Rob Davidson on The Long Range War: The fighting to relieve Ladysmith, 1900
Thursday 27th April 2023
For the April 2023 instalment of SAHR's series of monthly talks, Dr Robert Davidson gave a talk about a campaign in the South African War of 1899-1902.
The talk is now available via the Society's YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/4OFPOrEnjH4
In this lecture Dr Davidson explored the campaign on the Upper Tugela to relieve the siege of Ladysmith. The fighting took place between 17 and 27 January 1900 and includes the disaster on Spion Kop on 24 January. However, less than a tenth of the British force initially ascended Spion Kop, and only 300 Boers counter-attacked there. Because of the notoriety of Spion Kop, the extensive actions elsewhere on the Upper Tugela have been greatly neglected. This talk provides a fresh look at the battle of Spion Kop in the context of the larger campaign.
Speaker biography
Dr Robert Davidson recently retired as a physician specialising in Infectious Diseases. His lifelong interest has been the battlefields of Natal, particularly the area around Spion Kop. He is the author of a book, entitled 'The Spioenkop Campaign', which will soon be published.