Sortie Surprise Hill

 

They stopped when they reached Observation Post and waited until the moon had disappeared behind the clouds then proceeded across the railway towards Surprise Hill. Approximately half of the force remained at the bottom of the hill whilst the rest were led up the hill by Colonel Metcalfe.

Despite of the noise made by the hobnailed boots and bayonets, they gained the ridge before being challenged. A subsequent bayonet charge dispersed any Boers which were there. At first the gun for which they were searching could not be found and this caused a momentary panic. It had been moved about eight metres away probably so that the gunners could use the gun pit for shelter.Protected by a ring of rifles, Digby-Jones and his Sappers fixed charges to the muzzle and breach of the Howitzer, lit the fuse and moved back to await the explosion. After five minutes nothing had happened, so Digby-Jones returned and set more fuses. This time they were successful and within a couple of minutes and the men moved off the ridge. The delay however, had given the enemy time to regroup and they now started firing into the British troops.

The force managed to reach the bottom where they met up with the rest of the group and returned to camp.

The regular army were not as fortunate as the Colonials had been at Gun Hill. Casualties are listed as 1 killed, 50 wounded, 14 died later of wounds and 8 recorded as missing.

The Boers recorded 28 killed and about 100 wounded

The Boers immediately placed the blame for this second infringement on their defences squarely at the door of four of their own men who happened to have English surnames. Generals Erasmus and Schalk Burger attempted to convince Kruger

 

that this was tantamount to treason. The four men, Tossell, Miller, MacArthur and Walker were eventually released.