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Source: The Graphic, 1 July 1899

Two photographs of the interior of Johannesburg Fort, taken shortly after the fall of the town, and showing British soldiers sorting through war stores abandoned by the Boers.

Both photographs were clearly taken at the same time, though one was printed as a "Keystone" stereoview, while the other was made into a magic lantern slide.

The gun in the foreground is a 66 mm Broadwell R.B.L. For more on these, see: The Staatsartillerie 60 mm Krupp and 66 mm Broadwell guns

The Maxim on the right is likely to be one of the three .303 calibre guns captured from the Reformers in 1896.





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Friedrich Wilhelm von Wichmann's commission as First Lieutenant, Fortress Artillery, Johannesburg, 9 Dec 1898.


Hij het bij kennelijk, dat de Regeering der Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek heeft goedgevonden Wilhelm von Wichmann vaarlaapig en ander nadere bekrachtiging van den Edel Achtbaren Eersten Volksraad, aan te stellen als Eerste Lieutenant Fort Johannesburg, in de Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek.

In te gaan van af 9 December 1898

Gouvernementskantoor, Pretoria, 10 Dec’r ‘98

[Signed] S.J.P. Kruger, Staatspresident.










Translated from J. Malan 1990, p. 194 - "Friedrich Wilhem von Wichmann was, before his arrival at the Z.A.R., a lieutenant in the 1st Foot Guards in Potsdam, Germany. After working for a while at the Surveyor General's office in Pretoria, he joined the Fortress Artillery in Johannesburg as second lieutenant.
In September 1899 he joined the German Corps in Natal, where he distinguished himself at Spion Kop. After the offensive he went to the Transvaal Highveld where he fought to the end with General Chris Botha. After the battle of Bakenlaagte he was promoted to Kaptein".



Below is a series of six snapshots of von Wichmann conducting training exercises at Johannesburg Fort. The first five show men working one of the Staatsartillerie's three Maxim-Nordenfelt 75 mm (2·95-in) Model '97 Q.F. Guns. One of these had been captured from Jameson during his ill-fated Raid, and the other two were destined to be taken by the British at Elandslaagte. The last shot shows artillerists with a Maxim-Nordenfelt 1-pdr or "Pom-pom".

Von Wichmann was a great fan of the Maxim-Nordenfelt 75 mm Q.F. guns, writing in 1904: "They were splendid guns, and it was most unfortunate for us that they could not all lend us their services a little longer. The first two fell into the hands of the English as early as the battle of Elandslaagte, after the Johannesburg gunners had served them until the English infantry came up between them. A German artillery officer [Majoor Alfred von Dalwig], who had one of these guns with him for a long time in the siege of Mafeking, spoke very highly of it"..

By contrast, he had little good to say about the 75 mm Creusot Q.F. guns: "Before the war, it was the custom to say all good things of the Creusôt guns, and to rank them above the Krupp. But when they were put to the test, this judgment had to be reversed. After it had been a short time on active service, the Creusôt gun fell very low in the general estimation. In spite of its great weight, it was too weak in some of its parts, and various details of its construction left much to be desired. It was ill-adapted to hard work on active service; and one very soon found that the Krupp gun was by far the better of the two" (Proceedings of the Royal Artillery Institution, Vol. XXXI., No. 5, Aug 1904).














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