by Allan Gordon | Sep 30, 2020 | Anniversaries, Birthday, South African War 1899 - 1902
Frederick Sleigh Roberts was born on 30 September 1832 in India, the son of a British General who was serving in that country at the time. He was sent out to South Africa in December of 1899, after a number of defeats suffered by the British, and became the last...
by Allan Gordon | Sep 15, 2020 | Anniversaries, Deaths, South African War 1899 - 1902
Jacobus Hercules de la Rey who was better known as Koos, died on 15 September 1914 and his death cemented the rift between the Boers wanting independence from Great Britain, and President Louis Botha’s government. De la Rey served as a Boer general during the South...
by Allan Gordon | Sep 11, 2020 | Anniversaries, Events, South African War 1899 - 1902
On 11 September 1900, following the Boer defeat at the Battle of Bergendal, President Kruger left South Africa for Europe. The Boers didn’t want Kruger to fall into the hands of the British and they felt that his presence in Europe would help gain support for the Boer...
by Allan Gordon | Sep 11, 2020 | Anniversaries, Deaths, South African War 1899 - 1902
Jan Christian Smuts, a Commandant-General in the South African War (1899-1902), who was eventually promoted to the rank of Field Marshall, died on 11 September 1950. He was featured in our May Newsletter, but in summary he was a South African statesman, military...
by Allan Gordon | Sep 8, 2020 | Anniversaries, Birthday, South African War 1899 - 1902
Lieutenant Teignmouth Melvill was born on 8 September 1842 and was educated at Harrow and Cambridge. He was a 36 year old Lieutenant at the Massacre at Isandlwana. In the effort to save the Regiment’s colours, he and Lieutenant Coghill were killed by the...
by Allan Gordon | Sep 7, 2020 | Anniversaries, Birthday, South African War 1899 - 1902
General Benjamin Johannes (Ben) Viljoen was born on 7 September 1869 in the Cape Colony and spent the latter part of his youth on a farm near Umtata in the Eastern Cape. In 1890 he moved to the Transvaal and as part of the Krugersdorp Commando saw ‘action’ against the...
