{"html":"\u003cdiv class=\"timeline-details-description \"\u003e\n  \u003ch4 class=\"js-timeline-anchor timeline-anchor\"\u003eElands River\u003c/h4\u003e\n  \u003ch4 class=\"tiny-mce-heading-color\"\u003eThe Battle of Elands River (1900)\u003c/h4\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe Battle of Elands River took place between 4 and 16 August 1900 in western Transvaal province of South Africa.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe battle was fought at Brakfontein Drift ( a 'drift' is a river bed) near the Elands River.  Troops engaged comprised a force of 2,000-3,000 Boers and a garrison of 500 Australian, Rhodesian, Canadian and British soldiers, based there to picquet a British supply dump.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe Boer force, which consisted of several 'commandos', or columns of horsemen,  under the overall leadership of Koos de la Rey, were in desperate need of provisions after earlier fighting had cut them off from their support base.  Accordningly, the supply dump along the Elands River offered a tempting target. \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe Boers were well equipped with light artillery and 'pom-pom' guns with which, over the course of 13 days, they shelled the Elands River position.   Boer infantry maintained small arms and machine gun fire on the defenders. Outnumbered and isolated, the defenders were called on to surrender by the Boer commander, but refused.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe Boers were constrained by a desire not to destroy the stores they were so desperate to capture, and by consternation about their own ammunition supplies and the potential of being trapped by a relief force.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe garrison, despite its precarious situation, was determined not to surrender.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSeveral attempts at relief were made, under the overall command of Lord Kitchener, hampered by a lack of information about whether the defenders were still holding out.  The relief effort, although ltimately successful, drew forces away from efforts to capture a Boer commander, Christiaan de Wet, who ultimately managed to evade British capture. This, along with the difficulty the British had in effecting the relief, buoyed Boer morale.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHowever, the Boer attackers' primary aim was not achieved, and the denial of supplies had a more material impact on the Boers than the capture of a key commander may have had. The defenders' stoic resistance drew praise from British and Boer commanders alike.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCasualties for the defenders amounted to 12 soldiers killed and 36 wounded.  Of the 12 soldiers who were killed, eight were Australians. In addition, four African porters were killed and 14 wounded, and one loyalist European settler was wounded. Most of the wounded were evacuated to Johannesburg.  The loss of animals was heavy, with only 210 left alive out of 1,750. \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBritish author and jornalist Sir Arthur Conan Doyle remarked:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThis stand at Brakfontein on the Eland River appears to have been one of the finest deeds of arms of the war. Australians have been so split up during the campaign that though their valour and efficiency were universally recognised, they had no single large exploit which they could call their own. But now they can point to Elands River as proudly as the Canadians at Paardeberg...they were sworn to die before the white flag would wave above them. And so fortune yielded, as fortune will when brave men set their teeth...when the ballad makers of Australia seek for a subject, let them turn to Elands River, for there was no finer fighting in the war.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in The Great Boer War\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAustralian troops involved included:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNew South Wales - New South Wales Citizen Bushmen\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVictoria - \u003cem\u003eto be confirmed\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eQueensland - Queensland Citizen Bushmen\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTasmania - t\u003cem\u003eo be confirmed\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWestern Australia - \u003cem\u003eto be confirmed\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSouth Australian troops were elsewhere engaged.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eReferences:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWikipedia - Battle of Elands River (1900) - Wikipedia accessed 4 Feb 2021\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCompiled by Steve Larkins Feb 2021\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n"}