surprise hill

1. The raid on Surprise Hill, 10/11th December 1899

On the night of 10th December 1899 the 2nd Battalion of the
Rifle Brigade launched an attack on a troublesome Boer gun on Surprise Hill, to
the north of Ladysmith. This followed a successful foray by the Colonial
troops, the Imperial Light Horse, Natal Carbineers and the Border Mounted
Rifles on three Boer guns on Gun Hill three nights previously.

2. Original Rifle Brigade monument

Some time after Ladysmith was relieved, the Rifle Brigade erected a monument at the foot of
Surprise Hill to commemorate their feat, inscribed with the names of those who
were killed and buried nearby in a mass grave. Lieutenant Gilbert Ferguson’s
name is included even though his body was taken into Ladysmith for burial in
the Borough cemetery. Some years ago the monument was vandalised by people
digging for artefacts. It collapsed into a heap of stones. Only later was the
white marble plaque with the names of those Riflemen who died in the attack,
smashed into fragments.

3. The rebuilt monuments

In 2009 the monument was rebuilt. Jan Human, on whose farm the monument is sited, and Eugene Campher,
who is passionate about anything connected with Ladysmith’s history, worked for some years to achieve this result.

4. The Rifle Brigade Monument

The Rifle Brigade monument has been reconstructed to be as close as possible to its original shape and size. A new marble plaque has been made which includes the names of all those killed in the raid.

5. The original plaque

The fragments of the original plaque have been cemented into the rear of the cairn.

6. The Boer monument

The Boer dead of the engagement
needed to be commemorated as well. A column alongside the Rifle Brigade cairn
gives their names, including the name of the first Jewish man on the Boer side
to be killed in the Anglo Boer war.