Ladysmith: Walking the Platrand (Wagon Hill and Caeser's camp)
The siege of Ladysmith during the Anglo-Boer war is the stuff of legends. The biggest engagement of the siege was fought on the Platrand (Wagon Hill and Caeser's camp) on the 6th January 1900.
In today's battlefield tour my Dad and I walk the length of the ridge and explore every nook and cranny of this fascinating battlefield.
Ladysmith Museum
Tour the Ladysmith Museum as the curator takes you on a personal tour and points out some of her favorite displays and shares their story.
721 1st Ave, Ladysmith, BC V9G 1A5, Canada
+1 250-245-0423
Produced by TAKE 5 Publications - Print and Online Media
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Major Battles that Shaped the Anglo Boer War
A war correspondent’s report on the major battles that shaped the Anglo Boer War. These were among the bloodiest battles of that war. The war from 1899 to 1902 was fought between the British Empire and two Boer states over Britain's influence in South Africa. Winston Churchill was a war correspondent for the Morning Post and was captured by the Boers near the town of Ladysmith. Battle reenactments are incorporated in the history documentary.
CHAPTERS
1. War declared between Boers and British 00:00:24
2. Deneys Reitz author of ‘Commando’ 00:00:47
3. Boers cross the Buffalo River into Natal 00:01:06
4. Colonel Baden-Powell 00:01:26
5. Boers advance on Mafeking 00:01:30
6. Boers in force around Dundee 00:01:39
7. Battle of Talana 00:02:08
8. Death of Maj. General W. Penn-Symons 00:02:58
9. Major General French 00:03:45
10. Battle of Elandslaagte 00:04:11
11. Long Tom Canon 00:04:58
12. Siege of Ladysmith 00:05:27
13. War correspondent Winston Churchill 00:05:34
14. Mahatma Gandhi stretcher bearer 00:05:36
15. Armoured train captured by Boers 00:06:22
16. Capture of Winston Churchill 00:06:49
17. Battle of Willow Grange 00:07:42
18. General Buller – Battle of Colenso 00:08:15
19. General Botha 00:08:26
20. Lieutenant F. Roberts mortally wounded 00:09:02
21. General White 00:09:35
22. Battle of Spion Kop 00:09:49
23. Graves at Spion Kop 00:11:08
24. Battle of Valkrans 00:11:38
25. Churchill reports in the Morning Post 00:11:59
26. Battle of Wagon Hill 00:12:30
27. Battle of Tugelal Heights 00:13:38
28. Relief of Ladysmtith 00:14:35
Ladysmith Museum and All Saints Church
Featuring:
Llarge siege photos inside the museum
The ABW damage to All Saints Church
Panels of British casualties
Plaque to major Vailentin
Pulpit 'fall' made from Major Woodgate's uniform
Spioenkop Monument - The Siege of Ladysmith
The Siege of Ladysmith
General Sir Redvers Buller, VC, commander of the British forces in Natal, was attempting to relieve a British force besieged in Ladysmith. The Boers under General Louis Botha held the Tugela River against him. Although Botha's men were outnumbered.
Explained By Mike Muir...
For Bookings - spionkop.co.za
Caesar's Camp, Wagon Hill, Pieter's Hill, Ladysmith
Manchester Fort plus graffiti, Rev. Kestell's plaque, The burgher Monument, Earl of Ava.
Note: gesneuwel (killed in action), aan wonder oorlede (died of wounds), ander oorsake (other causes), elders begrave (buried elsewhere)
South African History 1652 -1902 Culminating in the Anglo Boer War & Battle at Spion Kop
Online history video on the battle of Spion Kop, the bloodiest battle of the Anglo Boer War in South Africa 1899 - 1902, where Winston Churchill reported that up to seven bombs per minute were landing on top of the Spion Kop mountain with massive clouds of orange lydite and that the British soldiers in the trenches were being blown to atoms. Known as the 'Acre of Massacre', it remains the smallest piece of ground on which more men lost their lives in a single battle than any battle fought anywhere in the world… and it is here, witnessing what the human race was capable of, that the seeds of Mahatma Gandhi’s passive resistance took root. Leading up to this moment in history are some of South Africa’s major historical events going as far back as 1652, including:
The arrival of the first settlers in South Africa and the origins of the Afrikaner people
Conflicts in the history of South Africa: 1652 – 1902
Black/White and British/Boer conflicts in South Africa: 1652 – 1902.
The British after burning many Boer farms set up concentration camps where disease was rampant which resulted in 29 000 Afrikaners and over 20 000 black people; men, woman and children dying in these camps.
