by Allan Gordon | Aug 4, 2020 | Battles, South African War 1899 - 1902
Boer General de la Rey commenced with the Siege of Elands River / Brakfontein on 4 August 1900.
by Allan Gordon | Aug 2, 2020 | Battles, South African War 1899 - 1902
After the Boers had successfully taken the pass at Silkaatsnek on 11 July 1900 together with the British guns and 80 prisoners, the British, for strategic reasons, needed to re-take the pass. An attack was planned for 2 August where the British attacked the pass from...
by Allan Gordon | Jul 31, 2020 | Anniversaries, Birthday, South African War 1899 - 1902
Lieutenant-General James Melville Babington was born on 31 July 1854 in the town of Corstorphine in Scotland. He entered the military in 1873 and in 1884 was part of the Bechuanaland Expedition under Charles Warren, gaining his first experience of Southern...
by Allan Gordon | Jul 30, 2020 | Events, South African War 1899 - 1902
In mid-July 1900, General de Wet made plans for the Boers to break out of the Brandwater Basin, in the Free State, near the town of Clarens. He had divided his men into three divisions, with orders of how, when and to where each division should proceed. De Wet, with...
by Allan Gordon | Jul 27, 2020 | Battles, South African War 1899 - 1902
Slaapkranz is a hill in the Free State, in the Fouriesburg District, where, on 27 July 1900, Major-General Clements and his force came into contact with a Boer Commando making their way from the Brandwater Basin. After a whole day of activity between the two forces,...
by Allan Gordon | Jul 27, 2020 | Anniversaries, Birthday, South African War 1899 - 1902
Colonel Beauvoir de Lisle was born in Guernsey on 27 July 1864. During the Second Boer War he commanded the Australian Brigade, which was a mobile column comprising men from various Australian Regiments. He was severely wounded on a number of occasions. Towards the...
by Allan Gordon | Jul 26, 2020 | Anniversaries, Birthday, South African War 1899 - 1902
Manie (christened Salomon Gerhardus) Maritz was born in Kimberley on 26 July 1876. He became a ZAR citizen when he fought against the Jameson Raiders, and then joined the ZARPS. At the outbreak of the South African War (1899-1902) he joined the Boksburg Commando and...
by Allan Gordon | Jul 26, 2020 | Anniversaries, Deaths, South African War 1899 - 1902
Major-General Henry John Thoroton Hildyard died on 25 July 1916 aged 70. He saw action at the outset of the South African War (1899-1902) where he commanded the 2nd Brigade at the Battle of Colenso. Early in 1900 he commanded the 5th Division which saw...
by Allan Gordon | Jul 24, 2020 | Battles, South African War 1899 - 1902
In the British pursuit of Boer General de Wet, Brigadier-General Broadwood’s column caught up with the rear-guard of de Wet on 24 July 1900. In danger of being captured by Broadwood were wagons loaded with flour, recently milled at the mill in Vredefort. De Wet...
by Allan Gordon | Jul 23, 2020 | Battles, South African War 1899 - 1902
Slabberts Nek was a pass leading from the Brandwater Basin, about 20 km north of Fouriesburg in the Free State. At the time of the attack on 23 July 1900 the Pass was held by the Boers and a large convoy, under the command of Boer General de Wet, were making their way...
