The Memorial Tower is graced with murals tracing Saskatchewan’s military history by Ken Lochhead, Director of Art at Regina College from 1950 to 1964. The murals are divided into eight wall sections and were officially presented in a special service by his Honour the Lieutenant-Governor W.J. Patterson in 1954.
This section represents the South African War. Depicted are men of the Canadian Roughriders as well as the 5th Regiment "Royal Scots of Canada, Highlanders". Around the time of the deployment of the elements of Canada’s second contingent to the South African War, some Canadian press reports referred to some of the troops as being former “rough-riders,” i.e., cowboys, but this was just popular journalistic language of the day. Members of the 5th Regiment "Royal Scots of Canada, Highlanders" did serve in the war, but as members of the composite battalions formed for the war. The Table Mountains at Cape Town and the Navy Transport are in the background.
Canadian soldiers are depicted from units that participated in the campaign in their various original garrison orders of dress. While the troops actually deployed would not have been dressed in this manner, the mural evokes the range of units that were drawn upon to form the Canadian Contingents for the war.
