The Suffolks were met by a storm of bullets. The Suffolk regiment was ordered to make a night attack on a Boer position on the heights, four companies, 354 of all ranks, set out at midnight under the command of Col. The hill was originally called Red or Grassy Hill. One of the notable Battles with a large loss of Suffolk life was the “Battle of Suffolk hill” at Colesberg, Northern Cape 5 th– 6th January 1900. At the height of the war 400,000 British, South African, Indian, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand Soldiers were shipped to South Africa against 30,000 – 40,000 Boers. Hit and run attacks on the British army continued through to the War, despite the Boer army being out numbered, they managed to hold up thousands of British troops using these tactics. Poor mapping of the terrain and the slow progress of large bodies of men were hampered by the Commando styled units of the Boer army, acting independently in a Guerrilla styled warfare. Thousands of troops became sick through poor sanitation and limited access to clean water, suffering from dysentery, typhoid and cholera using the name “ enteric fever” as the main cause of death during the conflict. The British found it hard to move large amounts of troops across the inhospitable terrain creating logistical problems. During the second War, the first use of barbed wire and trenches, used by both sides, held up many advances during attacks. The army had up to that time still wore the old fashion “ redcoats” jackets, which made easy targets. The British lost many opening battles of the first War, using outdated tactics against the modern weaponry. French siege guns and light artillery sometimes manned and trained by foreign powers were a match to the British. The Boer army although classed by some as a reservist militia rather than an army, was underrated by the British, however the majority of the Boer farmers were good marksman and hunters, using the German built Mouser Rifle, more accurate than the British at long range. England quickly mobilised through patriotic and the public anger that woman and children were being shelled in besieged British populated towns. War was declared on 11 th October 1899 with many of the main British held towns Ladysmith, Kimberley, and Mafeking were then besieged by the Boer armies.ġ0,000 British and commonwealth troops were shipped to South Africa in response. In 1899 peace talks between the Boer republics and the British failed. The Boer armed themselves with the latest and the best weaponry importing German rifles and French artillery. In 1895 a coup backed by the British government failed. By 1898 the Republic produced 30% of the world gold production, becoming one of the richest countries in the world. The Boers resented the influx immigrants to the new country and would not allow them to vote or recognise foreign laws including the abolition of slavery. In 1886 Gold was found in the republic creating a “gold rush” with a large influx of none Dutch speaking settlers and prospectors.
The land which at the time was deemed as “very poor” and had no strategic or economic value. Separating themselves from British controlled laws and taxes.
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The first Anglo-Boer War in 1880 created the two Transvaal and Orange Free State Republics, following a short conflict between the British and Dutch land settlers, refusing to submit to foreign colonial rule. The British Empire had slowly taken Southern Africa, using it as a staging posts for shipping for India and China Sea trade routes.
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