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1900 - Mafeking siege day 140 (64%). Lord Roberts arrives in Kimberley.
1901 - De Wet reaches Philippolis.
1902 - Natal territory enlarged by Utrecht, Vryheid and part of Wakkerstroom districts.
In Kimberley:
A celebration took place at the Town Hall on 1st March 1900. The attendees included Lord Roberts, Colonel Kekewich, the Mayor of Kimberley, Lord Kitchener, Lord Methuen, Cecil Rhodes, Sir Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett, Lord Loch and the Foreign Attaches of Lord Roberts' staff.
Roberts replied to the address by the Mayor by saying:
“I appreciate very highly the honour you have done me to-day, in inviting me to your Town Hall, to present me with the very complimentary address which has just been read by the Town Clerk. I can assure you that I feel very deeply the kind terms in which you have alluded to my services, but I can also assure you that any successes that may have been attained during the past 3 weeks in this portion of the theatre of war are due to the resolution, the endurance, and the courage of the magnificent body of troops which it is my pride and privilege to command.
I rejoice that I have found it possible to come here to-day to witness the scene of a defence which will ever be a memorable one, and to meet personally those whose heroism has preserved intact the honour of our flag in this distant land. In your speech, Sir, you alluded to the untiring efforts of the Right Hon. C. J. Rhodes during the siege, and the value of the services rendered by him to the inhabitants of this town. Watching, as we did, with anxious eyes the vicissitudes of the siege, it was a consolation to feel that Mr. Rhodes was in your midst, for we know that his untiring energy and remarkable personality would go far towards animating his fellow citizens in the arduous task before them. I also was glad to notice the high complimentary and appreciative terms in which you spoke of Lieut.-Colonel Kekewich, the gallant and distinguished Officer on whom has rested the responsibility of devising and carrying out the measures necessary for the defence of your town. This morning as I rode through the suburbs and saw the great length of the perimeter which had to be rendered secure against attack, it seemed to me almost impossible that the defence could have been maintained successfully or so long as has been the case. That you should have been able to do so is as creditable to Lieut.-Colonel Kekewich and to those who were immediately associated with him in carrying on the defence, as it is to the brave soldiers of the Imperial and Colonial Services and the many Volunteers who have so heroically borne the perils of the siege. I desire also to refer to the patience and courage with which the women of this town have endured the horrors of the siege. Their heroism has won the respect and admiration of us all. I regret that my stay in Kimberley must necessarily, on this occasion, be a short one. Much remains to be done before the war is brought to a satisfactory conclusion, and peace, prosperity and freedom are restored throughout South Africa, but my visit here will ever be a memorable one to me, from the fact that shortly after I arrived here this morning, a telegram was put into my hands bearing the joyful news that Ladysmith had been relieved. I am confident that all whom I am addressing share my admiration for the glorious defence made by General Sir George White and his gallant force, and that you recognize as fully as I do the momentous results which have been achieved by the valour of the relieving force under General Sir Redvers Buller.
I will only add that I shall take the earliest opportunity of bringing to the notice of the Queen the loyal sentiments which you have expressed on behalf of your fellow citizens at the conclusion of your address. I will not detain you longer, but will only assure you, once more, how deeply I feel the kindness you have shown to me to-day.”
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In Mafeking:
Yesterday a large party of women and children, who do not belong to this district, were sent away; the Boers turned them back, and when they were retiring deliberately opened a heavy lire on them, killing and wounding many. This is not the first deliberate outrage on the native women and children, and in addition they have flogged and turned back women trying to escape. Colonel Baden-Powell has addressed several remonstrances to General Snyman on the subject, and pointed out that he cannot expect the native chiefs in the vicinity to restrain their tribesmen, if the Boers persist in murdering their friends and relations, and that he, Colonel Baden-Powell, cannot be answerable for any subsequent occurrences in the way of reprisals on the part of the natives, to which General Snyman has answered as a rule more or less civilly (generally less) that we and the natives may do our worst. To-day is the usual sort of day, heavy sniping at intervals and a fair amount of shelling. Certainly the amount of damage done to Mafeking in life and property has been wholly disproportionate to the amount of shell fire sustained, the reason of course being the soft mud bricks of which the houses are constructed; and to-day we had two very fine object lessons of the extensive damage these shells would have done among more solidly constructed edifices. Mr. Whitely, the mayor's, house, which is built of stronger materials than any other house in Mafeking, was struck by a shell, and the damage done was far greater than was usually the case. Round the house of Mr. Bell, the magistrate, there is a loose stone wall, the shell struck and exploded at the base of it, the fragments of shell did but little harm, but one boulder about twice the size of a man's body was hurled about twenty-five yards, and two rocks about twice the size of a man's head were projected through the house some twenty-five yards away, while stones of various sizes were hurled great distances and in every direction. So, though thanks to its flimsy construction, Mafeking has escaped better than many a more important town would, it does seem rather like breaking a butterfly to use modern siege guns against a place of this sort. However, it is still a fairly lively butterfly in spite of twelve thousand pounds of metal from one gun alone. We have developed a new trench N.E. of the town to enfilade the enemies' sniping trenches, which, though it does not silence them, seems to annoy them passably.
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