Boer War: the siege of Ladysmith
Witness History

Boer War: the siege of Ladysmith

B2Upper-intermediateOctober 2, 202610 min
  • Documentary
  • History

The siege of Ladysmith was a key moment in the Boer War, also known as the South African War. In 1899, British troops and civilians were trapped in the besieged South African town for 118 days. Using a BBC archive recording, James Dalton, a British Army bandsman with the Gordon Highlanders, recalls shelling, hunger, disease and the dramatic relief of Ladysmith. Produced by Helen Ledwick in collaboration with BBC Archives. Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand testimony and archive...

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0:00

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. episodes twice a week. Find the haunted library wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, this is Witness History from the BBC World Service with me, Helen Ledwick. And if this is one of your favourite podcasts already, feel free to skip ahead a little bit. But

1:16

if you're listening for the very first time, then welcome. We're the podcast that takes you back to a moment in history by speaking to those who were there. Episodes are just nine minutes long and they come out every weekday. So if that sounds like something you'd listen to then why not subscribe and turn your push notifications on.

1:35

And now I'm bringing you a voice from the BBC archives, a recording from 1948 which takes us all the way back to the siege of Ladysmith, a key moment in the Boer War in South Africa. All of a sudden we saw a lot of mounted troops streaming into Ladysmith between the hills.

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