TOPIC:

Today is the anniversary of one of Britain's biggest Military blunders

Iain

Thank you for the reminder. It is a very hot day in Natal today (+30) and a visit to Spioenkop would be a reminder of the heat experienced by the participants in the battle. There would, however, be the eerie silence that now characterises this hilltop.

Regards
Brett

A recent picture of the mass grave.

Brett,

Thank you for posting the picture of the mass grave. I believe those are the trenches and they buried the bodies where they died.

Probably the conditions were the same on that day, on that hilltop but with no water, added to that, not knowing if you were the next to die.

regards, Iain

Apart from possible difficulties in negotiating the access road, a visit to Spioenkop is well worth it. Like Wagon Hill, it has remained unspoiled because it is not easily accessible to the people who are a plague on other Natal and Zululand battlefields.

Interestingly, through my limited use of the Internet, I have recently seen several reports in the British press on the anniversaries of the Battle of Rorke's Drift and the release of the film, 'Zulu', but nothing about the Battle of Spioenkop. I wonder if the battle is still commemorated somewhere in Lancashire?

Brett

This came from the Kop in 1979, I also have a piece of the original "Kop" from the stand on Anfield Rd!

Frank,
are you saying you got the Cameronians badge from Spioenkop, the top of the hill? Not that it was a decoration on the Anfield (Spioen Kop?)

regards, Iain

Frank Kelley wrote: This came from the Kop in 1979, I also have a piece of the original "Kop" from the stand on Anfield Rd!