TOPIC:

1899 - Kimberley siege day 52 (41%). Ladysmith siege day 34 (28%). Mafeking siege day 54 (24%). Buller at Frere.
1900 - De Wet forced to abandon his projected raid into Cape Colony.

In Kimberley:

Reconnaissance this morning under command of Lt Col Chamier RA consisting of 200 mounted troops, 6 guns, DFA 3 companies 1/LN Lan Regt 12 Neds and men 7th Co RE 100 men Beaconsfield Town Guard, to make a small work near Mights farm and if possible draw off some of the enemy from opposing the advance of the relief column. About 100 of enemy in all were seen on the Wimbledon ridge – and he did not open with artillery.

Late yesterday afternoon I noticed much noise to the North and South indictating a general movement of the enemy, but there was not enough light to see in what direction.

This morning it is reported that the enemy’s laager to North of the Intermediate pumping station has been moved and 60 waggons were seen in the distance proceeding northwards.

The armoured train went out at 4 am this morning to North, but did draw fire from any of the enemy’s guns although Lt Webster says he thinks he saw a gun in position in direction of the Intermediate pumping station. We had further trials yesterday afternoon with De Beers shells and powder; and on the whole with very satisfactory results.

How curious it is we can get no news of the outside world, either by signal search light message or by dispatch rider. In consequence it is most difficult to know how best to act in many matters. I have kept on reporting that nothing comes through in the way of information.

Have arranged for the following committee to go into the matter as to who is to be sent away:

Honable Mr Justice Lang
The Mayor of Kimberley
The Civil Commissioner
Mr Rickering (Representing De Beers)
Mr James Laurence NLA
Major O’Meara, RE
Commissioner Robinson, Cape Police

Enemy commenced shelling Premier mine this afternoon from the Susanna Kopje and fired 12 shells in all. They are probably firing at the searchlight as this is the one we are using for the signaling with the relief column.

I sent signal search light message early this evening to Lord Metheun giving Rhodes message as to natives working in Mines, and coal and dynamite required.

I also informed him as to Transvaal Laager to North of Intermediate pumping station having moved towards OFS;

As to general movement of enemy towards relief column;

As to demonstration I made this morning as to death of Mr MORE, Kaffir manager and asking that a good man should be sent up in his place;

As to enemy having commenced shelling Premier Mine from work near there;

As to 2nd armoured train being made.

FROM Rhodes. To General Metheun.

“Kindly inform the High Commissioner De Beers will require for 3 months 1000 tons of English coal, and 120 tons dynamite. Also six weeks provisions for 10000 natives. Present De Beers with provisions will last six weeks. Ask high Commissioner if he approves to tell Fuller Dreyfus to place orders and forward by rail at once. Essential to continue work as loss to Colony is £14000 per diem. Have seen message removal civil population.”

I received the following by search light signal this evening.

“Dec 5th. Directly Kimberley is relieved all civil population not actually (resemblance) there must be ready to start South by train conveying supplies to Kimberley. With regard to natives say how you consider those not actually required should be got rid of. Inform me number of civilians and number of natives to leave Kimberley. Stop. Supply for revictualling civil population are being sent by Cape Town also 60 days will be placed Kimberlay for garrison “attire” who I require to know the number present in Kimberley. Garrison will be strengthened by –

Lord Metheun will visit Kimberley for one day to tender advice regarding your defence of town until further assistance can be given you by subsequent advance on Kimberley. Relieving force will then return to Ornage River –

No message being ready for sending following was signaled:

“Mr Rhodes heard rumour that General has captured some dynamite from the enemy. Mr Rhodes would be extremely obliged if dynamite could be brought on here when communication is restored for which he would pay as it is urgently required for mining purposes.”

The following was then received:

“5th Dec No 7. General situation in South Africa as follows. General Cleary with 2 divisions about to relieve Ladysmith. has arrived Tegula River. General Gatacre with one brigade, and Brigade Artillery moving on Stormberg and been seen Molteno – Naanerfort is held by force under General French threatening Colesberg and has endeavour to seize it. Remainder Army Corps concentrate here, DEAAR and at Orange river.”

