The H.F.F. was now made up of the garrisons of Pomeroy, Fort Murray-Smith,[248] Helpmakaar, Paddafontein and Dundee. Wales was appointed to command vice Weighton, who had been ordered to take over court-martial duties. Further proof was given by the Transvaal at this juncture of an earnest desire to assist Natal in her trouble. That patriotic and well-known organization, the Lancaster and York Association, Johannesburg, conceived the idea of offering Natal the services of 150 men (twenty-five of them mounted). On approaching the President, Mr. (now Sir) Abe Bailey, K.C.M.G., the latter not only approved the proposal, but undertook to defray all expenses of equipment, clothing, saddlery, etc.--excepting only salaries and food supplies--out of his own pocket. This generous offer was most gratefully accepted by the Natal Government. So enthusiastically did Mr. Joe Bell, Mr. W. Beachy-Head and other members of the Association take the matter up, ably assisted by the Staff of the Transvaal Volunteer Headquarters, that after beginning to enrol on the 1st June, the corps, under the command of Lieut.-Col. Thomas Peakman, C.M.G., with Capt. G.H. Helbert, as Adjutant, actually presented itself for inspection at 3 p.m. on the 3rd,[249] and, moving off by train at 5.15 p.m., reached Dundee at 9.30 a.m. on the following day, prepared for any service that might be required. The greatest pains had been taken to select only the most efficient out of the 1,500 applications handed in. The rapidity with which the men were enrolled, clothed, equipped and entrained was as surprising to the people of Johannesburg as it was to the Colony of Natal. The L and Y, or 'Rosebuds,' as the corps was more familiarly styled, were directed to attach themselves to Mackay's column. This they did at Mangeni on the 9th June. Peakman was appointed second in command of the column, and he and his contingent remained with it until the end of the operations in Zululand. * * * * *