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Australian Regiment (1899–1900)
The Australian Regiment was a regiment of troops from the Australian colonies that served in the Second Boer War. It began its existence as infantry but was soon mounted due to the conditions of the war. History The Australian Regiment was formed on 26 November 1899 at Cape Town under the command of Victorian Colonel John Hoad with units of the first contingents sent by Australian colonies to fight in the Second Boer War, the first wholly Australian regiment formed for combat duty. It initially included infantry companies from Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, and Tasmania, as well as the Victorian Mounted Rifles squadron; the only colony not ultimately represented was Queensland. The regiment numbered 716 and was equipped with three Maxim guns. It spent the next few days re-equipping at Maitland camp, where it was inspected by Governor of Cape Colony and High Commissioner for Southern Africa Sir Alfred Milner on 28 November. It entrained for De Aar to join the rel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts established by England between the late 16th and early 18th centuries. At its height it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power. By 1913, the British Empire held sway over 412 million people, of the world population at the time, and by 1920, it covered , of the Earth's total land area. As a result, its constitutional, legal, linguistic, and cultural legacy is widespread. At the peak of its power, it was described as "the empire on which the sun never sets", as the Sun was always shining on at least one of its territories. During the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal and Spain pioneered European exploration of the globe, and in the process established large overse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kimberley, Northern Cape
Kimberley is the capital and largest city of the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It is located approximately 110 km east of the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The city has considerable historical significance due to its diamond mining past and the siege during the Second Anglo-Boer war. British businessmen Cecil Rhodes and Barney Barnato made their fortunes in Kimberley, and Rhodes established the De Beers diamond company in the early days of the mining town. On 2 September 1882, Kimberley was the first city in the Southern Hemisphere and the second in the world after Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States to integrate electric street lights into its infrastructure. The first stock exchange in Africa was built in Kimberley, as early as 1881. History Discovery of diamonds In 1866, Erasmus Jacobs found a small brilliant pebble on the banks of the Orange River, on the farm ''De Kalk'' leased from local Griquas, near Hopetown, which was h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orange Free State
The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Empire at the end of the Second Boer War in 1902. It is one of the three historical precursors to the present-day Free State province. Extending between the Orange and Vaal rivers, its borders were determined by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1848 when the region was proclaimed as the Orange River Sovereignty, with a British Resident based in Bloemfontein. Bloemfontein and the southern parts of the Sovereignty had previously been settled by Griqua and by '' Trekboere'' from the Cape Colony. The ''Voortrekker'' Republic of Natalia, founded in 1837, administered the northern part of the territory through a ''landdrost'' based at Winburg. This northern area was later in federation wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laager
A wagon fort, wagon fortress, or corral, often referred to as circling the wagons, is a temporary fortification made of wagons arranged into a rectangle, circle, or other shape and possibly joined with each other to produce an improvised military camp. It is also known as a laager (from Afrikaans), especially in historical African contexts, and a tabor (from Polish/Ukrainian/Russian) among the Cossacks. Overview Ammianus Marcellinus, a Roman army officer and historian of the 4th century, describes a Roman army approaching "ad carraginem" as they approach a Gothic camp. Historians interpret this as a wagon-fort. Notable historical examples include the Hussites, who called it ''vozová hradba'' ("wagon wall"), known under the German translation ''Wagenburg'' ("wagon fort/fortress"), ''tabors'' in the armies of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Cossacks, and the ''laager'' of settlers in South Africa. Similar, ''ad hoc'', defensive formations used in the United States wer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Douglas, South Africa
Douglas is an agricultural and stock farming town situated near the confluence of the Orange and Vaal Rivers in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. Notably the rural town has a diverse population, with mostly state institutions and the anchor private employer, GWK, an agricultural company. Location Douglas lies about 100 km southwest of Kimberley the capital of the Northern Cape. These two are connected by the R357 road. History The town was founded in 1848 as a mission station on the farm Backhouse by the Reverend Isaac Hughes, who had been working along the Vaal River since 1845. In 1867, a group of Europeans from Griquatown signed an agreement giving them the right to establish a town. The town was named after General Sir Percy Douglas, Lieutenant Governor of the Cape Colony. Notable people from Douglas * Ingrid Jonker Ingrid may refer to: * Ingrid (given name) * Ingrid (record label), and artist collective * Ingrid Burley, rapper known mononymously as I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is headed by the Chief Royal Engineer. The Regimental Headquarters and the Royal School of Military Engineering are in Chatham in Kent, England. The corps is divided into several regiments, barracked at various places in the United Kingdom and around the world. History The Royal Engineers trace their origins back to the military engineers brought to England by William the Conqueror, specifically Bishop Gundulf of Rochester Cathedral, and claim over 900 years of unbroken service to the crown. Engineers have always served in the armies of the Crown; however, the origins of the modern corps, along with those of the Royal Artillery, lie in the Board of Ordnance established in the 15th century. In Woolwich in 1716, the Board formed the Royal Regime ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gordon Highlanders
Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, aka the House of Gordon, a Scottish clan Education * Gordon State College, a public college in Barnesville, Georgia * Gordon College (Massachusetts), a Christian college in Wenham, Massachusetts * Gordon College (Pakistan), a Christian college in Rawalpindi, Pakistan * Gordon College (Philippines), a public university in Subic, Zambales * Gordon College of Education, a public college in Haifa, Israel Places Australia *Gordon, Australian Capital Territory *Gordon, New South Wales * Gordon, South Australia *Gordon, Victoria *Gordon River, Tasmania *Gordon River (Western Australia) Canada *Gordon Parish, New Brunswick *Gordon/Barrie Island, municipality in Ontario * Gordon River (Chochocouane River), a river in Quebec Scotland *Gordon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Horse Artillery
The Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) was formed in 1793 as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery (commonly termed Royal Artillery) to provide horse artillery support to the cavalry units of the British Army. (Although the cavalry link remained part of its defining character, as early as the Battle of Waterloo the RHA was sometimes deployed more along the lines of conventional field artillery, fighting from comparatively fixed positions). The Royal Horse Artillery, currently consists of three regiments, ( 1 RHA, 3 RHA and 7 RHA) and one ceremonial unit (King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery). Almost all the batteries of the Royal Horse Artillery have served continuously since the French Revolutionary Wars or Napoleonic Wars, except the King's Troop, created in 1946, and M Battery which was 'reanimated' in 1993. Horses are still in service for ceremonial purposes but were phased out from operational deployment in the 1930s. History In 1793, in the course of the French ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New South Wales Mounted Rifles
The New South Wales Mounted Rifles was a mounted infantry regiment of the Colony of New South Wales. History The regiment was formed at the Victoria Barracks, Sydney on 17 September 1888, as the New South Wales Mounted Infantry. The regiment was renamed on 1 August 1893, as the New South Wales Mounted Rifles. This retitling was to clearly show that their role was that of mounted rifles not mounted infantry. A company of the regiment served in the Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ... in 1899, before they were amalgamated into the 1st New South Wales Mounted Rifles, as "A" Squadron. This regiment consisted eventually of five squadrons. In 1901, two more regiments of NSW Mounted Rifles, the 2nd and 3rd were sent to the war. The original NSW Mounted R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siyancuma Local Municipality
Siyancuma Local Municipality is a local municipality in the Pixley ka Seme District Municipality district of the Northern Cape province of South Africa. Main places The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places: Politics The municipal council consists of thirteen members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Seven councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ... in seven wards, while the remaining six are chosen from party lists so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received. In the election of 1 November 2021 no party obtained a majority of seats on the council. The following table shows the results of the election. Refer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously awarded by countries of the Commonwealth of Nations, most of which have established their own honours systems and no longer recommend British honours. It may be awarded to a person of any military rank in any service and to civilians under military command. No civilian has received the award since 1879. Since the first awards were presented by Queen Victoria in 1857, two-thirds of all awards have been personally presented by the British monarch. The investitures are usually held at Buckingham Palace. The VC was introduced on 29 January 1856 by Queen Victoria to honour acts of valour during the Crimean War. Since then, the medal has been awarded 1,358 times to 1,355 individual recipients. Only 15 medals, of which 11 to members of the Britis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John James Clements
John James Clements, VC (19 June 1872 – 18 June 1937) was a South African recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Clements was 28 years old, and a corporal in Rimington's Guides, South African Forces during the Second Boer War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC: Following the end of the war, he went to the United Kingdom and received the decoration from the Prince of Wales during a large coronation parade of colonial troops in London on 1 July 1902. Clements later achieved the rank of Sergeant serving in World War I. References *Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999) *The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997) *Victoria Crosses of the Anglo-Boer War The Victoria Cross (VC) is a British military honour awarded to 78 members of the British Armed Forces for action during the Second Boer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