I sent:

“Dec 5th. Yours of to-day, will send you full answer to-morrow night Stop. As to number of natives to send away much depends on whether coal and dynamite asked for by Rhodes can be send up otherwise mines cannot be worked. Should be glad of this information to-night to enable me to send complete answer to-morrow night. Your No 7 understood, very many thanks.”

Later in the evening I received:

“Dec 5th No 11. I am waiting until (importation) important more troops arrive on the supposition of Kimberley is not in immediate danger. Stop. In other 2 – words that (weeks) delay involve no danger while I make success doubly sure.”

I answered:Dec 5 No 10. in reply you 11 this date Kimberley is not in any immediate danger.”

I received:

“It is impossible to reply to your signal tonight.”

I conclude this refers to my query as to coal and dynamite.

I am very glad to say the health of the town continues good. There are a few cases of enteric, but not many if any more than the usual number for this time of year. There are a few cases of scurvy amongst the natives – 6 of which are in the Race Course location.

De Beers have 2700 tons of coal still remaining, i e enough for ordinary consumption for 7 weeks for pumping water, electric light, and their workshops.

I have been able to arrange forage supply as to last 50 days from now for garrison animals.

I am going into the question of what vegetable seeds I shall ask to sent up.

In Ladysmith:

The armistice lasted all day, except that the enemy threw two shells at a waggon going up the Helpmakaar road and knocked it to pieces, and, I hear, killed a man or two—I don't know why. The townspeople were very busy building shelters for the bombardment. The ends of bridges and culverts were closed up with sandbags and stones. Circular forts were piled in the safest places among the rocks. The Army Service Corps constructed a magnificent work with mealy-bags and corn-beef cases—a perfect palace of security. But, as usual, the Kaffirs were wisest. They have crept up the river banks to a place where it flows between two steep hills of rock, and there is no access but by a narrow footpath. There they lie with their blankets and bits of things, indifferent to time and space. Some sort of Zulu missionary is up there, too, and I saw him nobly washing a cooking-pot for his family, dressed in little but his white clerical choker and a sort of undivided skirt. A few white families have gone to the same place, and I helped some of them to construct their new homes in the rocks amidst great merriment. The boys were as delighted as children with a spade and bucket by the sea, and many an impregnable redoubt was thrown up with a dozen stones. What those homes will be like at the end of a week I don't know. A picnic where love is may be endurable for one afternoon, when there are plenty of other people to cook and wash up. But a hungry and unclean picnic by day and night, beside a muddy river, with little to eat and no one to cook, nowhere to sleep but the rock, and nothing to do but dodge the shells, is another story. "I tell you what," said a serious Tory soldier to me, "if English people saw this sort of thing, they'd hang that Chamberlain." "They won't hang him, but perhaps they'll make him a Lord," I answered, and watched the women trying to keep the children decent while their husbands worked the pick.

In the afternoon the trains went out, bearing the wounded to their new camp across the plain at Intombi's Spruit. The move was not well organised. From dawn the ambulance people had been at work shifting the hospital tents and all the surgical necessities, but at five in the afternoon a note came back from the officer in camp urging us not to send any more patients. "There is no water, no rations," it said; "not nearly enough tents are pitched. If more wounded come, they will have to spend the night on the open veldt." But the long train was already made up. The wounded were packed in it. It was equally impossible to leave them there or to take them back. So on they went. In all that crowd of suffering men I did not hear a single complaint. Administration is not the strong point of the British officer. "We are only sportsmen," said one of them with a sigh, as he crawled up the platform, torn with dysentery and fever.

In front of the wounded were a lot of open trucks for such townspeople as chose to go. They had hustled a few rugs and lumps of bedding together, and, sitting on these, they made the best of war. But not many went, and most of those had relations among the Boers or were Boers themselves.

When the trains had gone, Captain Lambton, of the Powerful, showed me the new protection which his men and the sappers had built round the great 4.7 in. gun, which is always kept trained on "Long Tom." The sailors call the gun "Lady Anne," in compliment to Captain Lambton's sister, but the soldiers have named it "Weary Willie"—I don't know why. The fellow gun on Cove Hill is called "Bloody Mary"—which is no compliment to anybody. The earthwork running round the "Lady Anne" is eighteen feet deep at the base. Had it been as deep the first day she came, Lieutenant Egerton would still be at her side.

