history
Gunner Strange became Canadian Hero by Reg Reynolds
Last month in Gibraltar Magazine I wrote about Sgt. Lindsay of the Royal Artillery who distinguished himself at Gibraltar and in the wild west of Canada. I found his story in a book titled Gunner Jingo’s Jubilee, the autobiography of Thomas Bland Strange. Strange was Sgt Lindsay’s battery commander at Gibraltar and so I figured there had to be a story there. I found a book about him titled Jingo by James Lamb (Macmillan, Canada 1992). Strange’s story turned out to be far more dramatic than I could have imagined and I was utterly surprised to learn that he played a major role in the putting down of the Northwest Rebellion, the most infamous rebellion in Canadian history. Thomas Bland Strang (the ‘e’ was added so often by army clerks that he found it easier to accept than to complain) was born in Meerut, India to a Scottish Colonel and his Anglo-Irish wife. The family had a long military history and it was a forgone conclusion that the boy would join the army. A tall, skinny youth, Thomas attended the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, London, passed out near the top of his class in 1851 and was awarded a commission in the 1st Artillery Regiment. Thomas had been such an enthusiastic and patriotic student that a classmate gave him the nickname of ‘Jingo’ taken from the music hall song of the time: “We don’t want to fight, but, by Jingo, if we do, We’ve got ships, we’ve got men, we’ve got the money too! The nickname proved perfectly apt and stuck with him for the rest of his life. Letters addressed to Lieutenant Jingo would be delivered without delay to wherever he might be posted. The first posting turned out to be Gibraltar, which at the time was undergoing extensive alteration and strengthening of its defences. In
his A History of Gibraltar, Capt. J. Sayer wrote: “No civilian concerns were allowed to impede the strengthening works; the Rock was a fortress, first and foremost, and the civil town a mere appendage, so that any building obstructing a clear line of fire was pulled down, and gun muzzles peeped from the most unlikely places in orchards or gardens.” Strange was quartered in the Moorish Castle but his second home became the magnificent Garrison Library which is much the same today as it was when he would retire there to study technical journals and read books on Gibraltar history. As well as enjoying cerebral pursuits young Lt. Strange was very athletic and he enjoyed boxing (often with Sgt. Lindsay of last month’s article) rock climbing and riding with the Calpe Hunt. Twice during his stay at Gibraltar Strange had brushes with death. On the first occasion he and four artillery subalterns went sailing in a small yacht. They were caught in a gale off the Barbary Coast and were marooned near Tetuan. The local Pasha placed them under guard. They were at liberty to wander about until they could find passage home but they would have to pay for ‘protection’. The young men had no money and were forced to survive on whatever game they could shoot. One day while they were out hunting they came upon a Bedouin wedding procession winding through the hills. Infuriated that their women had been seen by ‘Faringi’ the Bedouin men opened fire and the lads had to flee for their lives.
Strange was quartered in the Moorish Castle but his second home became the magnificent Garrison Library which is much the same today. Twice during his stay at Gibraltar Stange had brushes with death 56
56-57.indd 56
GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE • NOVEMBER 2008
21/10/08 19:00:34