Anglo Boer War Tours

On 11th October 1899 The Boer republics declared war on Britain. We visit the battle sites of Belmont, Graspan, Jacobsdal, Modder River, Magersfontein and Paardeberg. We relive the battles and see how the attacks took place, defence of positions were made and mistakes made on both sides.
The first skirmishes in this area took place when on 23rd October Lord Methuen drove Boers from the koppies at Belmont and then 2 days later again at Enslin. Next was Modder River where the Boers, instead of occupying the high ground, fought from trenches, a first ever in any warfare anywhere. Our base will be in the area south of Kimberley.

Kimberley was besieged from 14 October 1899 to 15 February 1900 by the Boer Forces. This action took place very early in the war. Cecil John Rhodes was one of the people caught up in Kimberley and was instrumental in organising the defence of the town. By his influence, engineers of the De Beer’s company manufactured a one-off 30lb gun named Long Cecil; however the Boers soon countered with a captured British 100lb gun (Long Tom) that had the residents absolutely terrified.

We visit the McGregor Museum and positions outside town where Boer forces encamped and also look at what townsfolk in Kimberley did to survive during the siege. Kimberley is a very historic City with many interesting monuments, buildings and other places of interest related to the Anglo Boer War. The Honoured Dead Memorial, a sandstone edifice commissioned by Cecil Rhodes and designed by Sir Herbert Baker, was erected to commemorate the defenders who fell during the Siege. Our base will be in Kimberley.

The first serious armed clash of the war was when a British armoured train en route to Mafeking was attacked and derailed by Boers forces at Kraaipan, 65km south of that town on 13th October 1899.

We will visit battle sites such as Kraaipan and The Mafikeng Museum situated on Martin Street in Mafikeng (now known as Mahikeng). On the outskirts of town, Kanon Kopje to the south east and Warren’s Fort on the north, are a tribute to the desperation of the defenders of this town. Both sites are well maintained and the elevated Kanon Kopje affords an excellent view of Mahikeng. Our base will be in the Mahikeng area.

The opening shots in the Anglo Boer war’s Natal front were fired by the Boers from Telana Hill towards the British garrison encamped below the hill on 20th October 1899. General Penn-Symons was killed in the battle that followed but the British forces were victorious.

We visit the Telana Anglo Boer War Museum on the Telana Hill battlefield and also Penn-Symons’ grave at the Anglican Church in Dundee. We follow the battles as they rage towards Ladysmith where the British strategically retreat to, in order to reorganise. We visit battle sites at Elandslaagte (21 Oct 1899) Rietfontein (24 Oct 1899) and Nicholson’s Nek (30th Oct 1899). We will be based in the Dundee area.

Gen Sir Redvers Buller was appointed The British commander-in-chief in South Africa, to run the war in South Africa. When he shipped out to South Africa in 1899, he chose not to disembark in Cape Town and instead chose to head for Port Natal (Durban) to command the forces trying to stop the Boer force from taking Port Natal. Buller met up with his forces at Estcourt late in 1899.

General Joubert and Louis Botha were waiting for Buller at Colenso, just across the Tugela River. The Battles of Colenso, Peters Hill, Tugela Heights, Vaalkrans, Spioenkop and Platrand followed. We will visit all these battle sites. The culmination of all these battles was the Relief of Ladysmith on 28th February 1900. We will be based in Ladysmith.

A Boer force of 700 men under the joint command of Chief Comdt E.R. Grobler and General H.J. Schoeman entered Colesberg unopposed on 14 November 1899. On 20 February the Boers began to retreat from Colesberg, and on 28 February British forces under Maj-Gen RAP Clements marched into the town unopposed.

Boer forces continued to control the Free State banks of the Orange River and on 2 March 1900 they dynamited the bridge across the Orange. Many skirmishes between Brit and Boer took place in the area around Colesberg. Boer forces were victorious against Australian Forces at Rensburg in the distinct. A concentration Camp was established near Norval’s Pont. We will be based in Colesberg.

The Boers were finally dislodged from their positions around the Modder River and Paardeberg in March 1900 after a bloody battle with huge loss of life on both sides. The stench and flies were unbearable in the Boer laager. Just about all horses and oxen were killed. A “krijgsraad” was held and the commandants with Cronje voted to surrender in order to save the lives of woman and children encamped with the Boer forces.

Now the race to Bloemfontein was on. We visit battle sites at Paardeberg, Poplar Grove, and Driefontein and end up in Bloemfontein where we visit the National Women’s Monument and the Bloemfontein Fort. We will be based in Bloemfontein.

After being ousted from Bloemfontein the Boer forces moved to the eastern Free State. A trap was set by De Wet and his band of around 800 Boers at the Bloemfontein Water works (Sanna’s Post) and Brig Gen Robert Broadwood walked straight into it on 31st March 1900. De Wet captures 7 field guns. From there De Wet attacked and defeated a British garrison at Reddersburg and then besieged Wepner for 16 days.

We visit Sanna’s Post and the area around Wepner, where some of the trenches can still be seen (just off the tarred road) to this day. We will be based in Wepner.

After the fall of Bloemfontein, the Free State President Steyn moves to Fouriesburg. The war is now firmly in the guerrilla phase. Maj Gen Bruce Hamilton with the 21st Brigade and supporting artillery and Maj Gen H. A. Macdonald with battalions of the Highland Brigade, together with supporting artillery and mounted units, had been charged with closing and holding Naauwpoort Nek to the north of the Brandwater Basin and also the Golden Gate Basin to the north east. This was successfully achieved on the 24th July 1900.

However, Gen CR de Wet and President Steyn, with about 2600 men, four guns and 460 wagons had managed to escape over Slabbert’s Nek on the night of the 15th July. On the morning of 30th July 1900, Gen Prinsloo, Gen Crowther and the Ficksburg and Ladybrand Commandos surrendered to Gen Hunter. The surrender took place at was to become known as “Surrender Hill”.

We will visit all the important passes and battle sites in the basin and Surrender Hill. We will be based in Fouriesburg.