Simeon Kambula had grown up in Edendale, the Methodist Mission Station near Pietermaritzburg. His father, Elijah Kambula had served as respected personal interpreter to Major A W Durnford, RE, during the Langalibalele Rebellion of 1873, and had been killed in…
The Battle of Mome Gorge broke the back of an uprising which has had its parallels in this country on more than one occasion since 1906. Discontent amongst the Blacks in Natal had long been welling up. Extensive White and…
Institute for Historical Research (Human Sciences Research Council) Introduction Although Zululand as such was not involved in the mainstream of actions during the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902, nonetheless its inhabitants, especially the Zulu living along the South African Republic-Zululand border,…
In 1879, the small village of Utrecht and its surrounding district was the most remote administrative unit of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR), bordering Natal to the west and the Zulu country to the east. Its turbulent internal history over a…
Introduction In the background of our times, an old issue simmers. For more than a hundred years, there has been agitation about the trial of Breaker Morant, Peter Handcock and George Witton during the Boer War (1899-1902) and there is…
Introduction The utilisation of artillery by the British and the Boers during the Battle of Spioenkop (23/24 January 1900) may have played a more significant role in military history than previously acknowledged. The writer believes that it was the curtain-raiser…
King Shaka kaSenzangakhona was the illegitimate son of King Senzangakhona kaJama of the abakwaZulu. When Senzangakhona died in 1816, he was succeeded by his son, Sigujana, who was assassinated within about a week by another half-brother who then disappeared, leaving…
The wars in South Africa during the second half of the nineteenth century witnessed many aspects of the evolution of military technology and military tactics. They also witnessed a revolution in military photography. From around the middle of the nineteenth…
Acknowledgements Having spent three years collecting accounts of soldiers and journalists who fought and reported on the battle of Rietfontein, which eventually saw the light of day in ‘A little bicker with the Boers’ (unpublished account, J Hawkesbury and R…
INTRODUCTION Guns played an important part in the Zulu War, but, as in many colonial wars, their use was one-sided. The Zulus had no artillery, and they made no use of the two guns they captured at Isandlwana. All the…
The first time that bicycles were used successfully in a military capacity was after the Spanish War of 1898 when Lt James A. Moss, U.S. Army, and a hundred black cyclists were rushed in to help with riot control in…
Information from the SA Military History Society The John Chard Decoration and John Chard Medal Series was instituted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1952 (just two short months after she became Queen) and it is the last medal to issued…
