Troops of the Cavalry Division crossing a drift near Kroonstad, Orange Free State, South Africa, 12th May 1900.

The column of horsemen crosses the drift towards the camera. One officer has his Indian servant riding beside him. The horses are noticeably in poor physical condition. The men are carrying rifles, rather than carbines, slung on the offside of the man.

Notes

Title: this has been taken from the Warwick catalogue for 1900

Production: this film is Warwick catalogue number 5678a

Summary: the identification of this film was made by James Barker, late of the Department of Information Retrieval, Imperial War Museum, in work for the television series 'Flashback'

Technical: this item is currently held on the same reel as film IWM 1080a, the can is marked as IWM 1080.

Remarks: according to Douglas Haig, acting as Chief Staff Officer to the Cavalry Division, Roberts exploited the surrender of Kroonstad as a major publicity stunt, to the extent of requiring the Cavalry Division to retreat slightly so that Roberts might receive the town's surrender personally in full view of the press. As his Army was then forced to halt for ten days with supply problems this may have been a wise decision