J B Backhouse CB

The photo of Julius Batt Backhouse was taken in 1888 when he held the rank of major. He was born in Deal, Kent in 1854, so was a truly East Kent man. He served in the Zulu War of 1879 and fought at Inyezane and Gingindhlova, although he does not appear on the list of Buffs officers who were shipwrecked in the St Lawrence in Nov 1876. At the outbreak of the Boer War he was second in command of the 2nd Battalion but took over command after the death of Colonel Hickson at Driefontein on 10th Mar 1900. He wrote an account of the Boer War entitled With The Buffs in South Africa published in 1903.