A walk along the battlefield of Spionkop (Spioenkop)
In today's battlefield tour my father and I take a walk around Spionkop (Spioenkop), scene of the some of the heaviest fighting of the Anglo-Boer war. It's a fascinating battlefield, hardly changed since that short, sharp battle of January 1900.
The battle was part of the disastrous campaign to relieve Ladysmith and push the Boers out of Natal.
This battle lives on in British culture as the name of many football stands across the country, the most famous being the Liverpool kop at Anfield. So if you watch the English Premier League and always wondered what the source of the name Kop end is then now you know.
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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: 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.
23rd January 1900: British troops attack Spion Kop in the Second Boer War
The early months of the Second Boer War saw the Boers inflict successive defeats on the British. After they began a crippling siege against the British at Ladysmith, a plan was made to attack the Boers and relieve the garrison.
The Boers had established a defensive line along the Tugela River approximately 20 miles outside Ladysmith. The centre of their line was overlooked by a 430 metre high hill known as Spion Kop, which roughly translates as ‘Spy Hill’. The British planned to seize the hill under cover of darkness, and establish a commanding position over the Boer line and the route to Ladysmith.
General Sir Charles Warren selected Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Thorneycroft to lead the assault, which took place late on 23 January in thick mist. The British overwhelmed a small group of Boers on the hill and began to dig trenches on what they believed was the summit, though the rocky terrain on the hilltop meant they were very shallow and offered little protection.
When the mist began to lift the next morning the British were dismayed to find that they had only seized a plateau. They were surrounded on three sides by the Boers on higher terrain, and they began to bombard the British with ten shells every minute. Vicious fighting continued for the whole day but, shortly after nightfall, the Boers abandoned their positions on the summit. Thorneycroft was unaware that victory was in his grasp and ordered his own retreat. The Boers reoccupied the hilltop the following morning.
Spion Kop - Anfield (Liverpool FC) /Battle of Spion Kop (Boer Wars)
Spion Kop (or Kop for short) is a colloquial name or term for a number of single tier terraces and stands at sports stadiums, particularly in the United Kingdom.
Their steep nature resembles a hill near Ladysmith, South Africa, that was the scene of the Battle of Spion Kop in January 1900 during the Second Boer War.
The first recorded reference to a sports terrace as Kop related to Woolwich Arsenal's Manor Ground in 1904.] A local newsman likened the silhouette of fans standing on a newly raised bank of earth to soldiers standing atop the hill at the Battle of Spion Kop. In 1906 Liverpool Echo sports editor Ernest Edwards noted of a new open-air embankment at Anfield: This huge wall of earth has been termed 'Spion Kop', and no doubt this apt name will always be used in future in referring to this spot. The use of the name was given formal recognition in 1928 upon construction of a roof. Even though it could be the best known, it was not the first terrace to carry the Spion Kop name; Arsenal's Manor Ground came before it.[3] Many other English football clubs and some rugby league clubs (such as Wigan's former home Central Park) applied the same name to stands in later years.
Villa Park's old Holte End was historically the largest of all Kop ends, closely followed by the old South Bank at Molineux, both once regularly holding crowds in excess of 30,000. However, in the mid-1980s work was completed on Hillsborough's Kop which, with a capacity of around 22,000, became the largest roofed terrace in Europe.
Liverpool's Spion Kop was closed and demolished in 1994 to comply with requirements of the Taylor Report, which made all-seater stadiums obligatory in the highest two divisions of English football. A new Spion Kop was built in its place with 12,390 seats.
Composition
There is much debate about what type of stand constitutes a Kop. The size and location of the stand in the stadium varies; most are located behind the goal and are occupied by its club's most vocal supporters. It is usually a single-tiered stand and is traditionally terraced. In England, safety regulations brought into effect after the 1989 Hillsborough disaster required many to be made all-seated. A Kop is not necessarily the largest stand in the stadium and does not have to have a particularly large capacity; for example, Chesterfield's former stadium, Saltergate, had a Kop with a capacity of only a few thousand.
