Cornwall Hill is a small suburb south of Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa, It borders the suburb of Irene. Cornwall Hill takes its name from the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry brigade that was stationed here during the Anglo-Boer war.

Cornwall Hill
Cornwall Hill Military Memorial to the fallen.
Cornwall Hill Show map of Gauteng Cornwall Hill Show map of South Africa
Coordinates: 25°52′34″S 28°14′22″E
Country	South Africa
Province	Gauteng
Municipality	City of Tshwane
Main Place	Centurion
Established	1998
Area [1]
• Total	2.30 km2 (0.89 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[1]
• Total	628
• Density	270/km2 (710/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [1]
• Black African	30.10%
• Coloured	0.96%
• Indian/Asian	1.43%
• White	67.52%
First languages (2011) [1]
• English	44.75%
• Afrikaans	40.13%
• Sotho	3.03%
• Tswana	2.39%
• other	9.7%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)	0157
PO box	0178

Anglo-Boer War

During the Anglo-Boer War, at the time of the British occupation of Pretoria, over a thousand Mounted Infantry, two companies of the 2nd Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry and 350 Northumberland Fusiliers guarded the section of railway line at Irene. Cornwall Hill takes its name from the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry brigade. These Cornish men, camped on the western slopes of the highest hill in the vicinity of the Irene Station, built a rough stone fort to protect the railway line linking Johannesburg to Pretoria, and thus the hill became known as Cornwall Hill.

World War II Monument

A memorial was erected on Cornwall Hill to fallen members of the South African Air Force of the Union Defence Force who died during the Second World War. It consists of an obelisk with a bronze eagle on top. The memorial contains the following inscriptions:

• "Paul Nellmapius of Irene killed while advancing past Rome 15-6-1944"
• "Peter Versveld of Constantia killed when H.M.S. Cornwall was sunk off Ceylon 5-4-1942"
• "Andrew Duncan of Pretoria killed in an air battle over Libya 31-5-1942"
• "Ulrich van Rooyen van Worcester gesneuweld in 'n lugaanval teen Ploesti 26-7-1944"
• "David Howe-Browne of Tanganyika killed in an air battle while attacking Berlin 2-12-1943"

References