TOPIC:

Recreating the route taken by the retreating Yule, I journeyed (admittedly by car) from Dundee towards Helpmakaar and then turned right into Van Tonder's pass and then left towards Ladysmith.

I was interested to see why Yule was afraid of being spotted by the Boers as his train of men and wagons made their way through. The first few kilometres of the pass are surrounded on both sides by commanding hills not that distant from the valley floor. Any Boers on these heights to the north of the pass would have pinned down and done a lot of damage to the forces below.

The pass is also bisected by a number of waterways which today are bridged and so easily traversed, a benefit not available to Yule on his March.

With the events of the previous week, the difficulties of moving so many men and the route chosen, it is easy to sympathise with how he felt about this section of the retreat.





The pass opens out at the end.

David
It is always instructive to see ground as it would have been seen by the combatants. Maps - even the best maps- are only so good. Fifty to a hundred riflemen on one or more of the surrounding hills would have made things very difficult for Yule.
Best regards
IL.