TOPIC:

Neville, thanks. The (lack of) quality and the size (16 x 11 cm) would indicate my photograph is not taken by one of the professional photographers, more a supersized snapshot if anything. The entire text along the bottom is: Tugela R.W. Bridge destroyed 1899. There is no erasion or strike-out visible. There is a certain measure of smugness about the group, possibly indicating the photograph was taken not long after the battle of December 15, 1899. Note the chap on the rubble triumphantly sporting a pith helmet.

Colenso Railway Bridge as it appeared in early 1900 and the same view from Fort Wylie when I visited in 1981.










The bridge as it appeared in 1981, with Colenso Power Station in the background.


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Another view, this time photographed by J.E. Middlebrook, Durban.

"Q.335 (COPYRIGHT) IRON RAILWAY BRIDGE ACROSS THE TUGELA AT COLENSO, DESTROYED BY THE BOERS. BOER WAR 1899, 1900. / J.E.M. / Photo".



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Just came across this image, showing Colenso Bridge during construction and before the laying or the railway line. I believe the bridge was completed in 1886.

Wisser, John P., "The Second Boer War", Kansas 1901, p. 66.



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A German trade card depicting the dynamiting of Colenso Railway Bridge.

Sprengung der Eisenbahnbrücke bei Colenso durch eine Burenabteilung (Blowing up the railway bridge near Colenso by a Boer detachment).



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Herewith another photograph of the bridge taken when the construction of the deviation was in full progress, so probably sometime in 1900. Note the original copy-right was scratched out on the bottom right side.