1899 - Diary of the siege of Mafeking by Edward Ross
November 27th
Creetje opened fire as per usual a little after daylight, giving us four rounds, and after that only fired two more rounds until 4 o’clock in the afternoon, when they went to work hard and pasted us with seven 94-pound shells. Our seven-pounders have been poppying [sic] away from the south of the native stadt at some of the enemy who can be seen in their trenches about 2 000 yards away. It is a hundred to one that any damage was done, as I scarcely believe the shells will travel so far.
It is rumoured that the enemy are bringing two more big guns to hurl their deadly flying machines at us. It is at least known they have erected two more large gun positions, one south at Jackal Tree, and one north-east at Game Tree.
At about 9 o’clock Creetje suddenly sent one of her big shells which burst right over the town, severely wounding four natives who were working in the trenches. I should think that one of the most miraculous escapes ever known in the whole of warfare occurred this afternoon. A railway guard belonging to the Railway Division of the Town Guard was shot by a Mauser bullet, the bullet entered his head at one temple, and going direct through passed out of the opposite temple. The bullet must have passed through immediately behind his eyes, and in front of the brain. The man says that he feels absolutely no ill effects from the shot and is doing well, and the doctors say he will be out of the hospital in a day or two.
Three of the natives wounded by the shells last night have since died.
Late last evening a small party of volunteers went out for the purpose of taking up a position in some bushes north of the town. They were compelled to return, however, as they found the place already occupied by the enemy.
Providential escapes seem now to be of daily occurrence. A man named Wenham, whose house is away out of the sight of the Boers, was in the habit of staying down there a good deal, but this morning he thought he would come up to town. He had not left his house a quarter of an hour, when a big shell came plump into it and demolished the whole structure.
Altogether today Creetje has given us 15 shells and the smaller guns only 5 or 6.
The Market House suffered very severely and one of the hotel boys had his arm blown clean off, parts of it being found smashed in the wall; other places in the town have been very badly peppered, and altogether it has been a fairly warm day.
