In September 1904, Captain George A. Hamilton-Dickson proposed a motion that a site be found for a memorial and that the Town Council start a scheme to build it.

[3]: 124 On 30 November 1910, Field Marshall the Duke of Connaught and Lord Methuen reviewed a group of volunteers at Milner Park before being accompanied by a detachment from the Imperial Light Horse to the Sachsenwald Plantation (Saxonwold).

[8] Sir Lionel Philips would pay for, from his personal funds, a bronze sculpture that would adorn the top of the memorial as a gift to the people of Johannesburg.

[1]: 18  As to what the sculpture represents, the sources differ, with some calling it Nike (the Greek winged goddess of victory) while others – in the interest of reconciliation between the English and Afrikaaner populations – referred to it as an "angel of peace".

[10] Other work carried out to restore the memorial was the introduction of storm drainage, as the stone blocks had moved out of alignment due to years of excessive moisture in the ground.