Battle of Leliefontein [SEP] end time
Battle of Leliefontein
The Battle of Leliefontein (also known as the Battle of Witkloof) was an engagement between British/Canadian and Boer forces during the Second Boer War on 7 November 1900, at the Komati River south of Belfast at the present day Nooitgedacht Dam.
It was during the fiercely contested British withdrawal from the banks of the Komati River that the Canadians of The Royal Canadian Dragoons, 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles and "D" Battery Canadian Field Artillery, led by Lieutenant-Colonel François-Louis Lessard were tasked
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The Battle of Paardeberg in February 1900 represented the second time Canadian soldiers saw battle abroad (the first being the Canadian involvement in the Nile Expedition). Canadians also saw action at the Battle of Faber's Put on May 30, 1900. On November 7, 1900, the Royal Canadian Dragoons engaged the Boers in the Battle of Leliefontein, where they saved British guns from capture during a retreat from the banks of the Komati River. Approximately 267 Canadians died in the war. 89 men were killed in action,