South African Battlefields

23/01/2017

History lesson for the day! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8jitGtA1x4

When Britain despatched an Expeditionary Force (the BEF) to the Continent in August 1914, the German Kaiser issued an order of the day to his generals to “wa...

23/11/2016

OPERASIE SAVANNAH 1975-1976
ANGOLA
EBO
23 NOVEMBER 1975

10/06/2016

Smokeshell het vandag op 10 Junie 1980 plaasgevind - ons onthou die volgende: FOR THEM THE LAST POST HAS SOUNDED

On 10 June 2016, let us pause for a minute to remember the following young men from our Generation who answered the Final Roll Call.

10 Jun 1980: Thirteen members of 61 Mechanised Battalion and 1 SAI (attached) were Killed in Action or Died of Wounds during the attack on the PLAN Smokeshell Base complex during Operation Sceptic in Southern Angola after their Ratel vehicles were systematically engaged and knocked out by a Soviet 23mm ZU-23-2 deployed together with three Soviet 14,5mm ZPU-1 Anti-Aircraft Guns all being used in the ground defensive roll. The casualties were:

74391806PE Lieutenant Johannes Jacobus Du Toit (HC). His Ratel 20mm cannon jammed during the attack and his vehicle was in turn attacked by about 50 enemy ground troops. He continued to engage the enemy with the Browning anti-aircraft machine gun until he was mortally wounded by enemy rifle and machine-gun fire. He was 22.

Platoon Headquarters Ratel: Callsign 21

Ratel 21 was engaged by a 14,5mm Soviet ZPU-1 anti-aircraft gun and the Armour-Piercing Incendiary projectiles penetrated the left door and rear of the vehicle. A hand gr***de that was hanging inside the door rack exploded causing the vehicle to immediately catch fire and start burning. The personnel immediately evacuated the Ratel to find cover from where they could return fire. The casualties in this Ratel were:

76338946BG Rifleman Francois Johan Loubser. He was seated at the left door where the 14,5mm rounds penetrated and he was killed instantly when the hand gr***de exploded. His body remained in the vehicle and was completely charred as the Ratel burnt out. He was 19.

77217907BG Rifleman Petrus Johannes Joubert. He successfully exited the vehicle and took cover in an abandoned enemy position. After a short while, he decided to break cover and run towards another Ratel to draw their attention but as soon as he stood up, he was hit in the chest by enemy rifle fire and fell back into the position. He died before any help could arrive. He was 19.

70518303BG Rifleman Gert Johannes Venter. He was the anti-aircraft gunner on the Ratel and he tried to disembark from the vehicle through the anti-aircraft gunners hatch. He was hit in the stomach by a 14,5mm round and fell dead next to the vehicle. His body was completely charred as the Ratel burnt out. He was 25.

Section Number One Ratel: Callsign 21A

Ratel 21A was engaged from the front at virtually point-blank range by a 23mm ZU-23-2 Anti-Aircraft gun. The casualties in this Ratel were:

7646809BG Rifleman Gerhardus Johannes Kemp. He was the driver of the Ratel when the 23mm High explosive rounds penetrated the windshield and peppered his chest and face with lethal shrapnel and pieces of windshield glass. He lost consciousness and died a short while later while still seated in his driver position. He was 19.

76389238BG Rifleman Jacobus Hendrik Fourie. He was standing up in one of the right hand side fighting compartment hatches throwing hand gr***des into enemy positions when he was hit in the midsection by a 23mm bullet that killed him instantly. His body was pulled back into the vehicle by his comrades. He was 20.

Section Number Three Ratel: Callsign 9G (Swopped with 21C that Broke an Axel)

Ratel 9G drew concentrated fire from a 23mm ZU-23-2 Anti-Aircraft Gun that was deployed with three other 14,5mm ZPU-1 Anti-Aircraft guns and was hit several times. The Ratel was seen to turn immediately and head towards the enemy gun position before coming to a halt. The casualties in this vehicle were:

75222965BG Corporal Paul Kruger. He was the Ratel Commander and was killed instantly in the turret after being struck numerous times by 23mm cannon shells in the upper torso. He was 20.

77210839BG Rifleman Stephen Maritz Cronje. He crawled out from the driver’s position to the left rear door where he was struck in the back by a 14,5mm round that killed him instantly. He was 19.

77412153BG Rifleman Peter William Warrener. He tried to jump out of the vehicle via the gunners hatch but his right leg was blown off above the knee by a 23mm High Explosive Cannon Shell. Despite expert medical treatment being administered in the field, he died from his wounds approximately three and a half hours later while being evacuated. He was 19.

7395813BG Rifleman Roberto Nicola de Vito. He was standing up in the left side hatch throwing hand gr***des into enemy trench positions when he was hit by a full burst of 14,5mm Anti-Aircraft cannon fire that severed him in half, killing him instantly. Unfortunately, the M26 hand gr***de he was about to throw, fell from his lifeless hand through the hatch and exploded inside the Ratel. He was 19.

77471423BG Rifleman Michael Clarence Luyt. He was seated in the left section of the Ratel when the hand gr***de that de Vito had dropped, landed in his lap and exploded, killing him instantly. He was 19.

77260578BG Rifleman Francis John Lello. He was killed instantly after suffering multiple shrapnel wounds to the face and chest when De Vito’s hand gr***de exploded just as he was jumping out of the vehicle. He was 19.

