Africa & Middle East > South Africa > Gauteng > Johannesburg > Military History > Articles > On the Trail of the Boer War

South Africa 8th October 1899. Following a period of steadily deteriorating relations between the British colonial authorities in the Cape and the Boer Republics matters have come to a head. As a result of the Boers’ well justified fears of British designs on the rich land of the north, including the gold fields of Witwatersrand, the Boer Commanders in Pretoria take the initiative and telegraph an ultimatum to the British Government requiring the British to withdraw all British Forces from the Boer frontiers within three days and to cease re-inforcing British military force in the region forthwith. War is inevitable.

By 11th October, General Sir Redvers Buller VC, the newly appointed British Commander-in-Chief, and his Army staff had embarked on the earliest steamer bound for the Cape from England. Also on board was the War Correspondent for the Morning Post. Strongly opinionated, unrepentantly outspoken, Winston Churchill had by the tender age of twenty-four already fought Pathan tribesmen on the North-west Frontier, taken part in the last great cavalry charge against the Dervishes at the Battle of Omdurman, written two well-received books and run, unsuccessfully, for parliament.

Churchill’s greatest concern on the passage south was that the standing force in South Africa would have brought matters to a rapid and victorious conclusion before he had a chance to see any action. On arrival at Cape Town, twenty days later, any such notion was quickly dispelled. In the Orange Free State and Transvaal, Kimberley and Mafeking were besieged. But it was Natal that was the focus of attention. Battles had been fought at Talana Hill, Elandslaagte and Nicholson’s Nek. One British General had been killed, 1,200 British infantry had been forced to surrender and the main British Force had retreated in disarray to Ladysmith where they were now besieged and subjected to constant bombardment from Boer artillery on the surrounding hills. Taking a lengthy and uncomfortable relay of trains, followed by a rough passage up the Atlantic coast on a steamer, Churchill raced to Natal to record the unfolding drama for his newspaper.

The journey to the heartland of Natal one hundred years later is rather less onerous: a direct flight to Johannesburg, and after a suitable period of recuperation in the comfortable haven of the Westcliffe Hotel, a leisurely morning’s drive is all that is required to spirit you to the scene of past battles.

Eager to see the action at first-hand, Churchill accompanied a reconnaissance patrol into enemy held territory on board an armoured train. At Chievely the train was ambushed and de-railed. During the sharp engagement that ensued Churchill played a decidedly more active role than might have been expected of a civilian newspaper reporter and was taken prisoner. After a month of frustrating incarceration in a prisoner-of-war camp in Pretoria, he managed to escape and made his way in a series of adventures to safety in Portuguese Mozambique and thence back to Natal in time to re-join Buller’s forces who were attempting to relieve Ladysmith.

The situation in Natal was grave. In the Black Week commencing 16th December the British had suffered further set-backs at Colenso, Magersfontein and Stormberg. The besieged force at Ladysmith were suffering from starvation and the devastating bombardments of the Boer’s 6" guns, Long Tom, Puffing Billy and Fiddling Jimmy. Each day the siege remained in force, the standing of the British Empire became further tarnished. Churchill wrote that Ladysmith was "famous to the uttermost ends of the earth: centre of the world’s attention, the scene of famous deeds, the cause of mighty efforts." GW Steevens, the War Correspondent of the Daily Mail, graphically described his experience in the sieged town as "Trapped in the bottom of a saucer with the hills round about barking
death, day after day". Steevens died of typhoid before the siege was broken.

The dark days were far from over. British attempts to breach the heights beyond the Tugela River and open the way to Ladysmith were to suffer further reverses. Having talked his way into a commission with the South African Light Horse, Churchill witnessed them at first hand. On 24th January 1900 he found himself scrambling up the flanks of Spion Kop bearing orders from the British Commander.

Set in spectacular country, with views far across the valley to the towering cliffs of the Drakensburg Mountains, Spion Kop rises 1,400 feet above the Tugela River. For visitors following the marked trail that leads around the battlefield, its powerful aura helps conjure up the tableaux that unfolded over a hundred years ago.

