The Naval Brigade in Natal

With the big guns of the Royal Navy in South Africa

During the history of warfare-particularly during the nineteenth century-there has been the need to employ naval brigades for duty on land fighting alongside the army. Both the Indian Mutiny and the Zulu War saw sailors in action far from their ships. The Boer War was no exception. Although essentially a citizen army the Boer forces often had superiority of firepower as a result of the adoption of up to date weaponry. All Armies, the British included, lagged behind-trusting to the tried rather than the innovative. Artillery was ever the master of the battlefield however and there is an overwhelming power to naval guns served by naval gunners which is almost impossible to counter by forces lacking the same facility. The author of this book, C. R. N. Burne was a serving naval officer and one of those detached for such duty during the conflict in South Africa. His story is full of interesting detail of life on campaign and the of the guns themselves in action.