Harold Lothrop Borden
| Harold Lothrop Borden | |
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Harold Lothorp Borden
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| Born | 23 May 1876 Canning, Nova Scotia |
| Died | 16 July 1900 (aged 24) Witpoort, South Africa |
| Buried at | Braamfontein Cemetery, Brakpan, Greater Johannesburg, South Africa |
| Allegiance | Britain |
| Rank | Lieutenant |
| Battles/wars | |
Lieutenant Harold Lothrop Borden, (23 May 1876 – 16 July 1900) was from Canning, Nova Scotia and the only son of Canada's Minister of Defence and Militia, Frederick William Borden and related to future Prime Minister Robert Laird Borden. Serving in the Royal Canadian Dragoons, he became the most famous Canadian casualty of the Second Boer War.Queen Victoria asked F. W. Borden for a photograph of his son, Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier praised his services, tributes arrived from across Canada, and in his home town a monument (by Hamilton MacCarthy) was erected to his memory.
Borden was born in 1876. He acquired an arts degree at Mount Allison University and was enrolled in medical school at McGill University when he enlisted in the war.
Borden's military career began in 1893, when he entered the King's Canadian Hussars. In 1897, as a member of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Contingent he received the Jubilee Medal. By 1899 he rose to major in command of this corps. At the outbreak of the Second Boer War Borden received a commission as lieutenant with the 1st Battalion, Canadian Mounted Rifles (which shortly after his death became known as the The Royal Canadian Dragoons (Special Service Force)) and allotted to the 1st Battalion, "B" Squadron as officer commanding the 4th Troop. He was brought to the attention of Field Marshal Lord Roberts', the British commander-in-chief in South Africa, for repeatedly swimming with Richard Turner across the Vet River at Coetzee's Drift, to draw the fire of the Boers who were dug in on the north bank (5 May 1900).
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