Doornkop (literally "thorn hill") is a ridge and locality on the western outskirts of

Soweto Soweto () is a Township (South Africa), township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western T ...

in the

Gauteng Province Gauteng ( , ; Sotho-Tswana for 'place of gold'; or ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only 1.5% of the coun ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. The area is currently being subsumed by the westward expansion of

and the eastward growth of

Krugersdorp Krugersdorp (Afrikaans for ''Kruger's Town'') is a mining city in the West Rand, Gauteng Province, South Africa founded in 1887 by Marthinus Pretorius and Abner Cohen. Following the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand, a need arose for a ...

Kagiso Kagiso is a township situated at the southern end of the Mogale City Local Municipality, just south of Krugersdorp in Gauteng Province, South Africa. The word ''kagiso'' means peace in Tswana. Kagiso's administration comprises five wards, each ...

township. Suburbs include Tshepisong, Leratong Village, Bambayi and Thulani. Doornkop is also known as Thulani, Snakepark and Silvertown. There is another place named

Doornkop Doornkop (literally "thorn hill") is a ridge and locality on the western outskirts of Soweto in the Gauteng Province, South Africa. The area is currently being subsumed by the westward expansion of Soweto and the eastward growth of Krugersdorp' ...

, a community 15 km north of

Middelburg Middelburg may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Europe * Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...

in the

Steve Tshwete Local Municipality Steve Tshwete Municipality (; ; ; ), formerly Middelburg Municipality, is a local municipality within the Nkangala District Municipality, in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. The seat is Middelburg. The local municipality was one of the fo ...

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Nguni languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It shares bor ...

History

Jameson raid 1895-1896

Doornkop is the spot where Dr

Leander Starr Jameson Sir Leander Starr Jameson, 1st Baronet, (9 February 1853 – 26 November 1917), also known as Starr Jameson, was a British colonial politician, who was best known for his involvement in the ill-fated Jameson Raid. Early life and family He w ...

was defeated on 2 January 1896 following the

Jameson Raid The Jameson Raid (Afrikaans: ''Jameson-inval'', , 29 December 1895 – 2 January 1896) was a botched raid against the South African Republic (commonly known as the Transvaal) carried out by British colonial administrator Leander Starr Jameson ...

Battle of Johannesburg 1900

The Doornkop area is also linked in popular history to the third day (29 May 1900) of the Battle of Johannesburg that took place nearby from 27 to 29 May 1900 during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

. The ridge was taken by cavalry under command of Lt Gen John French while a nearby ridge, now covered by several

suburbs, was taken by seven infantry battalions, including the following units on the left and right flank.

Left Flank

* 21st Brigade; * the City Imperial Volunteers * The Derbyshire Regiment * The Cameron Highlanders * The 1st Battalion The Royal Sussex Regiment.

Right Flank of Lt Gen Ian Hamilton

* 19 Brigade; * The Gordon Highlanders. * The 2nd Battalion The Royal Canadian Regiment. * The Kings Shropshire Light Infantry. * The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry.Gardyne The Life of a Regiment 1794-1816 Map p.177

References

Johannesburg Region D {{Johannesburg-stub