I warned my Facebook Friends about the likelihood of a plethora of posts on South African military history this month. Today - the 10th December 2014 - is the 115th anniversary of the first of the battles of Black Week, a series of setbacks for the British army in South Africa during the Anglo-Boer War, 1899-1902 - which resulted in the replacement of General Sir Redvers Buller VC as CiC by Field Marshal Lord Roberts of Kandahar. A detailed account appears in the Ken Gillingss Bush & Battlefield Tours Facebook page (please feel free to visit it at absolutely no cost!), but to whet your appetites for such a visit, here are a few pics. They show the two commanders in the battle (Maj Gen Sir William Gatacre) and Commandant Big John Olivier, the inside of the original rooms of the Phoenix Hotel in Molteno (where the general stayed) and the street outside the Central Hotel, where the exhausted soldiers formed up before marching into battle below the Kissieberg (also known as the Kesieberg). More military history tomorrow, Im afraid; this time the second battle of Black Week - Magersfontein!
Posted on: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 06:56:56 +0000
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