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Naval Gun at Ladysmith, 1900.

HC Seppings Wright

The MOD Art Collection includes many paintings showing battle scenes, particularly naval battles.

Battle scenes were potentially lucrative for artists, particularly in the late eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries as engravings found a ready and apparently unquenchable market. The paintings themselves were avidly commissioned and collected.

Ladysmith was subjected to a four-month siege during the second Boer War, and was relieved in February 1900 by Lord Roberts.

At anchor off Capetown were two British cruisers, H.M.S. Powerful and H.M.S. Terrible. General Sir George White VC, the British Commander in Natal, signalled the cruisers for assistance; particularly with their long-range guns.

Fortunately for General White, Captain P. Scott RN of the Terrible was a gunnery expert and he quickly designed a carriage that could hold the 6 inch , 4.7 inch and 12 pounder naval guns in transit and into action.

The carriages were then speedily manufactured at the Durban Railway Workshops. The contingent was soon ready; 280 officers and men with two 4.7 inch guns, four long range 12 pounder's and four maxim guns (early machine guns).

The Naval Brigade, as they were now called, went by rail from Durban to Ladysmith with all their guns, ammunition, provisions and equipment. Their train was the last to complete the journey to Ladysmith on the 30th October just as the bombardment started.

The Naval Brigade were soon in action against the Boer artillery and their long range guns were very effective in countering the enemy batteries and holding them at bay throughout the siege.