TOPIC:

I have been doing a bit of research on awards for the above action.
What has become glaringly obvious is that not all of the awards were for the attack on the heights of Spion Kop, nor were they in terms of date on the same day as Spion Kop. A number of these were for Bastion hill and Tabanyama and Twin Peaks. The lack of advantage then led to the assault of Spion Kop.
Bearing this in mind do members think it is fair to say that these should all be considered as separate actions (given some occurred 4 days earlier)?

Or that they should as per the Abbott Roll and the dispatches.
Bearing in mind that Spion kop was not the objective to Relieve Ladysmith, but Tabanyama was. Spion kop only came into play as a result of the stalemate on Tabanyama

I would be interested in opinions.

Regards

Simon

I've always been of the opinion that all battles/actions/skirmishes in the two or three days leading up to the moment critique - i.e. the day of Spionkop - should be regarded as separate events. Spionkop being, again to my mind, defined as the night of the 23rd January till sunset on the 24th.

Simon,
as you rightly point out, "Spion Kop" was used (by both Boer and British) to signify several linked battles on the upper Tugela during 17-27 January 1900. I'd be interested to see details of specific DCMs you have in mind, as it may be possible to localise the incident closely in time and place. This can often be done with MIDs.
Rob

Thanks for your input Rob,

Yes indeed the DCM to Kingsley of the West Yorkshires was won at Tabanyama (contrary to the Abbott role). It is an understandable misinterpretation due to the fact that all awards approved for this period at that location come under the broad dispatch for Spion Kop.
The easiest way to break down (which I will do shortly) is by Regiment. Those that were engaged in the fighting prior to 23/24 that effectively watched the assault on the Kop.

I was discussing this with Garth Benneyworth when we were there a few days ago and pondered the number of awards that are accredited to Spion Kop versus the awards for Sannah's Pos.
As it stands on the Abbott role, there were 40 for Spion Kop (over the full period of engagement) and 23 for Sannah's Pos.

Simon, I've sent you a message. Rob