After the occupation of Pretoria in June 1900 the British had controlled many of the large towns in the Transvaal Republic, but the Boers were still strong in the Magaliesberg rural areas and Rustenburg was virtually besieged.
The route between Pretoria and Rustenburg crosses the Magaliesberg through two passes a few kilometres apart, Silkaatsnek and Kommandonek. These strategically important positions were guarded from the Rietfontein Camp (now the south-eastern shore of the Hartbeespoort Dam) by contingents of the Royal Artillery and the Scots Greys cavalry under the command of Lieutenant Colonel the Hon. W.P. Alexander.
On 11 July 1900 (The First Battle of Silkaatsnek), Alexander and his men were due to join similar-sized column of mounted infantry and artillery under the command of Major-General Smith-Dorrien coming from Krugersdorp and the combined force was to clear the Boers from their Magaliesberg strongholds and relieve the pressure on Rustenburg (click here to read about the Battle of Dwarsvlei).
Location of the First Battle of Silkaatsnek
The evening before their departure Colonel H.R. Roberts (not related to the Supreme Commander) brought a battalion of the Lincoln Regiment to replace Alexander’s Scots Greys at the Rietfontein camp. The Lincolns camped at Silkaatsnek about ten kilometres from Alexander’s position but Roberts failed to place guards on...
The primary purpose of this article is to introduce the first known catalogue of Anglo-Boer war stereo photographs produced by the American based Keystone View Company (Version 1 – as at April 2022 - click here to view).
At this early stage it also needs to be pointed out that Keystone View Company published their stereoviews in the United Kingdom under the name “The Fine-Art Photographers’ Publishing Co”. The numbering convention and titles applied for these Anglo-Boer war images were the same as for the views published under the Keystone brand. Whilst the Keystone View Company (Keystone) is the main theme of this article, the catalogue attached would be inclusive of the British published views.
This article is the third in a series on South African Anglo-Boer war stereo photographs, or stereoviews, produced by American based entities.
The first in the series was on the Anglo-Boer war stereo photographs produced by Underwood & Underwood (click here to view), whilst the second in the series was on the Kilburn company (click here to view). All three these entities, Keystone included, were stiff competition to each other – also during the Anglo-Boer war period.
Underwood & Underwood was established during 1881 and ceased their activities 39 years later (during 1920), whilst Kilburn was established during 1865. They discontinued their activities 44 years later (during 1909).
After having made some crucial adaptations in order to survive the industry, Keystone became the longest survivor of the three American entities. Keystone was established during 1892, with...
Probably 30 years ago I was asked by Belgian visitors to Talana Museum, if I was aware of the Talana Farm cemetery outside the village of Boezinge in Belgium. At the time I wasn’t, but that started a long journey of research and discovery about this cemetery and its links with the Battle of Talana (20 October 1899). It led to a couple of visits to Belgium to see the cemetery for myself, talk to various people about it, and on 11 November 2014, to being one of the representatives to lay a wreath under the Menin Gate, in memory of the 4 Dundee men commemorated on the walls of that memorial. That evening and the subsequent 10 days at the centenary memorial functions at various cemeteries and memorials in Belgium and then being a guest speaker at an international conference at the Lewarde Mining Museum, on coal mining and the First World War, will remain with me forever.
Menin Gate (Wikipedia)
Pam McFadden at Talana Farm cemetery (Talana Museum)
Talana Farm was one of a group of farm houses named...
As the war persisted into late 1900, the British intensified their attempts to cut off local support for the Boer guerrilla forces. Farms suspected of harbouring Boer commandos were burned and crops and livestock destroyed, and the intensification of the scorched earth policy precipitated the biggest battle in the Magaliesberg campaign and an overwhelming Boer victory.
Location of the Battle of Nooitgedacht in the Magaliesberg Biosphere Reserve
A force of about 1500 men, nine guns and more than 100 wagons under the command of General R.A.P. Clements had been plundering the Magaliesberg valley since October 1900. On 8 December Clements was warned of a large Boer presence in the area and, while he waited for reinforcements from Krugersdorp the column camped on the farm Nooitgedacht at the foot of the highest cliffs in the range. A steep gulley gave access to the top of the mountain where Clements posted a signalling corps and picket guards of about 150 men on either side of the gulley.
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By June 1900 the British had occupied most of the large towns in the Transvaal Republic, but the Boers still controlled the Magaliesberg rural areas and Rustenburg was virtually besieged. On 11 July 1900 a column of mounted infantry and artillery under the command of Major-General Smith-Dorrien left Krugersdorp to clear the Boers from their Magaliesberg strongholds and relieve the pressure on Rustenburg. The column comprised 1300 men, mostly of the renowned Gordon Highlanders regiment, and further reinforcements from Rietfontein Camp were to join them at Hekpoort.
About 15 km outside Krugersdorp, close to the modern Maropeng Visitors Centre in the Cradle of Humankind, they were confronted by General Sarel Oosthuizen’s Krugersdorp Commando. Oosthuizen had already won fame for his leadership on the Natal battlefields, notably the capture of Winston Churchill, but this was to be the first engagement by re-recruited burgers who had already surrendered and taken an Oath of Allegiance.
Location of the Battle of Dwarsvlei in the Magaliesberg Biosphere Reserve
Oosthuizen chose his own farm, “Dwarsvlei”, to be the battlefield. It was an ideal place for an ambush where the Witwatersberg ridge overlooks an intersection on the Krugersdorp- Hekpoort road. He did...
