Amajuba Experience - Battlefield Guide

‘‘Our desire is to find you a great getaway adventure on the north west frontier of the Zulu kingdom’’.

Dave Sutcliffe, fondly known as the ‘Redcoat’, has had an interest in the history of conflict and battles all his life so when he moved to Newcastle in the heart of the Battlefields of KwaZulu Natal in 1983, it proved fertile ground for the furtherance of his hobby. A hobby he has pursued with great interest for the last twenty odd years and he now covers Majuba and the 1st Transvaal War of Independence, the fateful Central Column and the Anglo-Zulu War as well as many of the Battles around Ladysmith during the Anglo Boer War.  Dave is a KZN registered Battlefield Guide and Member of the KwaZulu-Natal Battlefield Guides Association.
For those Battlefields not covered by Dave he has enthusiastic colleagues and fellow guides with whom he networks.

Visiting Battlefields at random can be very confusing unless you are very familiar with the history and it is far better to choose the conflict first and then the battles from that conflict or war.  "Choose your battle or choose your war and let the Recoat take you there". 

Dave also provides advice and assistance with website development and business plans related to tourism and tourism related development.

On the following pages you will find sample tours that can be taken from Newcastle. These do not have to be strictly adhered to but they do give you a very good idea of what can be done.

Dave offers a number of different tours, all within a 140km radius of Newcastle.

ANGLO-ZULU WAR OF 1879 ISANDLWANA AND RORKE'S DRIFT:

Follow the trail of Lord Chelmsford's ill-fated, Central Column as they cross the Umzinyathi River at Rorke's Drift and invade Zululand.

See the hills where they skirmished with Sihayo's warriors before finally making camp on 20th January. Follow the events that lead to the Zulu attack on the 22nd January and the massacre of some 1300 Imperial troops and Native levies on that fateful day. Let us show you the fearful trail taken by the fugitives in their desperate flight back to Natal.
Visit the Mission station at Rorke's Drift defended so heroically by the men of "B" company 2/24th Regiment as they fought a desperate 12-hour battle against fearful odds earning 11 Victoria Crosses in the process.

This tour takes one day and includes a briefing the night before, visual information, a guide, visits to the drift at Rorke's Drift, the orientation centre and battlefield at Isandlwana, the museum and battlefield at Rorke's Drift, lunch and time permitting a tour of the fascinating, multifaceted museum at Talana.

THE TRANSVAAL WAR OF INDEPENDENCE 1880 – 1881
LAING'S NEK, SCHUINSHOOGTE AND MAJUBA:

Follow the trail of Gen. Sir George Pomeroy-Colley and his Natal Field Force as they try to break through the defensive line of Comdt. General Piet Joubert's Burghers and enter the Transvaal.

Visit the museum at Fort Amiel, which was the commissariat and starting point of Gen. Colley's expedition.

View the Battleground at Laing's Nek, where Joubert's Burghers repulsed Colley's line regiments for the first time forcing them to retreat to Mt. Prospect.
Stroll over the Battlefield of Schuinshoogte where the Burghers of Nicholas Smit forced Colley's 'show of force' to retreat back to Mt. Prospect.

Climb the legendary Majuba, where Cmdt. Gen. Piet Joubert's Burghers inflicted, on Colley, one of the most humiliating defeats the British Army has ever suffered when they forced the British off their 'impregnable position' on top of the mountain causing some 258 casualties to their own six.

Depending on whether you want to climb Majuba - and it is a worthwhile climb - this tour will take between half a day and a day and includes a briefing the night before, or on the battlefield, visual information, a guide, and visits to Fort Amiel Museum, which is a typical frontier fort, the Battlefields of Schuinshoogte, Laing's Nek, and Majuba. Time and transport permitting, visits will also be made to O'Neill's Cottage where the truce was signed and the British Cemetery at Mt. Prospect. Lunch will be taken at Majuba Commemorative Farm.

ANGLO-BOER WAR 1899-1902 LADYSMITH, PLATRAND, SPION KOP, COLENSO, CHURCHILL CAPTURE:

Follow the events that lead to the Siege of Ladysmith, get a first hand look at what it was like besieged in this "little, dusty town" that managed to keep the Boer Forces at bay for one hundred and eighteen days to become "famous to the uttermost ends of the earth".

Visit the Platrand where on the 6th January 1900 the desperate Battles of Caesar's Camp and Wagon Hill were fought. Or perhaps you may prefer to visit that "bloody acre" on top of Spion Kop where one of the most fruitless and bloody battles of the war was fought on 23-24th January 1900. There is also an option of going down to Colenso or on to the Churchill Capture site and returning via the Tugela Heights where Boer and British fought it out over 14 days before the British finally broke through to relieve Ladysmith on 28th February 1900.

Listen to the tales of courage and fortitude by the men of both sides and visit the numerous monuments to those who fell in these desperate struggles.

To visit all these sites takes more than a day, so one has to be selective taking Ladysmith and Spion Kop, or Ladysmith and Platrand, or Ladysmith, Colenso and the Churchill Capture site. Some variations on this arrangement can also be accommodated depending on timing.

The tour includes a briefing, an orientation the night before, visual information, a guide, visits to the Siege Museum in Ladysmith and a selection of other sites including the Anglican Church in Ladysmith, Platrand, Spion Kop, Colenso, the Churchill capture site and the Tugela Heights.

Depending on the sites chosen lunch will be either a picnic lunch on the battlefield or a light lunch at Colenso Club.