HET NIEUWE TESTAMENT

Of Alle Boeken Des Nieuwen Verbonds Van Onzen Heere Jezus Christus

Britsche En Buitenlandsche Bijbelgenootschap, Amsterdam, 1848

Miniature Bible, 108 x 65 mm, bound in worn full black leather, inscribed on the front free endpaper:

Deze boek behoort aan mij Jacobus Du Preez.

Below which a British soldier has written:

'Found in Lagaar [Laager] at the Capture of Monte Cristo Hill Feb 18th 1900, by G.W. 2nd Batt. Scottish Rifles (The Cameronians). On the final free endpaper is written, 'Sent by George A. Walker, 10 Canongate Street, Dunedin, New Zealand.'

The Battle of Tugela Heights was a crucial series of military engagements aimed at relieving the besieged British town of Ladysmith. On February 18, 1900, Major-General Hildyard's 2nd Brigade successfully outflanked the Boer positions and captured the strategic 1,000-foot summit of Monte Cristo Hill. The Boers were under the command of General Louis Botha. Historical records show a prominent Field-Cornet Du Preez and a Commandant Du Preez commanding the Boer forces in that area. New Zealand and UK military archives confirm that George Alexander Walker was born in Scotland in 1873. He served with the 2nd Batt. Scottish Rifles and was shipped to South Africa in late 1899 as part of Major-General Lyttelton’s 4th Brigade (which operated directly alongside Hildyard's 2nd Brigade during the Natal campaign to relieve Ladysmith). He later emigrated to New Zealand and died in 1959.