932 



Revitw of Bevifws, II III 18. 



A VISIT TO SOME SOUTH AFRICAN 



BATTLEFIELDS. 



By WINIFRIDE WRENCH. 



It was strange seeing " Ladycmith " 

 marked on our carriage at Durban, and 

 feeling that we were actually going to a 

 spot so full of conflicting memories to 

 us as an Empire. 



We passed the night in the train, and 

 woke up at dawn next morning tc find 

 that we were entering a district of 

 familiar names — Hart's Hill, Frere, Co- 

 lenso, with the Tugela flow ing at our feet. 



The sun rose in a dull flush, and then 

 poured down over the rolling yellow 

 velt, gemmed with the vivid green of 

 weeping willow and thorn, emeralds set 

 in gold. 



And it was then that I caught sight 

 of my first soldiers' graves — one or two 

 solitary small white crosses, protected 

 by white railings, on the bare, brown 

 slopes ; they grew more numerous as we 

 advanced, and were thickly, cloistered 

 around Hart's Hill rfnd Colenso. One 

 marks the spot where Lord Roberts' son, 

 in dying, gained the Victoria Cross. 



We crossed the bridge spanning the 

 Tugela — left by Duller for the Boers to 

 blow up — and about an hour afterwards 

 pulled up at the little station of Lady- 

 smith. 



W'e drove down to the hotel, noticing 

 the shattered clock-tower of the Town 

 Hall, the work of " Long Tom," the 

 great gun that dominated the little town 

 13 years ago. 



Outside the door of the hotel a shell 

 is let into the pavement, showing where 

 Dr. Stark was killed. Outside there are 

 gaps in the brick and mortar, where the 

 building was struck. 



Half -forgotten memories are crowd- 

 ing into our minds ; names and incidents 

 are slowly coming back — recollections 

 of those dark dax's when Ladysmith v»as 

 being held at bay, and all men's thoughts 

 were concentrated on this far-away, 

 quiet village, for it is little more. 



In the afternoon we went to look at 

 All Saints' Memorial Church, and were 

 there for evensong. 



The walls of both transepts are lined 

 with white marble, inscribed with over 

 3000 names of those who fell in the 

 siege and in the relief e.xpedition, ar- 

 ranged according to regiments, but be- 

 ginning with the short naval list, includ- 

 ing Lieut. Egerton, who was killed in the 

 early days. " One leg and the other foot 

 were carried off, as he lay upon the sand- 

 bag parapet watching the effect of our 

 fire. ' There's an end of my cricket,' 

 said the gallant sportsman, and he was 

 carried to the rear with a cigar between 

 his clenched teeth." 



The staff came next. General Wood- 

 gate, Lord Ava, Lieut. Roberts, and 

 others, and then the Hussars, the Rifles, 

 the Lancashires, the Devons, the Impe- 

 rial Light Horse, the Gordon High- 

 landers, and so the sad list goes on right 

 around the walls. 



All the stained glass v\indows, the 

 pulpit, the altar, the vestments, have been 

 given in memory of the fallen, and 

 everything is cared for by reverent 

 hands. 



Perhaps the most pathetic memorial 

 of all is the Litany desk-cover of scarlet 

 cloth, made from General Woodgate's 

 tunic by his sister, the epaulettes form- 

 ing a cross. He was killed on Spion 

 Kop. 



Every year there is a holiday an 

 .Siege Memorial Day, when .ne women 

 of Ladysmith visit the cemeteries and 

 scattered graves, and lay flowers on the 

 mortal remains of Briton and Boer alike. 



The following da\- we visited Spion 

 Kop, which lies some 18 miles to the 

 west of Ladysmith, and is the most in- 

 teresting battlefield to be seen in this 

 neighbourhood, if not in South Africa. 