The Battle of Spion Kop (Dutch: Slag bij Spionkop; Afrikaans: Slag van Spioenkop) was fought about 38 km (24 mi) west-south-west of Ladysmith on the hilltop of Spioenkop(1) along the Tugela River, Natal in South Africa from 23–24 January 1900. It was fought between the South African Republic and the Orange Free State on the one hand and British forces during the Second Boer War campaign to relieve Ladysmith. It was a Boer victory.
Source: Wikipedia
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
Battle of Spionkop: Episode 8 : South African History
View more S. Afrocam videos on satvchannel.com.
One of the bloodiest and most futile battles of the South African War of 1899 - 1902 is brought to life and presented in graphic detail by battlefields historian, Raymond Heron. The Battle of Spionkop was General Buller's second attempt to relieve the town of Ladysmith in January 1900. At the end of that epic battle three great historical figures stood on that mountain, each with a destiny beyond their imaginings - Mahatma Ghandi, Winston Churchill and General Louis Botha. The story is presented in 9 weekly episodes.
Spioenkop Dam and Nature Reserve - Kwazulu Natal - South Africa
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The Great Anglo-Boer War TV Documentary 8 - Spion Kop - Graves
The Great Anglo-Boer War: The Canadian Experience is a four-hour documentary series that won an astonishing four international Gold Medals at Worldfest Houston, the world's biggest film & television festival, for: Best Television Series - Best HistoryArchaeology Program -- Best TV Writing -- Best On-Camera Host.
The 4-hour DVD was produced by Goldi Productions Ltd. and is available from:
The Museum for this story:
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)
Battle of Spion Kop
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The Battle of Spion Kop was fought about 38 km west-south-west of Ladysmith on the hilltop of Spioenkop along the Tugela River, Natal in South Africa from 23–24 January 1900.It was fought between the South African Republic and the Orange Free State on the one hand and British forces during the Second Boer War campaign to relieve Ladysmith.It was a Boer victory.
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JUBILEE OF LADYSMITH
To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the relief of Ladysmith, they staged a march-past at the Town Hall. There was a great gathering of old veterans of the siege. At the municipal banquet one honoured guest was ex-bugler Hawksbee, now a Chelsea Pensioner, who had come out from England for the celebrations.
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Spion Kop
The tale of the battle of Spion Kop
Spioenkop,1997
Midge first went to Spionkop in 1951 or ’52, when it was a forgotten battlefield. Here he shows us the monuments, graves and trenches, and tells us what happened here. We drive down the steep, rough road.
Spioenkop Dam and Spioenkop Nature Reserve
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Battle of Spion Kop
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Battle of Spion Kop
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A short walk up Talana hill: the first battle of the Anglo-Boer war
The opening engagement of the Anglo-Boer war was fought in this small town in Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa. It was a small but important battle that showed the British army how dangerous it was to scorn their enemy.
Join me for a walk up Talana hill as I get some exercise and move in the footsteps of the British infantry.
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Battle of Colenso
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Battle of Colenso
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First Boer War - From Bronkhorstspruit to Majuba 1880-81
A war without a single British victory.
Boer Victories over the British
Battle of Bronkhorstspruit -20 December 1880
Siege of Rustenburg 27 December 1880-30 March 1881
Siege of Marabastad 1 January 1880–2 April 1881
Siege of Lydenburg 6 January 1881 - 30 March 1881
Battle of Laing's Nek 28 January 1881
Battle of Schuinshoogte 8 February 1881
Kraipaan October 1899
Ladysmith 30 October 1899
Stormberg 10 December 1899
Magersfontein 11 December 1899
Colenso December 1899
Spion Kopp January 1900
Vaal Krantz February 1900
Bloody Sunday February 1900
Sanna's Post March 1900
Leliefontein November 1900
Mooietegedacht December 1900
Elands River September 1901
Blood River Port September 1901
Bakenlaagte October 1901
Groenkop December 1901
Tweebosch March 1902
PAFG - Swartkop Challenge 2003
Swartkop Challenge 2003 - Portsmouth Action Field Gun at the summit of Swartkop hill in South Africa. A re-enactment of the feats of the Royal Navy during the Boer War in 1899, in the help of the relief of Ladysmith. This is where the (Earls Court) 'field gun run' originated.
More information at pafg.co.uk