16 Day circular Road Trip from Gauteng - Part 11. The iconic & haunted battlefield of Magersfontein.

This is truly an iconic visit - it rates along with Rorke's Drift, Blood River / Ncome, and Isandlwana. For any student of military history, it is a "must do". To walk the fields where the Highland Brigade advanced - it's goosebump territory.

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The Anglo-Boer War battle took place during the Boer siege of Kimberley, a strategic diamond mining town. A British relief column advanced along the Cape railway line and in three earlier clashes, forced the Boer commandos to pull back.

The Boers planned to make a stand at Magersfontein, an outcrop about 30 km south of Kimberley. But instead of defending from the heights of the koppie, as the British assumed they would, they dug camouflaged trenches around its base.

For two days, the British poured artillery fire on the hill. At dawn on December 11, the Black Watch advanced in massed ranks. Unaware of the Boer trenchline, they were 400 meters from the hill when their foes opened up. They were cut down in scores while the bagpipers played on.

The Highland Brigade commander, Major General A.G. Wauchope, was among the first to die.

The Gordon Highlanders were sent in as a second wave only to suffer a similar fate. All day the wounded lay under the beating sun, crying for water while Boer snipers picked them off.

After a Boer counter-attack, confused orders led to the troops retreating. Casualties lay on the battlefield all night although stretcher bearers ventured out with lanterns to rescue those they could. A truce was called the next day.

The British withdrew to the Modder River and it was not until February that the siege of Kimberley was broken.

The Highland Brigade suffered 202 dead at Magersfontein, and 37 soldiers from the Guards and other units who also fought in the action were killed. More than 660 British troops were wounded.

The Boer forces lost 87 men, including 23 Scandinavian volunteers. All have their own memorials at different sites of the battlefield. 

It is believed that the battle never stopped. Bagpipes can be heard during some nights and soldiers seen marching on the battlefield.

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