In Mafeking:

Shelling and sniping. A shell burst in Well's store, killing a nigger outside (at least he died afterwards), close to me. The pieces flew all about, and I had not time to analyse where they were falling; they came too quick, but it was a pretty close shave; but then there have been innumerable close shaves and marvellous little damage done to life so far. The shell passed through the roof, just below the look-out man, whom the shot threw into the air. Fortunately it exploded in the next store, otherwise no doubt he would have been blown to pieces. As I write two shells have just exploded, one blowing a Kaffir to pieces and wrecking a chemist shop, the other knocking over a white man, who is just being removed to hospital; how much hurt I do not know. (I hear that he was killed.) About 3 o'clock began the most tremendous rain, which lasted for two hours, the market square became a lake, the streets rivers, whilst our little Molopo developed at short notice into a raging torrent. It swept away all impedimenta, wooden bridges, &c, at once. The squadron in the river bed had to retire and Captain Fitzclarence while endeavouring to cross was nearly drowned. The seven-pounder was nearly washed away; the ammunition was. The trenches and bomb proofs were full to the brim, many of them proving to be in the beds of regular streams. Had the Boers known or been able to seize their opportunity they might have made it very nasty for us with shell fire, but as it was they were in a worse plight than we were, as they had no dry cover for drying their clothes, and could not replace them, and when they emerged from their trenches our Maxims opened on them. The headquarters' staff set to work and had everybody fairly comfortable by 7 o'clock. Natives were at work bailing all night; dry clothes were given to those who had no change, brandy and quinine served out to all the trenches, the men sleeping in adjacent cover. "Wagons fetched up the women from the laager, and blankets were distributed to all who required them. As usual all rose to the occasion, and having proved themselves under fire now repeated the process under this onslaught from water. Perhaps the people who were worst off were the B. S. A. P. at Cannon Kopje. A wet night—their shelters flooded—and literally everything they possessed carried away, except their blankets, arms and the clothes they stood up in, and no shelter at all. However, take it all round, the enemy were much worse off than we, which is always consoling, and consequently being miserable, and having nothing to do, they opened a lively fire on the town generally, lasting about half an hour.

1899 - From the letters writer by Lt Col Park in Ladysmith

No fresh news this morning. We did a route march in the dark last night, twice round the town and back, for exercise and to harden the men’s feet. It was a pitch-dark night and the roads were very greasy, and when we were at about the furthest point it began to rain, and after floundering about in ditches and missing the turns once or twice, we got back to camp wet through. It is a very cold and cheerless morning, with a grey sky and a steady soaking drizzle, and one longs for a nice dry house and a comfortable chair in front of a fire. I think the drawing-room fenderstool at The Gables, with a little dog on each side, and you sitting reading bits from the Daily Mail, is just what I should like best. It is a full five weeks today since we were boxed up here, and I have been up and out before 4 a.m. every day of the time, and I am getting very sick of it and would give twenty rupees for a real solid night’s sleep, with the feeling that I could count for certainty on being able to stay in bed undisturbed till 8 a.m. if I liked.

I generally get six hours at night now, so that I don’t really do badly, and I usually lie down for a bit in the afternoon, but the flies and people with chits and orders bother me so that I don’t often sleep more than about half-and-hour then. There was great excitement in the garrison yesterday over news that one of the London war correspondents who has been with us all the time had gone off to the Boers. He had been asking a lot of questions about the outposts, and talking in a chaffing way about going out to give some copies of the Ladysmith Lyre to the Boers, and on Sunday evening he was riding out towards part of their lines, and he has never come back, and there are strong suspicions that he has been playing the spy all along. I hear Sir G. White is furious, and says he will have him shot if ever he catches him, and I hope he will. There are far too many spies and traitors about as it is, and they want a good sharp lesson badly. I had a very nice outing yesterday. Lafone and I walked up to see the big naval gun which the sailors from the Powerful have on a hill some distance from here. It is a long 4.7 inch quick-firer, and carries about 6 1/2 miles. It has been fixed on a circular pivot mounting, with a round parapet of earth and sandbags like a turret built up to its chin all round, and it can fire all round the circle, and takes on any of the Boer guns which may happen to be making itself objectionable.

