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This photograph of Frere Railway Bridge was taken by Special War Correspondent René Bull. One of a series of lantern slides used by him during his lecture tours after the war.




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At the risk of getting into trouble for posting images that contain nudity, here is another excellent view of Frere Railway Bridge.

It looks like the man standing in the river bed, second from right, has just lost his khaki helmet cover. An easy target for a Boer sniper.

Photograph by Durban-based photographer Benjamin W. Caney.








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Two stills from W.K-L. Dickson's Biograph movie "Repairing the Broken Bridge at Frere", filmed on 29 November 1899. The dimensions of the prints are 68 x 51 mm, which match the format of Bioscope film, suggesting that they are contact prints taken from the original footage.

The British Film Institute has a copy of this film, but unfortunately it isn't available online.

Described as:

British officers (Royal Engineers) supervising repair work on a bridge at Frere, spanning the Blaauw Krantz River, Natal. In detail: one end of a mangled metal bridge with black workers, white overseers, and some British troops (helmeted but not in full uniform). A team of blacks carries a long girder from right to left across the frame, raising it up a couple of times. Once they are past, the camera pans slightly to the right to show a large stone bridge-support and standing by a few British troops, one wearing a Red Cross armband. Camera pans further right to show more mangled metal. Note: Dickson's own account is as follows: "We wake at dawn to the clash of shunting trains. Breakfast over, we toil at the unloading of our Cape cart and goods in order to take a view of the broken bridge, and the reconstruction of the same. Our Biograph is carried down to the stream facing the bridge, and I get a good view of the new foundation laid for the wooden trestles. The Kaffirs as help are simply invaluable, and they may be seen and heard everywhere as they cheerfully toil, chanting the while keeping time with their work. Every hand stopped work and gazed steadily at the camera while taking the first picture, thus depriving us of the necessary movement. After this we had of course to make another attempt".

Note: Originally filmed in 68mm. Taken by W.K-L. Dickson on 29 November 1899. Previously thought to be at the Modder or Rhenoster rivers.

Reference: W.K-L. Dickson, The Biograph in Battle, p. 53.





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