1899 -
Preparations for war in Mafeking and Kimberley.
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Mafeking, October 6.......
....Colonel Baden Powell visited all the outposts and pickets yesterday evening.
....The Boer camp fires are plainly visible. The main body of Boers, under Commandant Cronje, is at Loouws Store, 12 miles from here, on the Malmani Road. The force is 3000 strong, and has three guns. Other bodies are at Polfontein and opposite Ramathlabama, and there are small posts near the border at various points from Lobatsi to Vryburg.
....The Boers are well supplied with food. They have orders not to invade British territory unless they are fired upon or war is declared; but camp talk here is to the effect that they intend to advance, destroy the line, and invest Mafeking, their wish being to bring hostilities to a conclusion as early as possible, in order that they may rejoin their families and superintend the crops.
....Two armoured trains hare arrived here from Bulawayo.
Later.......
....The two armoured trains which have arrrved here consist of three bullet-proof bogie trucks. The leading truck carries a searchlight, and the sides and rear and front portions of the train are loopholed. An ambulance and food supplies are carried. Thus each train forms a complete unit.
....Experiments have been made with lyddite mines. They prove that the explosive is extremely powerful. Waggons have been drawn across the principal streets to prevent them being swept by fire. The "Baralongs" are dissatisfied with the refusal of the authorities to provide their men with arms. The few who were used on picket duty were obliged to return their arms when their duty was finished. They promised obedience after being reprimanded.
....Colonel Baden Powell has issued a warning that mines have been laid at various points. He says he considers it advisable to inform the inhabitants that the Boers massed on the Natal and Bechoanaland frontiers have orders not to cross until the British fire a shot. As this is not likely to occur no immediate danger is apprehended. At the same time, the rumour that war had broken out in Natal, though only a false alarm, might cause the Boers in the vicinity to take action. The notice adds that Mafeking is well prepared for eventualities, but as it is possible that the Boers may shell the place, every endeavour should be made to safeguard the women and children, and he advised their removal to places of safety such as Palapye (Kharna's capital) and Francistown.
....With the present garrison and the measures which have been taken for the defence, Mafeking will be easy to hold.
(Reuter's Telegram.)
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Kimberley, October 6.......
....Major Frazer, of the Liverpool Regiment, has arrived here. He stated that on the way up he met many refugees who had just come from the Transvaal. Many had their faces disfigured with fearful cuts, and one man's eye had nearly been cut out. Numbers of Cane Dutchmen are leaving the colony for the Transvaal. Fifty went to Pretoria last night. It is stated that they carry concealed arms. The whole garrison of Kimberley will be reviewed to-morrow. A town guard has been formed at Beaconsfield under command of Major Frazer. The Medical Corps has been attached to the sections of defence, and a field hospital has been inaugurated. The place is now considered impregnable.
....Farmers who have arrived from Buffalo River to-day state that the Boers are returning home, leaving patrols along the river. The commandos still remain on the Free State border.
....The feeling now prevails that the Boers are not coming in. and that the evacuation of the town was premature. Natives with stock continue to pass through, but nearly all Indians have departed.
(Press Association Telegram.)
The Glasgow Herald, Monday 9th October 1899
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1900 -
Death of a Bradford man in the Transvaal.
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....Lord Roberts, in a telegram on the 8th inst., reported that "Lieutenant Cotton, R.E., and Corporal D. H. Wilkinson were killed by an explosion on 6th October at Pienaars River Camp." The Corporal Wilkinson referred to was a Bradford man, and has relatives and friends in the city. He had been attached to the 11th Company of the Royal Engineers for about fifteen years, and had served in Bermuda and other stations, but latterly at Aldershot. At the outbreak of the war he was attached to Lord Methuen's column, and although he served all through the arduous campaign he had not received a scratch or suffered a single days' illness. At the time of his death he was with a portion of his company assisting in making gun-pits for the fortifying of the Pienaars River Camp, and it is supposed that he was killed by a premature explosion during blasting operations. He leaves a widow and three children (now at Aldershot) to mourn his loss. The War Office have since intimated to her that he had been promoted to the rank of sergeant some two or three months before his death, but that he himself had not been informed of the fact in consequence of his being away from headquarters.
The Keighley News, Saturday 13th October 1900......Possibly David Herbert Wilkinson, born at Bradford, 1867.
