TOPIC:

1900 - General Buller at Spitzkop, important capture of supplies. Botha transfers command temporarily to Viljoen. Barberton occupied by French. Ulster Yeomanry released. Proclamation by Lord Roberts calling on the Boers to surrender.

1901 - Conditions on Bermuda for Boer prisoners.

....Reuter's correspondent at Hamilton, Bermuda, writing under date September 14, says :—Yesterday evening the hired transport Montrose, having on board the fourth contingent of Boer prisoners of war for Bermuda, arrived in Graesy Bay. The Montrose sailed from Durban on August 12, for Capetown, and from Capetown on August 16 for Bermuda, with 956 prisoners of war, arriving at St. Vincent September 1, and proceeding again September 3. The passage was a most trying one. The weather was very boisterous. There was a good deal of sickness on board, and 24 men died. Of the 932 prisoners now on board the transport 37 are convicts who, having been convicted of high treason, have been condemned to undergo penal servitude in this Colony. The guard on board consists of 279 officers and men of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. In the case of the Montrose as in the cases of preceding transports about to leave South Africa for Bermuda rigid precautionary measures were adopted at Capetown to prevent infectious disease from finding its way on board. Notwithstanding these efforts, on the second day after the ship's departure from Capetown, a case of measles broke out among the prisoners, and 77 other cases developed on the passage. In two cases meningitis supervened, and the patients died. When the ship reached here yesterday six days had elapsed since the discharge of the last patient from hospital, and there had been no fresh case for 14 days. The ship's hospital had been cleansed and disinfected. All bedding used by the patients had been disinfected, and the bedding that was used by the patients who had died, as well as their clothing, had been destroyed. In addition to the death of the two prisoners already noted, 13 of the prisoners died of pneumonia, four of bronchitis, one of tuberculosis, one of debility, one of asthma, and ono of senile decay. One soldier of the Warwickshire Regiment died of malarial fever. Among the prisoners of war in this contingent are 22 who rank as officers, and several of these are said to have figured prominently as generals during the war. One of the prisoners is a brother of ex-President Steyn, of the Free State. Another was a high official—l understand, a Secretary of State in the Free State Government. A third is a kinsman and a namesake of General Piet Cronje, of Paardeberg fame, and I am told that he boasts that before the British effected his capture he had succeeded in making prisoners of war 800 British soldiers. The majority of the prisoners are pure Boers The percentage of foreigners in the contingent is very small, and the officers of the ship and of the guard report that the conduct of the prisoners during the passage was excellent. The disembarkation is now in progress, and the men are being conveyed to the camp on Tucker's and Morgan's Islands. The fourth contingent will bring the strength of the prisoners of war in Bermuda to something over 3,000.
....I have it on good authority that the Imperial Government are so well satisfied with the result of the deportation of the Boer prisoners of war to Bermuda that they have decided to send another contingent numbering 1,000 men. Hawkins Island and Long Island, both of which belong to the Admiralty, have been placed at the disposal of the War Department, and it will be the site of third prison camp. Hinson's Island, one of the finest of the islands in the Great Sound, lying to the eastward of Ports Island and within sight of the city of Hamilton, will be held in reserve, for use in the event of some unforeseen contingency arising. The Army Medical Department here has had the whole matter under consideration, and has, I understand, reported favourably upon it.
....Certainly, the Boer prisoners now in Bermuda are enjoying an ideal prison life They want for nothing to make them comfortable and happy, so far as men in captivity can be happy. Through the influence of the association for providing recreation for the prisoners, they have been the recipients of literature .of every description, games, tools, materials suitable for making toys and other articles. In some cases the pro-Boers among us have sent them luxuries. The prisoners gladly receive all these gifts, and regard them as so many tokens of sympathy with the cause which they represent The Government on its part is doing everything that can be done in reason to make the time pass pleasantly for the prisoners. On Darrell's Island they have been permitted to engage in gardening. In all the camps schools have been established. In the school on Darrell's Island the number of men in attendance is about 180, on Buritt's Island 40, on Tucker's Island 80. The leading schoolmaster is a Bachelor of Arts, holding his degree from the University of Capetown. Some of the other teachers are men who were engaged in educational work either in the Transvaal or in the Orange Free State before the declaration of war. The instruction is conducted in Dutch but any of the men who choose may learn English. The course of instruction is prescribed by the teachers. I understand that the pupils are most diligent in their attendance at school, and that many of them are very anxious to acquire a knowledge of the English language. Quite recently the general commanding the troops appointed a prisoner of war to be clerk to the commandant at Tucker's Island, with pay at the rate of 2s. a day. The men are allowed to volunteer for fatigue work, and while the camp on Tucker's Island was being prepared, a large number of prisoners volunteered to go thither daily to assist the mechanics, and for their work received a stipulated rate of pay. But while the Boer prisoners have been and still are the recipients of unbounded sympathy and consideration, the men of the gallant Warwickshire Regiment, who are acting as guards to the Boers, and the men of the Royal Army Medical Corps, who are nursing the sick among them, have been scarcely regarded. This want of sympathy with the men who have been fighting for the last two years to preserve the integrity of the Empire has awakened a strong feeling of resentment among the more loyal colonists here. It has also elicited unfavourable comment from some of the military officers in command. Talking on the subject the other day, an officer of high rank said to me, "I am simply astounded at the conduct of some people who call themselves loyal British subjects. They extend the deepest sympathy to the Boers, send them all kinds of things to amuse them, and luxuries for them to enjoy, but they don't give poor Tommy a set of quoits for his amusement." Here is one incident illustrative of the way in which some British subjects discriminate between Boer and Briton. A certain gentleman who professes profound loyalty, has given 10,000 feet of pitch pine lumber and a quantity of nails to build a house for the Boer chaplain, the value of the gift being £50. He has contributed £4 to the fund that has been opened by one of the local newspapers to provide money to supply recreation and amusement for the men of the Warwickshire Regiment. But the Boers are not more tractable for all this coddling. Many of them are utterly irreconcilable, and in many ways manifest their bitterness and hostility. For in- stance, they have objected to accept for their dead the same honours of war that are given to a deceased British soldier. The Boer chaplain, the Rev. J. R. Albertyn, of Wellington, Cape Colony, requested on behalf of the men that the coffin of a dead burgher should not be draped with the Union Jack, and that the three volleys usually fired over the soldier's grave should be discontinued.
The Sheffield Daily Telegraph, Thursday 26th September 1901