Paget recruited largely from upper middle class members of London gentlemen's clubs and professional men (Trooper Cosmo Rose-Innes, who wrote an account of the first months of the unit,[3] was a barrister at Gray's Inn).

[13] The battalion was sent to Maitland Camp outside Cape Town where it awaited the arrival of its horses and carried out fatigues and further training.

[15] At the end of April the battalion was assigned to Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Warren's column, which was ordered to suppress Boer rebels in Griqualand West and the Bechuanaland Protectorate.

[16][17] The IY part of the column, consisting of Pagets Horse, and the 23rd (Lancashire) and 24th (Westmorland and Cumberland) companies of the 8th Bn, were commanded by Charles Hay, the Earl of Erroll.

Warren had placed insufficient pickets and before dawn on 30 May a force of Boers surrounded the camp at Faber's Put, infiltrated into the garden and prepared to attack.

The 23rd and 24th IY Companies advanced to support their picket on the southern ridge and brought their two Colt machine guns into action.

The small group of Paget's Horse protected the machine guns while the rest of the IY advanced by rushes over open ground towards the ridge and drove off the Boers.

Following the action at Faber's Put Warren was able to clear Griqualand West without further trouble, the column entering Campbell and then Griquatown.

[4][17][18][19] After the action Paget's Horse continued guarding Schmidt's Drift and escorting supply convoys from Kimberley for the column, which camped at Blickfontein.

When Warren moved on, a detachment of Paget's Horse escorted the Royal Canadian Artillery's guns from Faber's Put to Schmidt's Drift.

Paget's Horse marched through hostile territory from Mafeking to Lichtenburg, posting advance, flank and rear guards, and having daily brushes with small detachments of Boers.

The column was hampered by long train of empty ox-wagons to bring away the supplies at Eland's River, and there was a running fight with the Boers.

Paget's Horse went back to its camp at Ottoshoop and spent the following weeks patrolling the road between Zeerust and Lichtenberg, fighting three separate engagements with parties of Boers.

The march was unopposed and the unit spent a few days patrolling the surrounding country, experiencing a few contacts with small parties of Boers.

They therefore avoided the following day's disaster when the convoy was ambushed by De la Rey and the escort overwhelmed and taken prisoner after a running battle.

[4][31] The letters 'PH' gave rise to the unit's nickname of the 'Piccadilly Heroes', but some wits chose to believe that they stood for 'Public House', 'Perfectly Harmless', or even 'Phat-head'.