NAM.2017-09-7-61-77

Photograph of officers on a polo pitch before or after a match, probably taken in Harrismith, South Africa, during the Boer War, 1901-1902. They are likely to be from the 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards, who were based there with Lieutenant-General Sir Leslie Rundle's 8th Infantry Division. Several officers stand chatting in small groups with horses around them. Four officers stand in the foreground amongst a pile of polo mallets. Two of them are wearing polo clothing consisting of riding breeches and boots with spurs, light-coloured shirts and pith helmets. The two other officers in the foreground are wearing khaki uniform. One has a peaked cap (with his back to the camera) and the other wears the slouch hat turned up at one side where the Grenadier Guards white plume is attached. The territory around Harrismith served as a major site for the British Army encampment and a temporary Boer Prisoner of War (POW) camp established around 1900/1901. The town became the strategic operations and supply base for the 8th Infantry Division for the remainder of the conflict. From a photograph album of 111 photographs entitled '2nd Battalion 1897-1909', relating to the 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards in the UK, South Africa and Gibraltar from 1897 to 1909. Mostly group photos and individual portraits.

Boer War (1899-1902)