Transvaal, carrying out reconnaissance patrols and pursuing Boer commandos.[3] As part of the effort to deprive the Boers of resources, they also helped to destroy crops and round up civilians and cattle, during which they occasionally had skirmishes with armed commandos.[5]

On 28 January 1901, Hardham was on a patrol in the Transvaal when it was ambushed by twenty Boers. Although the patrol was able to withdraw, one man was wounded and his horse was shot from under him. Seeing this, Hardham rode to his aid and extracted him to safety while under heavy gunfire.[2]

For his actions, Hardham was recommended for the Victoria Cross (VC) by General Herbert Kitchener, commander of British forces in South Africa, even though the local commander, Major-General Ian Hamilton, believed the Distinguished Conduct Medal was a more appropriate form of recognition. The commander-in-chief of the British Army, Field Marshal Earl Roberts, concurred with Kitchener and the VC nomination was approved. The citation for Hardham's VC, the first to be awarded to a New Zealander of a unit of the New Zealand Military Forces serving overseas,[2] read:

On 28 January 1901, near Naauwpoort, this Non-Commissioned Officer was with a section which was extended and hotly engaged with a party of about 20 Boers. Just before the force commenced to retire Trooper McCrae was wounded and his horse killed. Farrier- Major Hardham at once went under a heavy fire to his assistance, dismounted and placed him on his own horse, and ran alongside until he had guided him to a place of safety.

— The London Gazette, No. 27362, 4 October 1901[6]

The Victoria Cross

Hardham was presented with the VC, the first and only such award to a New Zealander in the Boer War, on 1 July by George, Prince of Wales, who was in South Africa on a visit. This event took place even before the gazetting of the award. The medal itself was not officially engraved; Hardham presumably arranged this himself later.[2] The Rough Riders spent the final weeks of its service in South Africa in operations to the north of Klerksdorp, patrolling and denying the Boer commandos food. It was also involved in the capture of a convoy of Koos de la Rey's commando in March 1901. The contingent left for New Zealand in June 1901[7] and Hardham was discharged two months later.[2]

He volunteered to serve again in South Africa, this time with the Ninth Contingent and was commissioned as a lieutenant in February 1902.[2] Soon after the Ninth Contingent's arrival in South Africa in late April,[8] Hardham, along with over 50 other New Zealand mounted riflemen serving in South Africa, was sent to England to join up with the New Zealand contingent attending the coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra and participated in a parade of colonial troops in London on 1 July 1902.[2][9][10]

Hardham returned to civilian life after his visit to London and continued to serve with the Naval Artillery. In 1910, having attained the rank of sergeant and served as a volunteer in the militia for 16 years, he was awarded the Long and Efficient Service Medal. As well as his work as a blacksmith, he also increasingly became involved in rugby administration; in 1908 he commenced a six-year term on the committee of the Wellington Rugby Football Union.[2]

On the outbreak of the First World War, Hardham volunteered for the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF), being raised for service overseas.[2] Appointed as a captain in the Wellington Mounted Rifles (WMR), he was second in command of its 2nd Squadron. Travelling on the troopship Arawa, he embarked with the main body of the NZEF for the Middle East in October 1914.[11] His regiment was part of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade and would be destined for service in the Gallipoli Campaign.[12] Arriving in Egypt, the WMR spent several months in training and during this time Hardham helped to organise sporting events to keep men occupied.[13]

While the WMR missed out on the initial landings at Gallipoli, it arrived on the peninsula on 12 May 1915, without their horses.[12] Within days, the WMR was involved in the fighting. During an attack on Anzac Cove on 19 May, the WMR helped fend off attacks at Quinn's Post. Later in the day, Hardham was ordered to lead an attacking party on the Nek, from where Turkish soldiers were sniping. The area over which the party was to advance was swept with machine-gun fire and the orders to attack were countermanded.[14] Soon afterwards, he participated in the Battle for No.3 Post and it was during this engagement that Hardham received serious wounds; another officer who came to his aid was also wounded.[15]

Although treated for his injuries, which were to his hand and chest, Hardham was repatriated to New Zealand in February 1916. He agitated for a return to active duty with the NZEF but instead received an appointment as commandant of Queen Mary Hospital in Hanmer Springs. Initially just a temporary position, he did so well in the post that it was made permanent and he was promoted to major. He still sought a role with the NZEF and eventually in late 1917, the military authorities relented and he was able to rejoin the WMR, which at the time was serving in Palestine. His health was poor and he spent much of the remainder of the war ill.[2] He was ultimately repatriated back to New Zealand suffering malaria.[1]

After the war, Hardham was discharged from the NZEF but sought a role in the New Zealand Military Forces as a professional soldier. His application was declined on account of his health.[2] Unable to return to his work as a blacksmith, he found work at a newspaper and later with the Public Works Department. He was involved in veterans' affairs, being a club manager at the Wellington Returned Serviceman's Association and organising Anzac Day parades.[1]

Hardham was still involved with rugby administration, serving again on the committee of the Wellington Rugby Football Union from 1921 to 1925. He was eventually made a life member.[1] As a schoolboy, the future rugby commentator Winston McCarthy met Hardham, later describing him as "a very silent, simple man" who gave him a historic book on rugby.[16]

Suffering from stomach cancer, Hardham died at his home in the suburb of Ngaio on 13 April 1928. He received a military funeral, and among the attendees was the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Gordon Coates.[2][17][18] Buried at Karori Cemetery in Wellington, Hardham was survived by his wife, Constance Evelyn née Parsonson, who he had married on 11 March 1916. The couple had no children.[1] His VC is displayed at the National Army Museum at Waiouru. The Hardham Cup, a competition trophy in Wellington club rugby, is named in his honour[2] and he is also remembered by a plaque in Queen's Garden in Dunedin.[19]