At the start of the South African War in 1899 the Boers won a series of early victories, but in early 1900 the military tide turned and by June the British, under the supreme command of Lord Frederick Roberts, were preparing to enter Pretoria, capital of the Transvaal Republic.
While Lord Roberts approached Pretoria along the man Johannesburg-Pretoria Road, Lieutenant-General Sir John French led a column of 4,500 horsemen to encircle the capital from the west. The column comprised several celebrated cavalry regiments, the Royal Horse Artillery and numerous Canadians and Australians.
General French’s column approaching Kalkheuwel
Their route followed what is now the R512 highway to Broederstroom. The British had earlier spotted a convoy of Boer supply wagons ahead and at about 16:00 the British column followed them into the Kalkheuwel Pass.
In 1900 the pass was a narrow wagon track with verges strewn with dolomite boulders, treacherous for horses, so the column was confined to the wagon track that followed the stream bed. In the late winter afternoon long shadows added to the menace of the rugged landscape and General French was anxious to get through the pass before dark.
Unknown to the British, about 600 Boers of the Wolmaranstad and Groot Marico Commando under Field-General Sarel du...
There are a number of myths around the formation, members, service and disbandment of the Natal Volunteer Indian Ambulance Service during the Boer War. Prompted by an enquiry by a fellow collector, I was lucky enough to find a wealth of information in the Talana Museum archives.
The Legend
"In 1893 an attorney-at-law, Mohandas K. Gandhi, arrived in Natal on a brief legal assignment. He decided to remain, on learning that disenfranchisement of Indians was intended. Together with influential others from the Indian community, he founded “The Natal Indian Congress” and became editor of “Indian Opinion”. He conceived of a new technique of political resistance based on the methods of “satyagraha” (“soul force”) and derived from the teachings of the pacifist Jain sect of Hinduism, a technique of resisting an objectionable law, if need be by enduring suffering, but without resorting to violence or ceasing to respect those who governed the people or enforced the law.
During his sojourn in South Africa, two field units were raised and commanded by Mohandas K. Gandhi from amongst his fellow countrymen then resident in Natal; one in 1899 (Indian Ambulance Corps) and the other in 1906 (Indian Stretcher-bearers Corps).
Indian stretcher bearer corps. Gandhi centre 5th...
With the passing of the Dr Alfons Raats at the end of 2021, Potchefstroom lost one of its well-loved physicians. Since the founding of the town many medical men – and women – served Potchefstroom with great distinction. Researching this article about the early doctors of our city brought to light a surprising number of tragic stories.
In Potchefstroom 150 Prof Willie Prinsloo wrote that the first inhabitants of Potchefstroom – as all other Voortrekkers – took care of health matters by themselves. Ernest Jenkins wrote in Potchefstroom 1838- 1938 that it was the wives (whom he calls “Tanta” in general) of these pioneers who took care of medical matters:
Then ‘Tanta’ looked around for that dearest of all possessions – the ‘Huis Apoteek,’ the family medicine chest. What would home be without it in a country that was doctorless? ‘Tanta’ frequently gloried in a well-earned reputation for being able to cure all ailments under the sun, with the aid of her panacea the Huis Apoteek. What miracles she wrought with ‘Ruiters salf,’ ‘Rooi Lavendal,’ and ‘Swart Pillen’ and what consolation she brought about with ‘Besoard poeder’ and ‘Poeder tegen die scherfe’ as well as ‘Harlemmer Olie'.
This Lennon tin was the ‘Huis Apoteek’ and contained the medicaments which were the only defence the pioneers of the 19th century had against illnesses and...
In 1899 at the outbreak of the Anglo Boer war, Johannesburg was the centre of the gold mining industry and Dundee the centre of the coal mining industry, while Durban was one of the major ports of entry into South Africa for British troops and supplies – and their ships needed coal, as did the railway industry that moved the troops and supplies throughout the country.
Coaling at Durban (Talana Museum)
Loading coal onto a ship in Durban (Talana Museum)
Coaling a transport at the Point, Durban (Talana Museum)
There were four ports of entry for British ships bringing troops and supplies to South Africa. Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London and Durban. Very early in the war Cape Town harbour was closed for some time as ships had brought infected rats to the city and there was an outbreak of bubonic plague. Port Elizabeth could not handle large ships and...
Our recent year-end holiday trip to the South Coast of KZN provided a perfect excuse to overnight at the popular bird watching village of Wakkerstroom. If you are not a birder or a ‘twitcher’ as some call it, you may be excused for not being quite sure of the whereabouts of this quaint village, some 26 kilometres east of Volksrust. Wakkerstroom boasts an impressive variety of birdlife consisting of wetland, grassland, and forest species and around its extensive wetlands there are four strategically placed and well-maintained bird hides. It is said the village can provide accommodation to nearly 300 tourists, many of whom arrive for the birding, hiking, mountain biking and off roading opportunities here. Although we overnighted in the Wakkerstroom Hotel, I think we would have preferred, if we stayed for any longer period, one of the nicer self-catering cottages or houses available in the village.
Nowadays, most Gauteng visitors to the popular beach resorts of KZN race along the N3 to Durban, forgetting the journey forms an integral part of any holiday. Years ago, long before the N3 became a beautifully graded and levelled toll road, the alternative R23 via Standerton was promoted as a slightly longer but more scenic alternative route and so it proved on our journey.
I had previously visited Wakkerstroom in 2016 with the Mpumalanga Heritage Society when erstwhile Town Clerk and later Mayor, the then sprightly octogenarian but now sadly the late, Chris Smit pointed out various sites associated with South African War...
