Episode 15 - Ladysmith and the Music of the Guns
The last six weeks have been a short sharp shock for our British friends who’ve visited the veld and the semi-desert in the Northern Cape and the green hills of Natal. Things have moved apace since wa...
31 Des 201724min
Episode 14 - The end of Black Week
It’s December 1899 and the British have already registered 3 000 casualties in various battles across South Africa. The latest we heard about was the Battle of Colenso on 15th December in Natal where...
24 Des 201717min
Episode 13 - The Battle of Colenso
So here we are, the battle of Colenso, December 15th 1899. Four Victoria Crosses were awarded in this clash but it also led to defeat for the British who stumbled repeatedly under the command of th...
17 Des 201728min
Episode 12 - Buller, Botha, Gandhi and Colenso
We heard last week how General Methuen had been roundly defeated at the battle of Magersfontein in the Northern Cape and had withdrawn his force back to the Modder River. North east across South Afri...
10 Des 201720min
Episode 11- Magersfontein and Black Week
The Battle of Magersfontein destroyed a Highland Brigade and taught the English a lesson they'd forget almost immediately. Do not launch a frontal attack on a hidden enemy unless you do proper reconn...
3 Des 201724min
Episode 10 - the Battle of Modder River
The Battle of Modder River took place after two other skirmishes which are called soldiers’ battles. These are bloody affairs where men die in droves, The battles of Belmont and Graspan then elicit...
28 Nov 201719min
Episode 9 -Kimberley and the dreaded Rhodes
Our view shifts to the Western reaches of South Africa - the south western to be specific. Last week we watched how Winston Churchill as captured at Chieverly south of Colenso on the main line to Lad...
19 Nov 201721min
Episode 8 - The Boers move south and Winston Churchill is captured
It’s just over a month since hostilities were declared formally on 10th October 1899, a number of battles have been fought that dispelled British notions of a quick and easy war. Thousands of casual...
12 Nov 201723min
