The first battles of the Anglo Boer War fought in 1899 created world headlines. Talana, the first battle of the war and the first time the British troops wore khaki uniforms in the field; Elandslaagte fought in a raging thunderstorm and where Indian stretcher bearers did sterling work; and Ladysmith – the siege of this town created an unprecedented interest world-wide.
The Talana Museum is situated on part of the Talana battlefield. An audio tour of the museum and battlefield is available at the museum reception.
The history has been brought alive by excellent and evocative museums on this site – coal, glass, beads, military history, agriculture, railways and the social and cultural life of the town and region – or hire the resident museum guide to conduct you around and bring the events of yesteryear alive.
Visit the cairn where Gen Sir William Penn Symons was mortally wounded, climb Talana hill to see the remains of the 2 British forts, the Boer and British gun positions, the Boer cannon road and the memorial to the men of Hobart of Tasmania. On the reverse slopes of Talana hill is "Thornley" the farm and buildings used by the Boer forces as their headquarters, mortuary and hospital during the battle.
Talana Museum is open weekdays 8:00 – 16:30, weekends and public holidays 10:00 – 16:30.
In Dundee you can visit military cemeteries in St James churchyard (here Gen Penn Symons is buried, as is Lt Hanna, the first soldier to be killed by the fragments of a shell from a Long Tom), Betania (behind the Wesleyian church in McKenzie St), the Dundee cemetery, and the Boer memorial on the clock tower of the Dutch reformed Church (corner of Wilson and Beaconsfield St). Boers killed in the battle were originally buried on top of Talana hill, but were re-interred under the clock tower in 1929 and Anton von Wouw was commissioned to carve the bronze relief that adorns the memorial. |
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Selected Links
Talana Museum
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