Presented by South African Military Historian Ray Heron from Spion Kop Lodge and produced by Tekweni TV Productions tekweni@iafrica.com
Video Chapters:
1. Arrival of Jan van Riebeeck 00:00:00
2. 1820 British Settlers 00:02:03
3. Nguni People migrate south from central Africa 00:02:47
4. Khoi People 00:03:37
5.The Great Trek 00:06:15
6. King Dingane and Piet Retief 00:08:37
7. Battle of Blood River (Ncome River) 00:11:06
8. Discovery of Diamonds in Kimberley 00:13:21
9. Anglo Zulu War 00:14:10
10. Discovery of Gold in the Transvaal 00:15:02
11 Transvaal War of Independence 00:15:55
12. Battle of Majuba 00:16:03
13. Discovery of Gold on the Witwatersrand 00:17:28
14. Paul Kruger 00:18:09
15. Cecil John Rhodes 00:18:57
16. Jameson Raid 00:19:23
17. Lord Alfred Milner meets with Paul Kruger 00:22:01
18. Start of the Anglo Boer War 00:24:45
19. First of the Modern Wars 00:27:22
20. Talana – First Battle 00:29:21
21. Siege of Ladysmith 00:29:56
22. General Buller 00:30:28
23. Battle of Colenso 00:31:32
24. Field conditions and British troop movements
for the Relief of Ladysmith 00:34:15
25. Earl of Dundonald 00:36:30
26. Sir Charles Warren at Trichardt’s Drift 00:38:07
27. General Woodgate 00:39:49
28. Major Alexander Thornycraft 00:40:07
29. British troop preparation for the capture of
Spion Kop 00:40:35
30. Battle of Spion Kop 00:44:04
31. Eastern side of Spion Kop 00:47:54
32. Position of British at Spion Kop 00:48:48
33. Winston Churchill 00:49:59
34. British with fixed bayonets storm Boer positions 00:50:31
35. General Woodgate mortally wounded 00:51:35
36. Naval guns fire from Mount Alice 00:52:22
37. General Thornycraft promoted to rank of
Brigadier 00:54:01
38. Trenches 00:54:57
39. Boer General Prinsloo 00:55:55
40. Denys Reitz’s book ‘Commando’ 00:55:59
41. General Botha regroups retreating Boers 00:56:34
42. Robert Riddel leads men to Twin Peaks 00:57:11
43. Boers and British retreat in opposite directions
and Spion Kop considered Boer Victory 00:58:10
44. Battle of Vaal Kranz 00:59:05
45. Battle of Tugela Heights 00:59:21
46. Relief of Ladysmith 00:59:33
47. Fascinating facts of 3 men at Spion Kop 00:59:56
48. Louis Botha becomes first Prime Minster
of the Union of South Africa 01:00:1846. Winston
49. Churchill 01:00:24
50. Mahatma Gandhi serving as a stretcher bearer 01:00:31
51. Acre of Massacre Memorial 01:00:49
52. Burning of Boer Farms 01:02:28
53. Boer Woman and Children taken to camps 01:02:31
54. Block houses built to defeat Boers
(bitter-enders) who continued to fight 01:03:18
Wagon Hill
Ladysmith.
A more recent look at the Burgher Monument, Manchester fort, graffiti, Earl of Ava's grave, Rev. Kestrell's grave, Devonshire Regiment Monument.
Elandslaagte
This is a cemetery and a battlefield. There are the ILH monument and that of Scott-Chisolme.
Emnambithi Ladysmith Municipality
5 Minutes Promo to Music
Hart's Hill battlesite Part 1
Monuments to the Connaught Rangers and the 27th Inniskillings, mass graves.
Out of the Dust
IT'S THE 18-90S AMIDST THE WILD GOLD RUSH DAYS IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA'S GOLD FIELDS.
ANNIE TALBOT IS A SELF-MADE WOMAN OF CONSIDERABLE MEANS......SHE MADE HER FORTUNE IN THE GOLD FIELDS.
ANNIE IS A RARE SPECIMEN, AS IT'S A TIME WHEN WOMEN TOOK A BACK SEAT TO THE MEN IN SOCIETY.
ANNIE'S NEARLY 40.......AND SHE'S BEGINNING TO FEEL AS THOUGH SHE'S MISSING OUT ON LIFE.
SHE'S SINGLE AND SHE'S WITHOUT A COMPANION TO SHARE HER JOYS.....HER SORROWS......HER TRIUMPHS.
SO ANNIE DECIDES TO RETURN TO THE GOLD FIELDS......IN SEARCH OF A WAY TO FULFIL THE VOID IN HER LIFE.
ONE OF ANNIE'S FRIENDS......A NEWSPAPER EDITOR......TELLS ANNIE TO WRITE ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE.
SO SHE BEGINS TO DETAIL LIFE IN THE WILD WEST FRONTIER TOWN OF KALGOORLIE.
IT'S THIS EXPERIENCE THAT IGNITES ANNIE'S INTENSE INTEREST IN JOURNALISM.
ULTIMATELY, ANNIE RETURNS TO PERTH ON THE HEELS OF A FAILED GOLD FIELDS ROMANCE.
FAST FORWARD TO 18-99......AND THE BOER WAR DOMINATES THE NEWS.
ANNIE'S ASKED TO TRAVEL TO SOUTH AFRICA AS A WAR CORRESPONDENT.
