'Detachment: Burghers at Norvals Pont, February 1900'

Photograph, Boer War (1899-1902), 1900.

Many Boer Commandos consisted of skilled horsemen who had grown up in the saddle. They were also fine shots having spent years hunting and protecting cattle out on the veldt. Highly mobile, they preferred ambush to other methods of combat as it minimised casualties. They disliked hand-to-hand fighting, and their traditional method of attack was to lie in wait among the rocks on a kopje (hill), behind which their horses would be held ready.