TOPIC:

Chieveley is famous for the derailing of the train and the capture of Winston Churchill.

See the post on the Albert Medals awarded fro this incident.


The disaster to the armoured train near Estcourt: The derailing of the trucks



Second Lieutenant Frankland, who was in the Estcourt armoured train which met with a disaster and who is now a prisoner at Pretoria, send us this sketch from which this drawing was made and writes: 'On returning from a reconnaissance the armoured train was attacked by a large party of Boers. The train attempted to run the gauntlet, but was derailed by a large stone which had been placed upon the track. After working for an hour and a half our men succeeded in clearing the line in spite of the enemy's artillery fire, and the engine made its escape with about a third of the troops. Of 120 soldiers engaged, thirty eight were killed and wounded and fifty were captured by the Boers'. The sketch has been forwarded to us by Mr Winston Churchill, who was on the train at the time, and was made a prisoner. The details of Mr Winston Churchill's escape from Pretoria are still fresh in the public memory. Mr Churchill's letter, which accompanied the sketch, is dated from 'States School Prison, Pretoria' and runs as follows: 'Dear Sir, the enclosed sketch seems to me to be a very accurate representation of what actually occurred when the Boers captured the armoured train near Estcourt on the 15th instant. I hope you will be able to find some use for it, and forward it to you with Mr Frankland's compliments'.

Source: The Graphic, 13 January 1900

A drift near Chieveley
Close to where the Boers captured an armoured train