SHE ACCEPTS THE PROPOSITION......AND ACCOMPANIES THE LOCAL WESTERN AUSTRALIAN LIGHT INFANTRY COMPANY TO THE RAILWAY JUNCTION TOWN OF LADYSMITH.
HER LIFE IS FOREVER CHANGED WHEN THE TOWN IS BESIEGED FOR 118 DAYS.
IT'S AMIDST THE SIEGE WHEN ANNIE FINDS HER SOUL MATE.......DOCTOR OVERINGTON SOON PROPOSES MARRIAGE.......ANNIE ACCEPTS.
BUT SOON...... ANNIE FINDS HERSELF INVOLVED IN AN INTENSE CLASH WITH THE BRITISH GENERALS......ALL DUE TO HER SCATHING REPORTS ABOUT THE BRITISH CONCENTRATION CAMPS.
WOMEN AND CHILDREN ARE DEGRADED....DEPRIVED......AND LEFT TO DIE.
ANNIE'S ORDERED TO RETURN TO AUSTRALIA.
BEFORE LEAVING, SHE MEETS EMILY HOBHOUSE.
TOGETHER, THEY PLAN A CAMPAIGN TO END THE MERCILESS PERSECUTION OF THE BOER WOMAN AND CHILDREN.
ANNIE RETURNS TO AUSTRALIA.....BUT CONTINUES HER FIGHT FOR MORAL JUSTICE.
THE CAMPS ARE FINALLY CLOSED DOWN WHEN THE BRITISH SUCCUMB TO WORLDWIDE PRESSURE.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS STORY.....OUT OF THE DUST...... VISIT FREDERICKATWOOD.com. THAT'S W-W-W-DOT-FREDERICKATWOOD-DOT-COM.
Dudlu Ntombi phansi eMnambithi eLadysmith e 150
Gegelagege ntombi
14 people die in KZN road crashes
At least 14 people lost their lives in road crashes in Kwazulu-Natal in the past 48 hours. Three people were killed in an accident at Murchison near Port Shepstone, two at Empangeni and two at Ladysmith. Seven were killed and three critically injured when a bakkie and a hearse collided head-on in the Midlands.
For more news, visit:
Taxi in sinkhole
A taxi dropped into a sinkhole in Ladysmith KZN today. Nobody was injured.
Wasbank Pass (R323/P315) - Mountain Passes of South Africa
For full details on this pass, as well as all the passes and poorts of South Africa, including GPS, technical, safety, historical and tourism information, plus a fully interactive, dual view Phoca map showing printable directions from where you are with time and distance pre-calculated, go to MountainPassesSouthAfrica.co.za
Vryheid
Boer monument.
This monument honours those Boers who were killed by Zulus at Holkranz (the Holkranz Massacre) and also those who escaped. One of these was Francis Pratt, whose story is told in our book.
The inscription reads:
On the 6th May 1902, when the Great War of 1899-1902 (between the Boers and British) was nearly at an end, a small commando of Boers was unexpectedly attacked during the night by a band of armed Zulus and murdered at Holkranz, near Vryheid.
On that mournful and unforgettable day, fifty-six Transvaalers were stricken down by an untimely and savage death.
Their relatives and friends have here erected this simple monument in remembrance of that most painful occurrence and in honour of the brave departed.
Erected on the 20th January 1905. They being dead yet speak
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South African border war - bloody memories
CLICK TO WATCH FULL DOCUMENTARY ONLINE:
If unavailable in your territory, or if you are interested in other license requests (feature movie, television, documentary, commercial...), please contact Peacefield Films: info@peacefieldfilms.com
In the film 'Across the border', four white South African veterans who fought on the border of occupied Namibia and Angola in the 70s and 80s together with thousands of other young white conscript soldiers reflect on their terrifying adventures. They were part of the elite Crowbar unit, a death squad responsible for killing many people. During the South African Border War, they fought against what was known as the Rooi gevaar (red danger), the government term for the ANC and SWAPO liberation movements.
Diamond Hill cemetery, Mpumalanga
In this cemetery are men who were killed at Rhnoster Kop and diamond Hill mainly, including the Earl of Airlie. In 1997 Pretorian historian, Dave Panagos, kindly took us to Diamond Hill to show us around.
Plaque Inscription: In this cemetery are buried, among others, British soldiers who fell at the Battle of Diamond Hill during the Anglo-Boer war 1899-1902.
In June 1900 a Boer Force of 4000 men, commanded by Gen. Louis Botha, occupied these ridges over a distance of 40km, from Tierpoort in the south to Boerehoutskloof in the north to stem the British advance. In the ensuing battle on 11 and 12 June, a British force of 20 000 men from Pretoria, under the command of Lord Roberts, attacked the Boer line.
After strong resistance Botha withdrew in an easterly direction under cover of darkness. On 12th June the British casualties numbered about 175 and those of the Boers 30. It was the most significant battle in the Pretoria area between the British and the Transvaal Boers during the Anglo-Boer War.