Spioenkop

Spioenkop (Spioen = Spy) is mountain with a particular shape that prevents the observer below from clearly seeing what is happening above them. The Boers and the British who fought there had to scramble steep inclines to get there, then once on the tabletop, they entered a different world entirely: one of continuous artillery bombardment and relentless rifle fire. The young Winston Churchill, present as a correspondent for the London Morning Post, described it as a "bloody reeking shambles."

The actual moment of arrival at the top seemed etched into the minds of many particpants. Ben Bouwer of the Ermelo Commando described coming over the ridge: "I was once so tightly wedged in among furious sweating bodies that I used one fist freely. The electric, exciting, and somehow intensely coloured and full moment passed," and the English melted back into their trench.

Deneys Reitz, who was 17 at the Battle of Spioenkop, wrote in his book Commando: "The English troops lay so near that one could have tossed a biscuit among them...".

For many excruciating hours under the hot unforgiving African sun, with little or no water, both sides exchanged rifle fire at close range. Swells of violent noise rolled constantly over them. The Boers saw their own casualties pile-up amongst them, but they could not see what was happening in the English trenches. Everywhere swarms of flies covered the bodies of dead men. As the hours ticked by, small groups of discouraged Boers slipped quietly down the hillside, despite Opperman's yelling at them. They were demoralized in part because they could see many of their comrades sitting on horseback in the area to the north, watching but not coming to help. Little did they know that they had already gained the upperhand in the battle - the British were already withdrawing on mass. Their casualties were horrific!