34. Lieutenant Colonel Charles Metcalfe

The commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion of the Rifle Brigade, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Metcalfe, had joined the battalion in Crete in 1899. Metcalfe’s predecessor, Francis Howard, now Major General, commanded that sector of the defences that included King’s Post. He had been in the Sudan in 1898 together with Hunter and Rawlinson. The attack on Surprise Hill to destroy the Boer Krupp howitzer on its summit was planned by these four officers, all well-acquainted with one another.

37. Lieutenant Hugh Dawnay and Major Francis Wing

On the night of 9th December, Metcalfe himself reconnoitred the ground in company with Lieutenant Hugh Dawnay, the Adjutant of the 2nd Battalion, and Major Francis Wing of the Royal Artillery. Wing knew the area as
he had been in Ladysmith with the pre-war garrison. Boer picquets did not discover this little foray.

38. Lt Col S.P.E. Trichardt and Gen Daniel Erasmus

After the Gun Hill attack, surprisingly, the Boers did not step up their watchfulness nor increase the number of men guarding their gun positions. Only on 10th December did Lieutenant Colonel S.P.E. Trichardt address a letter to General Daniel Erasmus remonstrating about the weak force guarding the howitzer on Vaalkop (Surprise Hill). He said that while there were 30 men in the guard detail, only 2 of them remained on guard while the rest went to sleep to the rear of the emplacement. Trichardt required Erasmus to urgently increase the guard to 50 so that at least 10 of these should remain awake and watchful. An extra picquet had been placed at the foot of Vaalkop under the command of Corporal Tossel, formerly a detective in the Z.A.R.P., but this was the only extra measure put in place by General Erasmus. It was too late – Metcalfe and his men were shortly to be on their way to attack the hill.

47. Ambush by the Pretoria Commando

The order to retire was given by Metcalfe and the retirement down the hill commenced. The men were in a jocular mood after what seemed to have been a totally successful exploit. Laughing and joking they made their way towards Ladysmith and the safety of their camp. The Boers had been completely outwitted and the “good old Rifle Brigade” had triumphed. In fact, the Boers had been aroused and numbers of them had taken positions from both sides and were waiting to open fire on the retiring British. Dawnay reported that they were about a third of the way down the hill when they were met by a withering fire. Orders were given not to return fire, and only to use the bayonet. Thesiger commented that they were in a pretty tight place and Johnny Gough was grazed by shrapnel from a shot fired by a Free State gunner on Telegraph Hill.