The Scottish Horse Memorial
Posted by: 
TeamTGF
S 26° 12.019 E 028° 05.090
35J E 608386 N 7101678
A memorial to the officers, non-commissioned officers and men killed in action and died of wounds during the South African War 1901-1902
Waymark Code: WM1WHQ
Location: Gauteng, South Africa
Date Posted: 07/21/2007
Views: 78
On
Caledonia Hill, one of the the kopjies along Kensington Ridge in Johannesburg,
is the site of the Scottish Horse Memorial. In times of need, as when vandals
damaged the name plaques in 1961, the Transvaal Scottish provided assistance in
keeping with their links to the now-defunct Scottish Horse.
This granite memorial, just to the east of Jeppe Boys' High School, is
reached by a flight of stone steps leading up from Highland Road, Kensington.
The site offers magnificent views towards the city and of the surrounding
kopjies. In the shape of an Iona Cross with a superimposed sword (a 16th Century
two-handed true claymore or claidheamhmor), the memorial proudly bears the
Scottish shield of lion rampant and royal treasure. The panels (first bronze,
now stone) record the names of twelve officers, nine sergeants, five corporals,
three lance corporals, forty-three troopers and four Zulu scouts who were
"killed in action and died of wounds in the South African War 1901-2".
These included two officers commanding the 2nd Scottish Horse, and the adjutants
of 1st and 2nd Scottish Horse. Also commemorated are the one officer, fourteen
NCOs and 33 troopers who died "from disease or accident". (In view of
the dates noted above it is curious that the memorial also bears the inscription
"Nemo me impune lacessit 1900".)
Thanks to The Transvaal Scottish for
the information on the Cross.