Under cover of darkness 2,000 infantrymen, led by the Lancashire Regiment, clambered up the steep ridge-line that rose from the valley below. Approaching the crest, they were challenged by the Boer sentry. A brief exchange of fire and swift bayonet charge secured the summit. As the adrenaline rush of their encounter subsided, the British soldiers scraped shallow trenches into the baked earth and settled down to await any counterattack, relieved at the ease with which they had taken the position. But with dawn and the lifting of the mist and smoke of battle came the dreadful realisation that they were over-looked by Boer positions. Trapped on theflat hilltop they were exposed to the merciless attention of the Boer snipers and artillery. Throughout the long day, they suffered cruelly under the constant whining shells and relentless, baking sun. The air was thick with cordite and calls for stretcher-bearers, amongst them a young Indian lawyer, Mohandas Ghandi, later to become the Mahatma. Trenches became mass graves in scenes of terrible carnage as 1,000 men fell dead or wounded.

Spion Kop tells its own story. The constant wind that hugs the hill-side seems to sigh at the memory. Scattered gravestones, several to "A Brave British Soldier - Known unto God" and Memorials to regiments bearing a
terrible roll of honour, add to the haunting atmosphere. It is a place to reflect on noble sacrifice and draw comfort from the balm of uplifting scenery.

Having survived attacks and retreats from Spion Kop and Vaal Krantz two weeks later, Churchill was amongst the first troops to ride into Ladysmith. The siege had lasted 118 days.

Today, Ladysmith proudly displays some of the scars of its gallant ordeal. Many buildings date back to the siege including the courthouse, pavilion and some hotels. The tower of the Town Hall, which served as a hospital, has been restored to its former glory after the unwelcome attentions of Puffing Billy, as has All Saints Church. The Siege Museum is full of memorabilia and provides vivid portrayals of battles and conditions inside the town during the siege.

Churchill’s account of his exploits on returning to the fray reads like something out of Boy’s Own: A narrow escape under fire at Dewersdorp where he lost his horse within yards of the Boer marksmen; riding into enemy held Johannesburg on a bicycle in civilian clothes to send his dispatches; and entering Pretoria, the Boer capital, with the lead columns where he was able to release the prisoners of war from the same camp where he had been incarcerated.

Modern KwaZulu Natal has much to offer besides the Anglo-Boer War. Scattered amongst the rock kopjes and rolling veldt of the north are memorials to other wars from the region’s bloody past. In the early part of the nineteenth century Zulus slew or subjugated all of their neighbouring African tribes and then slaughtered groups of Boers heading northwards from the Cape in search of unclaimed land on The Great Trek. At Blood River a granite monument and replica wagon laager mark the site where on the 16th December 1838 the Boers avenged themselves. 464 Boers armed with carbines and three artillery guns defended themselves against an attacking force of 12-15,000 Zulus. By the end of the morning legend has it that the river ran red with the blood of the 3,000 Zulus who were killed.

Not far away at Isandlwana another monument marks the scene of arguably the British Army’s greatest humiliation. On 23rd January 1879, 1,271 lives were lost to Zulu spears in a surprise attack. The following day, at Rorke’s Drift, 13 Victoria Crosses were earned as around 100 British soldiers desperately defended themselves against concerted attacks by 4,500 Zulus.

In the east of Natal, a series of game reserves offer the chance to sample some of South Africa’s varied and prolific wildlife. Itala, Mkuzi and Hluhluwe Umfolozi are all rich in game and magnificent scenery. Hluhluwe Umfolozi has played a key role in saving the white rhinoceros by nurturing a successful breeding programme and re-stocking other reserves in Africa whose rhino population had been poached out of existence.

The Drakensberg Mountains run for hundreds of miles in a single unbroken chain along the western boundary of the province. This imposing barrier with its sheer rock walls and commanding peaks climbs up to South Africa’s highest mountain Mont Aux Sources. Granite castles, lofty buttresses and sweeping amphitheatres dominate the landscape, all competing for attention. To the south, the Atlantic Ocean forms an equally mighty barrier with mile upon mile of golden beaches.

Visiting KwaZulu Natal and the Boer War battlefields one hundred years on is an infinitely more comfortable and mercifully less hazardous undertaking than it was for Churchill but it still offers an enthralling experience steeped in history, rich in culture and set against the romantic backdrop of the African veldt.

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