On Friday the 9th February 1900, a small force of 30 men of the 1st West Australian Mounted Infantry, retreating before a much larger force of Boer troops, set up on small kopje and during a day-long action in torrid heat, prevented the enemy force from further advance toward the vulnerable British encampment further along the veldt at Slingersfontein.
Endurance and heroism went hand in hand during that precarious day. Then, as dusk set in, they galloped to safety leaving behind only two of their number. Their stubborn defence of the kopje bought crucial time and enabled the British commander, Major General Ralph Clements, to subsequently withdraw the bulk of his outnumbered force to comparative safety in the following days.
