Anglo-Boer War Memorial, War memorial in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The Anglo-Boer War Memorial is a 20-metre-tall stone structure of four arches, designed in 1911 by Sir Edwin Lutyens and completed in 1913. It stands beside the South African National Museum of Military History in Saxonwold, Johannesburg. A bronze figure made by Naoum Aronson in Paris was mounted on top in April 1914, facing west.
The foundation stone was laid in 1910 by the Duke of Connaught, and the memorial was completed in 1913 to honor soldiers from the Witwatersrand area. It commemorates the war fought between British forces and the Boer republics between 1899 and 1902.
The names of soldiers from the Rand Regiment are carved into the stone, giving the memorial a personal quality that goes beyond a simple monument. Visitors often pause at the inscriptions, reading the individual names as a way of connecting with the human cost of the war.
The memorial stands beside the South African National Museum of Military History in Saxonwold, and five vistas laid out by the town council lead up to it. The 40-acre site was fenced off, and the stone blocks shifted out of alignment over years of ground moisture until storm drainage was added in the 2015 restoration.
The bronze figure on top was paid for personally by Sir Lionel Phillips and commissioned by Sir Hugh Lane, who first hoped Auguste Rodin would design it before settling on Naoum Aronson. Cast in Paris and mounted in April 1914, it faces west; some sources call it Nike, others an angel of peace.
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