Episode 19 - The Acre of death, Spion Kop part 2

This week we continue with the battle of Spion Kop and as you’ll hear, its a battle that horrified those who took part with its hand-to-hand fighting, terrible artillery barrages and massacre of British troops who’d been trapped on the summit of Spion Kop where there was no escape from the Boer Mauser rounds. It’s also a tale of confusion which is often what happens in war. One of the people involved in this clash is 17 year-old Deneys Reitz who published his book called “Commando” in 1902. It’s a remarkable story about a remarkable life and the best minute-by-minute chronicle of Spion Kop. One of the major ironies is that Deneys Reitz ends up fighting in the First World War on the British side on the Western Front, commanding a unit of the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1918.