Relief of Ladysmith Relief of Ladysmith When the Second Boer War broke out on 11 October 1899, the Boers had a numeric superiority within Southern Africa. They quickly invaded the British territory and laid siege to Ladysmith, Kimberley and Mafeking. Britain meanwhile transported thousands of troops both from the United Kingdom itself and from elsewhere in the Empire and by the time the siege of Ladysmith had been lifted, had a huge numeric superiority. The Colony of Natal was bisected from east to west by the Tugela River which rose in the Drakensberg (to the west) and flowed into the Indian Ocean to
Military history of Australia during World War I well as over 200 machine guns, trench mortars and anti-tank weapons. Against this the Australians suffered 1,062 casualties. The last-ditched effort by the Germans to win the war came to a grinding halt in mid-July and after that there followed a brief period of lull, during which time the Australians undertook a series of small unit actions aimed at capturing parts of the German line with limited support. These actions became known as Peaceful Penetrations and were essentially a cross between trench raids and patrolling. Their success relied heavily upon the leadership and initiative of junior commanders and the ability