LONG TOM PASSWinding across the Drakensberg, Long Tom Pass links Lydenburg to the towns of Sabie and Graskop on the edge of the Escarpment. This is one of the best-known and most scenic passes in the country, and is rich in history. Originally known as the Delagoosbergpad, Long Tom Pass lay on the early wagon route between Pretoria and Lourenço Marques (Maputo). A rough track was built in the early 1870s, and some of the old names of places signposted along the road – the Old Trading Post, Die Geut (chute), Staircase and Whiskeyspruit – recall those early days. Following the defeat of General Louis Botha’s force at Bergendal (the last set-piece battle of the South African War) on 27 August 1900, the Boer forces split up into several groups, one of which retreated eastwards over the Drakensberg with two heavy 155-mm Creusot field guns, nicknamed ‘Long Toms’ by the British. Following the capture of Lydenburg by General Buller’s forces on 7 September, several skirmishes were fought along the route over the Drakensberg between 8 and 10 December. Historic sites such as the Last Stand of the Long Toms and the Long Tom Shell Hole, a crater left by an exploding shell, have been signposted. Also to be seen is a replica of one of the guns deployed by the Boers to slow down the advancing British forces. Weighing 6 250 kg, the Long Tom had to be drawn by a span of 16 oxen and had a range of nearly 10 km. |