76325646BG Rifleman Andrew John Madden. He was critically wounded in the neck and back by shrapnel from de Vito’s exploding gr***de. He received expert medical attention in the field and was evacuated but succumbed to his wounds 5 hours later at 20h00 that evening. He was 19.
10 Jun 1981: Rifleman Antonio Johannes from 101 Battalion SWATF was Killed in Action during a contact with SWAPO/PLAN insurgents in Southern Angola. He was 24
Their names and sacrifice have not been forgotten.

29/05/2016

It is the spot where Dr Leander Starr Jameson was defeated on January 2, 1896 following the Jameson Raid. The area is also linked in popular history to the third day of the Battle of Johannesburg that took place nearby from May 27 to 29, 1900 during the Second Boer War. The ridge was taken by cavalry under command of Lt Gen John French while a nearby ridge, now covered by several Soweto suburbs, was taken by seven infantry battalions, including the City Imperial Volunteers and Gordon Highlanders of Lt Gen Ian Hamilton.

28/05/2016

Battle of Congela (Durban) At midnight on the evening of 23 and 24 May, the British forces attacked the well-defended village of "Kongela". The attack failed dismally, The Boers had won a major battle, and Captain Smith had lost many of his men. Smith realised he needed to urgently request reinforcements from the Cape Colony, which was six hundred kilometers of untamed wilderness away. An English trader known as Dick King and colonist volunteered to alert the colony by riding on horseback to Grahamstown.

28/05/2016

20 May 1900 - Battle of Scheepersneck
75 Swaziland Police and Vryheid burghers were stationed here. During a church service a Squadron of British cavalry arrived unexpectedly. After a short fight the British withdrew.

28/05/2016

On 6 May 1902 at Holkrans near Vryheid, men of a Zulu tribe, the abaQulusi, attacked a Boer commando that had been burning the homes of Zulus in the vicinity, destroying their crops and taking their livestock. There were heavy casualties on both sides, but the abaQulusi prevailed and retrieved their stolen cattle. This unusual battle came late in the war and was the first in which an indigenous impi clashed with one of the main protagonists of the war, the Boers.

09/01/2016

At 05h00 the Battle of Blaauwberg commenced on the 8th of January North of Cape Town. It was the first time in South Africa History that next to the soldiers the Hottentot Light Infantry,Burgher Cavalry' and 'Javanese Artillery Corps' defend their fatherland against a foreign invasion. The Cape contingent can only be described as a mixed bag. Some were Christians, some were Muslims, others animists; their skins were of every colour found in mankind. Some had been born free, others were former slaves. Some were professional soldiers, others citizens-in-arms. Their professions ranged from labourer to soldier to shop-keeper to farmer, and their personal condition from prosperous to comfortable to poor. But the larger picture shows that this British conquest of the Cape also radically changed the course of history of the entire southern portion of the African continent.The most fundamental of these events was the mass migration of farmers and others resolved to move beyond the British writ which started in the late 1830s and became known as 'the Great Trek'. That means no Boer Republics and the Cape would have become a creole nation, Smuts a small town lawyer, Mandela a chief in the Transkei Mountains, no apartheid or Boer Wars. British might have lost their foothold on India meaning no World Wars.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blaauwberg

06/01/2016

The Battle of Platrand (Wagon Hill ) was the last attempt by the Boers to took Ladysmith by force with severe casualties on both sides. The battle took place on 6 January 1900 during the ABO (South African War). The Boers around Ladysmith were also growing weak from lack of forage. With little action, many fighters took unauthorised leave or brought their families into the siege encampments. Eventually, with the Tugela in flood, preventing Buller from giving any support,[4] some younger leaders persuaded Joubert to order a storming attempt on the night of 5 January 1900, before another relief attempt could be made.

The British line south of Ladysmith ran along a ridge known as the Platrand. The occupying British troops had named its features Wagon Hill to the west and to the east Caesar's Camp (after features near Aldershot, well known to much of the British army[citation needed]).[5] Under Ian Hamilton, they had constructed a line of forts, sangars and entrenchments on the reverse slope of the Platrand, of which the Boers were unaware.[citation needed]

In the early hours of 6 January, Boer storming parties under General C.J. de Villiers began climbing Wagon Hill and Caesar's Camp. They were spotted and engaged by British working parties who were emplacing some guns. The Boers captured the edge of both features, but could not advance further. British counter-attacks also failed.[5]

At noon, de Villiers made another attack on Wagon Hill. Some exhausted defenders panicked and fled, but Hamilton led reserves to the spot and recaptured some empty gun pits. Late in the afternoon, a terrific rainstorm broke, and the Boers withdrew under cover of it.[5]

The British suffered 175 killed and 249 wounded. 52 dead Boers were left in the British positions, but their total casualties were not recorded.

24/12/2015

In the Battle of Groenkop (Battle of Tweefontein) on 25 December 1901, Head Commandant Christiaan de Wet's Boer commando surprised and defeated a force of Imperial Yeomanry under the command of Major Williams. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Groenkop

In the Battle of Groenkop (Battle of Tweefontein) on 25 December 1901, Head Commandant Christiaan de Wet's Boer commando surprised and defeated a force of Imperial Yeomanry under the command of Major Williams.

21/12/2015

The Battle of Bronkhorstpruit toop place on the 20 December 1880 during the First Anglo Boer War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bronkhorstspruit

The Battle of Bronkhorstspruit was the first major clash of the First Boer War. It was a battle between a British army column and a group of Boers, fought by the Bronkhorstspruit River, a few miles east of the town of Bronkhorstspruit, Transvaal on 20 December 1880.