"We, the Mayor and members of the Town Council of the borough of Ladysmith, Natal, and as such representing the inhabitants of the said borough, beg most respectfully to welcome with great joy the arrival of yourself and your gallant soldiers at our township, and to express to you our most sincere and heartfelt appreciation of your noble and courageous efforts in the relief of this long-beleaguered borough. As members of the great British Empire, as loyal subjects of Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen, and as colonists of Natal, we beg respectfully to tender you our most hearty thanks, realising as we do the magnitude and difficulty of the work you have accomplished. At the same time our sympathies are great for the heavy losses among your gallant troops that have occurred in your successful efforts to relieve us." The following telegrams were sent to Sir Redvers Buller and Sir George White by the Queen. To Sir Redvers Buller:-- "Thank God for news you have telegraphed to me. Congratulate you and all under you with all my heart. "V.R.I." To Sir George White:-- "Thank God that you and all those with you are safe after your long and trying siege, borne with such heroism. I congratulate you and all under you from the bottom of my heart. Trust you are all not very much exhausted. "V.R.I." Reply from Sir George White to the Queen:-- "Your Majesty's most gracious message has been received by me with deepest gratitude and with enthusiasm by the troops. "Any hardships and privations are a hundred times compensated for by the sympathy and appreciation of our Queen, and your Majesty's message will do more to restore both officers and men than anything else. "GENERAL SIR GEORGE WHITE, Ladysmith." The following telegram was received by the Queen from Sir Redvers Buller:-- "Troops much appreciate your Majesty's kind telegram. "Your Majesty cannot know how much your sympathy has helped to inspire them. "GENERAL BULLER." An additional telegram was sent by the Queen to Sir Redvers Buller on the 2nd inst.:-- "Pray express to the Naval Brigade my deep appreciation of the valuable services they have rendered with their guns. "V.R.I." Later on a special Army Order was issued as follows:-- GALLANTRY OF IRISH REGIMENTS IN SOUTH AFRICA--DISTINCTION TO BE WORN ON ST. PATRICK'S DAY. Her Majesty the Queen is pleased to order that in future, upon St. Patrick's Day, all ranks in her Majesty's Irish regiments shall wear, as a distinction, a sprig of shamrock in their headdress, to commemorate the gallantry of her Irish soldiers during the recent battles in South Africa. * * * * *