THE WAR IN SOUTH AFRICA PART 7:REGIMENT The City Imperial Volunteers

I'm going off the recent posts on the war to introduce a new element , this is the regiments of the UK and commonwealth who fought in the war, we'll be going back to the main story next post
The City Imperial Volunteers had their finest hour at the battle of Doornkop outside Krugerdorp on 26 May 1900. Doornkop a high ridge was held by the entrenched Boers.




The City Imperial Volunteers were given the place of honour in the front line supported by the Gordon Highlanders.
irregular miniatures. below Boer war old toy soldiers

In the uphill charge that followed the Highlanders followed the traditional tactics of walking slowly up hill towards the enemy and lost a hundred men in ten minutes. The non-traditional amateurs of the City Imperial Volunteers made their advance in short rushes each group covering the next as they advanced towards the Boers, and suffered few casualities. Doornkop was taken from the Boers.

These old Acw castings could be used as Boers

The City Imperial Volunteers returned to London in October 1900 and on 29th October made a state entry into the City. The public celebration on that day was so great, that one of the capitals underground railways, the Central Line, which had been in operation for only a few weeks, alone carried 250,000 passengers.



One volunteer, Alfred George Eatly, the son of George and Sarah Elizabeth, of Islington, London, did not take part in the celebrations. He had been laid to rest in South Africa.(Original hat above )He lived at 39 Kingscroft Street, Islington, London and then Hides Terrace.




By 1902 the Boers were fighting the British forces and the Zulus and eventually following peace talks they surrendered to the British on 31st May 1902.



Six thousand Empire troops and seven thousand Boers had been killed in action. Sixteen thousand Empire troops had died of disease or wounds, and up to twenty eight thousand civilians had died as a result of the conflict. The death of seven thousand Africans was recorded, but the real figure was probably many times that.



The costs to the British Government was over £200,000,000. The costs to the Boers in loss of livestock and land was incalculable