Fort Amiel was opened as the Cultural History Museum of Newcastle in 1990 at the restored British military base built in 1876 by the 80th Regiment or Staffordshire Regiment. It was used during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 and Anglo-Boer…
20 October 1899 Talana Museum, situated three kilometres outside Dundee on the Vryheid road, is no repository of old and dusty relics, ancient tomes and yellowing photographs. Established in 1982 to coincide with the centenary of Dundee, the name Talana…
Acclaimed as one of the best Anglo Boer War museums in South Africa, its displays on the famous Siege and Relief of Ladysmith have thrilled countless Boer War enthusiasts. Built in 1884 as a market house, it served as a…
“The Platrand is a long hill on the south side of the town. It was a critical section in the town’s defences. The soldiers christened the east end Caesar’s Camp and the West end Wagon Hill after features at Aldershot….
On the 15th November 1899 Winston Churchill, a war correspondent for the Morning Post persuaded his friend Capt Haldane to let him accompany him on an armoured train on a reconnaissance along the rail line between Estcourt and Colenso. The…
15 December1899 Gen Sir Redvers Buller’s first attempt to cross the Thukela River and relieve Ladysmith met with disaster at the Battle of Colenso. Memorials and graves moved to this site, which was Gen. Buller’s headquarters during the battle. Several…
15th December 1899 In the early stages of the Battle of Colenso, Co.l Long advanced his gun battery to this position where they came under devastating rifle fire from Boers position along the river bank. The Battery fought on, suffering…
Burial site of soldiers of the 5th Irish Brigade, killed in Battle of Colenso. The Irish Brigade had been detailed to cross the Thukela River well up stream of the town and the Doornkopspruit and to swing right to roll…
24 January 1900 Certainly the most futile and bloodiest of five battles fought in an effort to relieve Ladysmith. The British occupied the kop during the night of the 23rd January 1900 and the Boers counter attacked as the mist…
Site of No 4 Stationary Hospital. Burial place of Field Marshal Lord Roberts’s son Lt. Freddie Roberts. Turn off R103 between Colenso and Estcourt and follow dirt road past railway station to cemetery.
12-28 February 1900 In a massive combined operation General Buller’s troops fought numerous battles on the south bank of the Thukela River: Cingolo Hill, Monte Cristo, Green Hill, Hlangwane – followed by a series of operations on the north bank…
20 May 1900 75 Swaziland Police and Vryheid burghers were stationed here. During a church service a Squadron of British cavalry arrived unexpectedly. After a short fight the British withdrew. 10km outside Vryheid on R33 to Dundee. Private farm. Site…
11-12 December 1900 The hill overlooking Vryheid was occupied by 900 men of the Lancaster Regt who fortified the position with trenches and gun positions. During the night of 11-12 December 1900 Boers of Gen Louis Botha’s second invasion force…
25 December 1900 25 December 1900. Memorial to Polish officer in the Russian army, who died fighting in a skirmish near Utrecht on Christmas Day 1900. Across the road in the grounds of the Ou Pastorie and Museum there is…
6 May 1902 Louis Botha’s Commandos desperate for food began raiding local Zulus’ cattle and crops. The abaQulusi community threatened to retaliate and this occurred in the early hours of 6 May 1902 when Chief Sikhobobo with some 300 men…
