The siege of Ladysmith during the Anglo-Boer war is the stuff of legends. The Boers had surrounded General Sir George White and his troops since the start of November 1899 but had been generally inactive and unwilling to launch a frontal assault on the town.
That changed on the 6th January 1900 when the biggest engagement of the siege was fought on the Platrand ( a ridge to the south of the town) when 4000 Boers were tasked with storming the British defensive positions at Caesar’s camp and Wagon Hill.
Under the cover of darkness, the Transvaal and Orange Free State Commandos climbed up the steep slopes taking the British by surprise. The battle that followed was confused and bloody. If the British were pushed off the ridge then the Boers would be able to fire their rifles into the town itself making its surrender inevitable. The tide of war hung in the balance.
In my latest battlefield adventure, my father and I walk the battlefield, tell the story and examine the terrain.
Redcoat History 