by Allan Gordon | Jan 19, 2021 | Anniversaries, Birthday, South African War 1899 - 1902
Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Whitelaw Thorneycroft was born on 19 January 1859 in Wolverhampton in the UK. He saw action in the Anglo-Zulu War and in the First Boer War of 1881 where he was involved in the Defence of Pretoria. When the British anticipated the outbreak...
by Allan Gordon | Jan 18, 2021 | Anniversaries, Deaths, South African War 1899 - 1902
Gideon Jacobus Scheepers, after being court martialled, was convicted on all counts brought against him, except for one of the murder, and sentenced to death. On 18 January 1902 he was executed by firing squad. At the outbreak of the South African War (1899-1902), as...
by Allan Gordon | Jan 16, 2021 | Anniversaries, Birthday, South African War 1899 - 1902
Lieutenant-General Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton was born on 16 January 1853 and, having completed his schooling, attended the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, where he received a commission as an infantry officer in 1871. During the First Boer War he saw action...
by Allan Gordon | Jan 15, 2021 | Anniversaries, Birthday, South African War 1899 - 1902
Commandant Johannes Cornelius Jacobus Lotter was born in Pearston, a town midway between Graaff-Reinet and Somerset East in the Eastern Cape on 15 January 1875. The commando under his leadership became one of the most brutal and ill-disciplined guerrilla commandos in...
by Allan Gordon | Jan 14, 2021 | Anniversaries, Deaths, South African War 1899 - 1902
General Benjamin Johannes Viljoen died on his farm in New Mexico on 14 January 1917 and is buried at the Masonic Cemetery in La Mesa. When the South African War (1899-1902) broke out General Ben Viljoen saw action on the Natal front being in command of the...
by Allan Gordon | Jan 8, 2021 | Anniversaries, Deaths, South African War 1899 - 1902
Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Boy Scout Movement died on 8 January 1941 in Nyeri, Kenya. His gravestone bears a circle with a dot in the centre, which is the Scout trail sign for ‘Going home’, or ‘I have gone home’. During the South African War (1899-1902)...
by Allan Gordon | Jan 6, 2021 | Anniversaries, Birthday, South African War 1899 - 1902
Lieutenant-General Hugh Macleod Leslie Rundle was born in Newton Abbot, Devon, in the UK on 6 January 1856. He was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1876 and saw action in South Africa in the Zulu War in 1879 and the First Boer War of 1881. He arrived in South...
by Allan Gordon | Jan 6, 2021 | Battles, South African War 1899 - 1902
Platrand is a long strategic hill (about 3 km in length) on the south side of Ladysmith which overlooks the town. It was recognised by both the British and the Boers as a critical section in the town’s defences. The eastern portion of the hill was called Caesar’s...
by Allan Gordon | Dec 31, 2020 | Anniversaries, Deaths, South African War 1899 - 1902
Jan Christoffel Greyling Kemp died on 31 December 1946 aged 74. At the outbreak of the South African War (1899-1902) he joined the Krugersdorp Commando and saw action in the battles in Natal. In June 1900 he was elected a commandant and saw action at the Battle of...
