Featured battle : Magersfontein

Part of The 2nd Boer War (or Three Years War)

Date : 10 December 1899 - 11 December 1899

The second of the 'Black Week' battles. The Boers under Koos de la Rey dug 20km of thin, deep trenches in front of Magersfontein in the path of Lord Methuen, fronting them with barbed wire entanglements and camouflaging their positions with bushes and branches. Methuen thought he had found their trenches so began the fight with a heavy bombardment of high-explosive artillery on the 10th. This however had almost no effect on the Boers in their dugout positions. When the Highland Brigade under Maj.Gen Andrew Wauchope advanced against these positions the following day at dawn they marched into a hail of Mauser rounds. The Black Watch and Seaforth Highlanders fell back to cover but were pinned down and lay under the blazing sun most of the rest of the day. Gen Wauchope led a column through a gap in the Boer lines but was shot dead before he broke through. About 100 highlanders did reach the hill though but Cronje and only 7 men on the hill itself made enough noise to suggest a much larger party and the Highlanders fell back. A party of Gordon Highlanders also charged the lines but too were cut down. Later in the afternoon a temporary cease-fire was negotiated to collect the wounded and dead.

Fighting Through to Hitler's Germany

Mark Forsdike
If you want to learn the real story of how the Second World war was won in Europe read this book. Packed with the personal stories of the men who were there in the First Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment. The Corps, the division and the brigade barely get a mention. The action is with the battalion, companies, platoons, sections, and individuals. Advances are measured in metres and lives. A sobering statistic revealed at the end of the book is that of the 850 Suffolks who landed in Normandy only 187 made it to VE day. Also as an appendix is a list of medals and commendations awarded to members of the battalion.
A nice set of photographs and some very useful maps round out the text.
Though this book purports to be the story of one battalion of one regiment it is really the story of every one of the ‘poor bloody infantry’ of the British army who fought from Normandy to Germany. This ought to be read by everyone interested in WW2 in Europe because it acts as a reminder that when you see the arrows on a map showing the movement of a corps or division at the very sharpest point of that arrow is one man moving forward wearing a steel helmet and carrying a rifle with bayonet fixed and with his mates behind him. Without his skill and determination the arrow does not move.
We very warmly recommend Mark Forsdike’s book to you.

Pen & Sword Military, 2020