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Have just returned from a tour of Zulu and Boer War battle sites ,spent 4 days staying in Ladysmith , on touring the site and discussions with the tour guide one thing struck me , the highest ground which dominated the whole town was held for the whole period by the Boers ,it was their artillery position and could wreak havoc whenever they required , I asked the guide why was this not done , he agreed and said if required the town could have been levelled in a matter of days ? The British general whose task it was to relive the town did in fact send a telegram to the general holding the town which said if you require surrender the town ! He also sent a similar message to HM government stating is it worth the effort to relive Ladysmith ? In the end the town held out ,Buller relived the town and England rejoiced .But if the Boer artillery had been allowed to reduce the town ,or the powers that be had decided to withdraw ,13000 regular British troops would have gone in the bag ! This would have been up to this time the largest capitulation of troops in the 19 century and surrendering to a group of part time troops , the effect I believe may have kept England from entering a continental war in 1914 ? In 1900 European powers would have stepped in to arrange talks ,a huge embarrassment to the empire and unknown effects at home .
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