35. Surprise Hill

This is Surprise Hill, a steep hill to the north west of Ladysmith. It had born the name of Mdaka (or Vaalkop in Afrikaans) until, to the surprise of the British, the Boers dragged their gun to the summit and opened fire. Henceforth the hill was called Surprise Hill. It was almost 3½ miles from King’s Post and rose 700 feet above the valley between Thornhill’s Kop and Bell’s Kop.

43. Archer's map enhanced

There was an active Boer searchlight on Telegraph Hill as well as bright moonlight. The force marched slowly so as to avoid the searchlight and halted in dead ground when the moon broke through the clouds. They proceeded when cloud covered the moon once again. The railway line to Harrismith, which crossed the valley in front of their objective, was their first serious obstacle. There were barbed wire fences on each side which had to be cut and care was taken to do this as silently as possible. Half of ‘E’ company was left to guard the crossing. They advanced across the open and level ground between the railway and the hill and pushed on as fast as they could in the darkness. It was necessary to observe complete silence and Dawnay was concerned that they were walking into a trap as
“Bell’s and Thornhill’s kopjes loomed large and ominous on our flanks.” They reached the donga which runs across the valley and left the other half of ‘E’ company here.