The Memorial Plaque is inscribed:
SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF FREDERICK WILLIAM RATCLIFFE GUNNER, PRINCE ALFRED'S OWN CAPE VOLUNTEER ARTILLERY WHO DIED WHILST ON ACTIVE SERVICE WITH HIS CORPS AT BASHEE HOEK, TEMBULAND, ON THE 16TH DECEMBER 1880 "THE FARTHEST FROM THE FEAR, ARE OFTEN NEAREST TO THE STROKE OF FATE" THIS TABLET IS ERECTED TO HIS MEMORY BY THE CORPS
Prince Alfred's Own Cape Volunteer Artillery (PAOCVA) served in Tembuland from November 1880 to April 1881 in what was officially known as the Tambookie Campaign, as part of the Cape Colony's response to unrest among Tambookie (Thembu) clans on the Eastern Frontier.
Further reading
Military Memorials in St George's Cathedral at Cape Town
"The Wopse" by Major L.A. Crook, SM, JCD
Memorials in the Cathedral
Gunner Frederick William Ratcliffe
Battle of Boomplaats Rifle Brigade Memorial
Battle of Boomplaats British Roll of Honour
Lt Col Frederick Miller VC Memorial
Captain George Pilkington, RE
Colonel Edmund Hartley VC, CMG
3rd Dragoon Guards Anglo-Boer War Roll of Honour