Saint Andrew's College, Grahamstown Cadets Anglo-Boer War Monument
Photo: Malcolm Kinghorn
Location
Near Grahamstown, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
On the old golf course close to the turn off to the Grahamstown Military Base on the R350 from Grahamstown to Bedford
GPS 33 deg 17 min 51.9 sec S, 26 deg 30 min 14.6 sec E
Photo: Anne Irwin
Significance
As Boer commandos under Generals Jan Smuts and P.H. Kritzinger moved through the Eastern Cape, Grahamstown prepared for a possible attack.
School Cadets from St Andrew's College, Kingswood College and Grahamstown Public School (now Graeme College), were deployed on the perimeter of the town for about ten days in March 1901.
St Andrew's Cadets occupied positions on the old golf course.
The closest the Boers came to Grahamstown was Carlisle Bridge, approximately 50 km away. St Andrew's Cadets voluntarily donated their military pay towards what became the School's Drill Hall.
Photo: Anne Irwin
The plaque on the Monument is inscribed:
THIS SITE MARKS THE POSITION
WHICH ST. ANDREW'S COLLEGE
CADETS WERE SENT TO DEFEND
GRAHAMSTOWN AGAINST A BOER
COMMANDO LED BY GENERALS
SMUTS AND KRITZINGER IN THE
EVENT OF THEM ATTACKING THE
TOWN IN MARCH 1901
UNVEILED BY THE HEADMASTER
MR. J.R. CLARK MA ON 2ND NOVEMBER 1997
Positions occupied by Saint Andrew's College Cadets are still visible
Photo: Anne Irwin