Operation
Dates
1900-02-12 to 1900-02-28
About
Final British attempt under General Sir Redvers Buller VC to break the Boer line along the Thukela (Tugela) and relieve Ladysmith (siege ended 28 February 1900). Stages covered by Gillings include the south-bank advance on Cingolo / Monte Cristo / Green Hill / Hlangwane, the Wynne Hills (Horseshoe / Hedge), Hart’s Hill (Terrace / Inniskilling Hill), and the Pieters Ridge breakthrough of 27 February. Acting Commandant-General Louis Botha and General Lucas Meyer commanded the Boer line. Gillings notes official British casualties for 14–27 February as 27 officers and 280 other ranks killed (figures often treated as conservative); Boer losses in Cas Bakkes’s research as 30 killed among other categories, also likely understated. Natal Carbineers and Imperial Light Horse squadrons under Maj H. de la P. Gough were among the first mounted troops into Ladysmith on 28 February.