Episode 60 - The heroic Canadians of Lieliefontein and Boer hero General Fourie falls

We’re still riding with the Canadians in the area around Belfast in the Eastern Transvaal, which is a short distance away from South Africa’s all important coal mines. Last week we heard how the icy rain had lashed Smith-Dorrien’s 1200 strong column as it tried to rid the region of a large Boer commando based at the nearby town of Carolina. That was a column of various English, Scots and Canadian units. He’d been forced to retreat after the effects of weather and Boer firepower at Witkloof and buried one of his top officers called Chalmers, but that didn’t deter Smith-Dorrien. A few days after his men arrived back in Belfast, bedraggled and ragged, he was planning a new offensive against the Boers. The first tragic expedition was merely a dress rehearsal for the battle of Liliefontein. The purpose of the second expedition was identical to the first. To destroy all the farms suspected of harbouring the Boer commandos who had been blowing up railway lines and committing other acts of sabotage. The British also wanted to lure the large Boer Carolina commando out of their lair along the Komati River and into battle. On the 6th November Smith-Dorrien once again set out under cover of darkness as he did last week but unlike the first expedition, there was no icy rain, no fog, no mist. It was in perfect weather that his column set off with temperatures even in the early evening in the mid-20s centigrade. There was one important difference this week. Smith-Dorrien had learned his lesson when it came to splitting up his force and the 1200 men moved as one unit.