The “Powerfuls” under Captain Hedworth Lambton, have two of these guns and some smaller ones up here, and have done a lot of good work with them. Captain L. was in the battery, and we sat and talked to him for nearly an hour and watched the firing. I should think he is a clever fellow, and is certainly extraordinarily young to be a captain and in command of a ship like the Powerful.

1899 - From the diary of Miss Bella Craw in Ladysmith

Bombarding again today, some falling very near here. This afternoon Bert and. I went for a walk and sat on the Sanatorium Hill and watched four from the Umbul- wana fall and burst in the Gordon Camp. We have heard of no one being killed as yet today. Caught in a shower coming home. No Concert again tonight as there is a fine drizzling rain. I hear they have fixed seats for any womenfolk that may go, a row of sand bags with a plank over them. I hear the programme is long and under the patronage or rather the protest of "Long Tom", "Blustering Billy", "Slim Piet", "Silent Susan", etc. etc. to begin at half past seven. There goes the bell. This is awful, we have only just finished eating and now we must go and sleep or sit in the dark.

1899 - From the diary of Trooper A J Crosby, Natal Carbineers

Roused at 2.45 after saddling up found my horse had cleared. Wasn’t sorry, feeling feverish. Saw doctor who gave me quinine with orders to take a day’s rest. News that column is at Dornkop.

1899 - From the diary of Major George Tatham, Natal Carbineers

Rain continued nearly all day. Firing from Boer guns now and then. In the evening the rain came on again and continued nearly all night.

1899 - Diary of the siege of Mafeking by Edward Ross

Tuesday, 5 December

A few shells in early morning and their snipers at work.

About lunch-time the enemy’s quick-firing 12-pounders placed a shell right through Weil’s roof, one piece of the casing striking a native and literally cutting him to pieces.

Very heavy rain all the afternoon, men up to their knees in water and had to evacuate the outpost trenches.

Our seven-pounders nearly buried in mud down in [the] river bed, the gunners had to take it to pieces and bring it up into the town.

Quinine is now being served out to everybody, and it is very necessary as they are beginning to have a rough time of it with the wet. It is to be sincerely hoped and trusted that malaria will not get hold of us.

B.P. himself did the officers’ rounds last night, saying a kind word of encouragement here and there.

By means of a native runner who brought in despatches we received the Bulawayo Chronicle of a fairly late date, in which they have an article about an artillary duel at Mafeking between the Boers and ourselves. Does not this sound absolutely ridiculous? Tire enemy surrounding us with absolutely the most modern quick-firing breech-loading German and French guns, 94-pounders, 12-pounders, 9 and 7-pounders against our poor miserable ramshackle tinpot muzzle-loading seven-pounders, with not half the range of some of their big guns, and which were discarded as obsolete by the Diamond Fields Artillery over 20 years ago and which even now have almost every day to be tinkered up by our local blacksmith. Almost as soon as the shot is fired something goes wrong with them. The following is our list [of] armament and men: 

3 very old obsolete seven-pounders which, as I have previously said, were rejected years ago by the Kimberley Volunteers.

6 Maxims, including one galloping one, most of these jam just at the time when wanted, 1 Hodgkiss, with very little ammunition, 1 Nordenfeldt, always going wrong.

420 men of the P.R. under Colonel Hore.

60 B.S.A.P. under Colonel Walford, about 65 Cape Police under Inspector Browne, about 120 local Volunteers, under Captain Cowan,

260 Town Guard under Major Goold-Adams, British representative of the British Protectorate, about 50 Cape Boys and 50 armed natives.

This comprises the garrison against which, around us, are some 8 000 Boers with the most modern death-dealing implements known to the world. Now you can understand why we smile, and the outside people talk of us having artillery duels; the only simile that I can think of is John S. Sullivan punching away at a schoolboy, but that the schoolboy being smaller dodges round a tree as the big fellow comes along, and so evades being knocked over.