South African War Memorial

South African War Memorial

A 1910 postcard of the South African War Memorial

South African War Memorial

South African War Memorial (May 2010)

This memorial at the south end of Edward VII Avenue, between the Law Courts and City Hall, is the South African War Memorial, a bronze sculpture erected in 1908.

It was unveiled by General Sir John French on November 20th 1909 and a description was published in The Graphic the following week:[1]

...on Saturday at Cardiff ... Sir John French unveiled a memorial tablet in memory of the officers, non-commissioned officers and men of the 1st Battalion of the Welsh Regiment who fell in South Africa, and also a national memorial erected at the foot of King Edward VII Avenue in Cathays Park. The monument, which is the work of Mr. Albert Toft, is inscribed with the names of nearly 900 Welshmen who belong to the regiments of the Principality, the Welsh Hospital and other units of the home and Colonial forces.

(The South African War, also known as the Second Boer War, was fought between the British Empire and two South African Boer states, Transvaal and the Orange Free State, over the Empire's role in South Africa. It began in October 1899 and ended in May 1902.)

Sources of Information

  1. The Graphic November 27th 1909 page 707