by Allan Gordon | May 18, 2020 | Battles, South African War 1899 - 1902
The British forces were on the move northwards and Lieutenant-Colonel Pilcher had engaged a Boer commando on 16 May at Hofman’s Drift, about 35 km north of the Free State town, Hopetown. In this engagement the British suffered a number of casualties, and they decided...
by Allan Gordon | May 17, 2020 | Battles, South African War 1899 - 1902
The siege of Mafeking lasted seven months from when the town was surrounded at the outbreak of the South African War in October 1899. The British garrison which was in the town was commanded by Colonel Baden-Powell and totalled about 2 000 men. The Boer forces under...
by Allan Gordon | May 16, 2020 | Anniversaries, Deaths, South African War 1899 - 1902
Lieutenant-General Bindon Blood died on 16 May 1940 aged 97. He was in Zululand in 1879 where he saw service in the Anglo-Zulu War. He also saw service in the South African War. He wasn’t in South Africa at the outset, only arriving in the country in March 1901 at...
by Allan Gordon | May 15, 2020 | Events, South African War 1899 - 1902
In April 1902 safe passage was given to Boer leaders who met in Klerksdorp to discuss the possibility of opening discussions with the British. Three days later a senior Boer delegation travelled to Pretoria and met with General Kitchener at Melrose House where they...
by Allan Gordon | May 12, 2020 | Battles, South African War 1899 - 1902
Mafeking had been under siege since 14 October 1899 when the Boers under Commandant Eloff made an unsuccessful attack on the town. On 14 October over 7 000 Boers under the command of Commandant-General Cronje, surrounded the garrison at Mafeking and a number of...
