Anniversary of a military disaster

The statue at the Whitehead Gardens commemorates the Lancashire Fusiliers' role in the Boer War when they "in exceptionally trying circumstances magnificently upheld the best traditions of the British Army" during the battle of Spion Kop on January 24, 1900.

The battle was, in truth, a disaster. The British Army was robbed of a brilliant victory because of a breakdown in the chain of command which resulted in 350 infantry and 300 Boers killed in battle.

Yet one battalion, Bury's Lancashire Fusiliers, stood out.

The 2nd Battalion of the LFs were among 2,000 soldiers detailed to capture Spion Kop's Lookout Hill during night manoeuvres. Their attack was successful and a very cursory reconnaissance was made before the soldiers tried to dig themselves in - trench warfare had been born.

Their tools, however, were useless against the solid rock and no sandbags had been brought up.

Dawn revealed the fatal error. The LFs and other regiments discovered that their shallow trenches were in the centre of an exposed plateau, easily visible from nearby positions. Boer marksmen opened fire and six guns pounded the huddled British troops, causing heavy casualties. Two miles away, 10,000 troops stood idle, aware of the siege but not given the order to help their comrades. In the end, both the British and the Boers abandoned Spion Kop. Both sides agreed to an armistice to bury the dead and recover the wounded.

It was said of the battle that "there cannot have been many battlefields where there was such an accumulation of horrors within so small a compass."

The LFs campaign throughout the South African War earned them two battle honours and, in 1901, the regiment's distinguished service over more than 200 years, culminating in the courage displayed at Spion Kop, was recognised by the grant of the primrose hackle, the King's approval for the motto "Omnia Audax", and the red rose of Lancaster to be borne on the Regimental Colour.