Boer War

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Montagu Dried Fruit Route

Visiting the Montagu Dried Fruit factory shop we found out that they have a sightseeing tractor tour of the farm for which we immediately booked.  The tour takes about an hour and a half to two hours and passes the fruit drying area and orchards before heading up the hill behind the farm.  Once you are out of the actually farming area you start ascending the adjacent hill with its typical Karoo vegetation.  The Kidz were obviously very excited about the trip and…

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23/01/2012
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British Troop Train

On the way up the hill to Fort Klapperkop and the SA National Defence Force Memorial outside Pretoria stand an old steam locomotive.  This specific locomotive was amongst others used over 100 years ago during the Anglo Boer War (1899 - 1902) to carry British troops and supplies from the coast to where the war was taking place in the interior of South Africa.

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31/10/2010
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Fort Klapperkop

Sitting on top of the koppies (hills) overlooking Pretoria is a number of forts that was built prior to the Anglo Boer War in the late 1800's.  After the abortive Jameson Raid in 1895, the South African Republic (also known as the Transvaal Republic) had a number of forts built to protect their capital in case of a foreign invasion.  The Pretoria Forts consisted mainly of four forts, three of which was constructed by a German company.  I have on a previous visit…

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25/10/2010
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Bloemfontein statues

This is my last Bloemfontein post from this trip, I promise.  I was actually very disappointed that I didn't have time to explore the city some more.  I have never been to Bloemfontein before and it has so many places, most of historical value, to see.  The one thing I did notice is that there are many statues around Bloemfontein.  Bloemfontein used to be the capital of the Boer republic of the Orange Free State and many leaders involved in the…

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15/10/2010
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Graaff Reinet Statues

I still had a couple of odd monument photos from Graaff-Reinet lying around and decided to put them together and do a "Random ..." post for today. This monument is in memory of Andries Pretorius, one of the Voortrekker leaders. It was erected in 1943 and can be found just outside of town on the way to Middelburg. This is the route to the north and into the interior which the Voortrekkers followed in the 1830's.In one of the residential…

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28/09/2010
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Horse Memorial Silhouette

For a while now I've wanted to get down to the Horse Memorial here in Port Elizabeth to get a nice silhouette sunset shot. Well, the other night I had my chance. It wasn't the most painted sunset sky, but I love the effect.

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23/06/2010
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Fort Schanskop

Very few visitors to the Voortrekker Monument outside Pretoria takes an extra couple of minutes to visit Fort Schanskop on the opposite hill. The fort was one of three erected around Pretoria in 1896 after the Jameson Raid and was designed by French military engineer Leon Grunberg. In 1895 the friction between the Cape Colony and the Transvaal (South African Republic) under Paul Kruger in the north worsened. An uprising was organised in the Transvaal to accompany a planned invasion…

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15/06/2010
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Concentration Camp Memorial

Kemsley Park next to the SAP sports fields just off Mount Road was one of two Anglo Boer War concentration camp sites in Nelson Mandela Bay. The other one is situated just outside Uitenhage. Roché Petersen has pointed out to me in a previous post that the dead from the concentration camp was buried in the North End Cemetery where there also is a memorial. I haven't had a chance to pop by there to check it out, but hope…

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31/05/2010
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Anglo Boer War memorial

The Anglo Boer War Memorial in Uitenhage can be found in front of the Town Hall and was unveiled in 1904. The names of Uitenhage citizens who died in the Anglo-Boer War fought between 1899 and 1902 are inscribed on the base of the monument. It is said that the features of the life-size soldier that makes up the memorial was that of an actual soldier in King William’s Town.

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19/12/2009
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Angled Horse Memorial

I know I have posted various photos of the Horse Memorial before, but with my last visit there the little gate in the fence surrounding the memorial was open. This gave me the opportunity to get right up to it and take a pic at a different angle to the others that I have taken before.

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04/10/2009