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Rob, I asked Neville some months ago about an original ABW drawing I bought from a bric a brac shop in some French backwater in October last year. Neville contacted me recently and pointed me to this post. Et voila, the original. If you desire a better picture at higher resolution, let me know. Everhard

Everhard, I'd love to have a hi res version of the sketch - I believe you may have my email address? It is a lovely sketch, and if you ever sell it, let me know! I reproduced the sketch in my recent book, 'The Spioenkop Campaign'
There are several errors in the sketch, which make me even more fond of it, as they show the confusion which reigned on the day of the battle!
Would you like me to point out the errors?
Rob

Rob, I will send you a better copy over the coming days. In the mean time, yes, I would appreciate if you could point out the errors in the sketch (which I trust does not exclusively involve adding Ghandi picking up casualties and Churchill smoking a fat Cohiba while writing his memoirs on whiskey-stained paper). Please do so on this forum to the benefit of all. Everhard

René Bull's wonderful sketch was made from a koppie where Three Tree Hill Lodge stands today (despite the lodge's name, TTH itself is 2 km away to the north-west). Artists approx position is GPS -28.662, 29.487. The crowds of reinforcements on the southern (right) part of the summit is accurate, as is the observation that the Boer shells mainly fell on the southern (right) part of the summit, and the British shelled the north (left) of the high ground. Parts of the long grass on the slope of SK look as if they have been recently burnt (the grass fire was described on 20 January).
Here are some errors I think I see, though I am often wrong:
1. The battery of six 15-pdrs firing shrapnel from this position was the 19th Btty (not 78th Btty, which remained in position on TTH).
2. The postions captured by KRR were the Twin Peaks (GPS -28.649, 29.537 and -28.648, 29.545) neither of which were visible from this spot - and thus of course not visible to Gen. Warren, either. The Twin Peaks had no name at the time, and were labelled Spion Kop on the British "Blue Map". The KRR were not shelled as they attacked. The feature shown in the sketch is nowadays called Conical Hill though at the time it was un-named or called the "northern extension of Spion Kop". Conical Hill was indeed shelled by British shrapnel, leading the Boksburg Commando to abandon their position mid-morning. The Connaughts did express misplaced concern that British troops were there and hence under friendly fire.
3. "Our shrapnel bursting over Boer trenches" - there were no Boer trenches on SK summit, though there were Boers directly under the shrapnel bursts - and outlying British soldiers too, if they are shown correctly. However, the skyline here is sketched inaccurately and it is possible he's drawn Conical Hill twice.
4. "Boer trench captured by us" indicates more-or-less the position of the main British trench - but there was no "Boer trench"in that position.
Thanks for sharing your unique sketch, and congratulations on finding it!
Rob

Ask your bric-a-brac shop if they have a second sketch René Bull did, of almost the same scene!
In this one he's superimposed the figure of Gen. Buller into the foreground to add to the interest of the scene (Buller was at Spearman's Hill all day on 24 Jan 1900).

Two pertinent postcards (I presume) from the photograph album of Daniel Litton Harding who served as a medic at 21 General Hospital, Deelfontein from April 1901 to November 1902. The album is now part of the Wellcome Collection from where it can be downloaded as a PDF. See my post earlier today regarding Daniel Litton Harding & his album for the appropriate link to the on-line Wellcome Collection.



Looking at the earlier sketches I would say this is Conical Hill rather than Spion Kop but Rob D does say in his recent book that all of the ridge tended to be known as Spion Kop at the time.



As the ascent prior to the battle on 24th January 1900 is always described as a night ascent I initially presumed this photo shows Imperial troops ascending on another occasion. However, Rob D in his recent book reported they gathered at 8.30pm and it was 2 hours before the ascent began - just a month after the longest day (in South Africa) would it still have been light enough for this photo to have been taken very early in the ascent?