British War Memorials in Ladysmith - Boer War

[lonetrooper]

Dear Posters,

Is there anyone here that can help me to find where my Great Uncle, Edgar John Evans was buried?

He was killed during the 118 day siege of Ladysmith on the 6th January 1900, either during the first attack of the storming attempt on Waggon Hill or later that same day as part of the reinforcement at Ceaser's camp Ridge.

He was 26 and a Private with the 2nd Battalion Gordon Highlanders.

There are quite a few links to memorial pages but so far, it seems that the only men listed on the pages,  are soldiers of rank. The lowest ranks are not named individually. All we can find so far is that he was one of 17 unnamed men killed along with two named Officers.

I think he may be buried at a place called Cemetery Hill. It would be so good to know with certainty, where he is and to have a photograph of the memorial, especially if it has his name on it.

Is there anyone here that can tell me where to find him or perhaps how?

Thank you

[Nookie]

If you go to eggsa.org and search under gravestones using the surname Evans there is a photograph of a memorial stone dedicated to the Gordon Highlanders Regiment which bears his name.  He fell at the battle of Wagon Hill.

[lonetrooper]

Dear Barbara,

Thank you so much.

Hours and hours of searching had produced nothing and suddenly there he is. Very moving and such a relief.

How lovely to see that the memorial is in good condition. It is called the Platrand memorial at Wag 'n Bietjie Military cemetery in Ladysmith. Sadly, the best photo of it can't be copied; [I tried] and after yet more hours of searching, I have at last, found one black and white image that can be but it is somewhat distant and the names can't be seen. Never the less, it is very, very good to know where he is at last and also to have a better understanding of his last hours.

I did manage to find a good colour photo of the cemetery as a whole, beautiful blue sky and well kept, so that is a good feeling too and can't wait to show my mother.

Once again, many, thanks.

Carol
Oxfordshire
UK

[Nookie]

If you go to eggsa.org and search under gravestones using the surname Evans there is a photograph of a memorial stone dedicated to the Gordon Highlanders Regiment which bears his name.  He fell at the battle of Wagon Hill.

If you right click on the photograph you should be able to save it to your pictures.

[lonetrooper]

Done!

Oddly, the first few attempts to do this would only copy over a blank square entitled with the photo number. 2nd attempt and it was too small to read and wouldn’t enlarge. I assumed it just couldn’t be done but on the 3rd attempt, I enlarged the photo on the site before a R click to copy it and that saved it in the original size and was readable but it couldn’t be sent. In the end I copied the copy and renamed it and that worked.

So happy; thank you again and a very happy new year to you and yours. x

[km1971]

Hi Carol

This page has a picture of the memorial - http://www.warandson.co.uk/war-memorabilia-history/12-waging-war-on-wagon-hill-to-end-the-siege-of-ladysmith.html

The picture does not zoom, but if you right click and 'save picture as' it will put a copy in your Picture folder (assuming you use Windows) that is readable.

It does not help with discovering where he died. My reading of it was that there was originally only a small working party of Gordons keeping to build a gun emplacement, so it is more likely that he was in the much larger reinforcements sent later in the day.

Ken