TOPIC:

During the dying days of the conflict, Armoured Train No 15 left Pretoria Station on a routine patrol of the line towards Pietersburg. Four miles out, at Daspoort, the locomotive came to the steep curve in the track that had been negotiated without incident many times before. However, on this occasion Driver Shepherd, C.G.R., appears to have miscalculated, the speed and weight of the engine pulling the train off the tracks and down a steep embankment. The ensuing carnage left twelve men killed and eleven wounded, one of whom subsequently died.

Lord Kitchener telegraphed: –

Pretoria, May 7, 4.35 p.m.
An accident has occurred to an armoured train leaving Pretoria for Pietersburg.
The train was derailed on a curve.
Lieutenant E.G.A. Campbell, Cape Garrison Artillery, and ten men killed.
Inquiry is being made.


The casualty list was as follows: –

KILLED

Cape Garrison Artillery –
Lieutenant James Colin CAMPBELL

2nd Battalion Royal Fusiliers [Militia] –
4709 Sergeant R. MORLEY
9675 Private John COOPER
6973 Private P. CRIMMINS [D. Crimmins]
8596 Private C. DELANEY
1432 Private A. HOWARD
2877 Private Edward KEBELL
8454 Private F. LANGSWORTHY [Langworthy]

2nd Battalion Cheshire Regiment –
3155 Private W. KELLY

Royal Army Medical Corps –
16171 Private J. SEDDON

31st Company, Royal Engineers [Searchlight Section, R.E.] –
2453 [3126] Sapper M. GARVEY

Cape Government Railways –
An unnamed fireman


WOUNDED

2nd Battalion Royal Fusiliers [Militia] –
5419 Private C. BUNKER, injured left leg
2216 Private J. DONOGHUE [Donohue], fracture jaw and ribs, severe (died from wounds 12 May 1902)
2497 Private Sampson GEE, injured scalp
3008 Private Walter HARVIE, injured scalp
3869 Private Henry JEMISON, injured scalp, severe
8499 Private Augustus William SHEARS [W.H. Shears], injured, fracture both bones left leg
3736 Private Henry SPENCER, injured right thigh
8448 Private W. TONE, injured scalp
998 Private F. WAIT, electrical shock

Cape Government Railways –
Driver W. SHEPHERD, injured scalp
Stoker James HIND, concussion scalp, wound fracture right arm, severe





Private Kebell’s service records include the note “Killed at Daspoort owing to accident on railway, Pte, 5th May 02”. It seems that of the twelve killed, records only survive for Privates Kebell and Cooper.



For many well-healed inhabitants of Pretoria the proximity of the derailment to the capital warranted a day out. Dressed in their finest summer frocks with parasols in hands, women accompanied their husbands to view the wreckage, the site of so much carnage and loss of life.

Pretoria-based photographer J.E. Hossack captured the scene as curious citizens milled around the mangled carriages. His image, like a Bruegel painting, is full of detail. A railway crane operator oversees the lifting of the central armoured vehicle, clearly marked “A.T. 15” on its side. He appears to be asking onlookers to move back. One man heeds his warning and turns to walk away. Meanwhile, in the distance, two soldiers watch a group of African women bathing in a stream. Three Tommies, presumably sent to guard the wreckage, sit with the dog they have adopted along the way. To their right lean six rifles, three with bayonets fixed - perhaps salvaged from the wreckage, the arms of the dead and wounded. A group of vrouws, wearing Dutch bonnets, chat on the edge of a donga. Two men, one in uniform, peer through an aperture in the roof of one of the upturned cars, while ladies and gentlemen, in their Sunday best, mingle around the carriages, viewing the scene with morbid curiosity.














Three mounted infantrymen sit watching the scene, accompanied by the dog they have befriended and adopted during the campaign. Some of the rifles to their right have bayonets fixed, suggesting a need to keep individuals' arms together. This might indicate that the weapons have been retrieved from the dead and wounded.













Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 9th May 1902

ARMOURED TRAIN DERAILED.

OFFICER AND TEN MEN KILLED.

Lord Kitchener telegraphs as follows: –

Pretoria, May 7, 4.35 p.m.
An accident has occurred to an armoured train leaving Pretoria for Pietersburg.
The train was derailed on a curve.
Lieutenant E.G.A. Campbell, Cape Garrison Artillery, and ten men killed.
Inquiry is being made.

The casualty list issued last evening showed that the railway accident reported by Lord Kitchener took place at Daspoort on the 5th inst., and the following were killed: Lieutenant J.C. Campbell (not E.G.A. Campbell), of the Cape Garrison Artillery; 4709 Sergeant R. Morley, 2877 Private Kebell, 8454 Private F. Langworthy, 1432 Private A. Howard, 8596 Private C. Delaney, 6973 Private P. Crimmins, 9675 Private J. Cooper, of the 2nd Royal Fusiliers; 16171 Private J. Seddon, of the Royal Army Medical Corps; and 3155 Private W. Kelly, of the 2nd Cheshire Regiment. According to the above, nine men were killed, whereas Lord Kitchener’s despatch gave the number as ten.


Westminster Gazette, 9th May 1902

THE ARMOURED TRAIN SMASH.

The official casualty list furnished by the War Office last night shows that the accident to the armoured train reported by Lord Kitchener occurred at Daspoort on Monday last.
Daspoort is the first station on the railway to Pietersburg, and is four miles north of Pretoria. The killed were Lieutenant Campbell (Cape Garrison Artillery), and one sergeant and six privates of the 2nd Royal Fusiliers, a private of the Royal Army Medical Corps, and a private of the 2nd Cheshire Regiment.
According to an Exchange message the accident occurred to armoured train No. 15 while it was going along a curve. The train left the rails, and all the trucks and the engine were thrown down the embankment. In addition to the men killed, eleven men were injured. General Barton and staff attended the funeral, which took place at Pretoria yesterday.


Western Morning News, 10th May 1902

THE ARMOURED TRAIN DISASTER.

12 LIVES LOST.

PRETORIA, Thursday.
Armoured train No. 15 left Pretoria Station on Monday night about seven o’clock. While taking a sharp curve at Daspoort cutting the train left the rails, falling down the embankment. Lieutenant Campbell, of the Cape Garrison Artillery, and 10 men were killed and 11 injured. The fireman of the train was also killed and the driver injured. The fireman knew the line well.

PRETORIA, Thursday Noon.
A terrible accident occurred on Monday night to No. 15 armoured train. It was despatched in the evening on patrol duty on the Pietersburg line. When it reached a point near Daspoort the locomotive, which, as usual, was in the centre of the train, left the rails, dragging the trucks with it. The train was completely wrecked.


Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 10th May 1902

The casualty list last night reported that 2453 Sapper M. Garvey, of the 31st Company Royal Engineers, was killed in the armoured train accident at Daspoort on the 5th inst. This brings the number of deaths to one officer and ten men, as mentioned in Lord Kitchener’s despatch.


Yorkshire Post, 13th May 1902

THE WAR CASUALTIES.

Last night’s casualty lists contain the names of the eleven men injured in the accident to an armoured train at Daspoort, near Pretoria, on Monday in last week. They are as follows: –
2nd Royal Fusiliers – 2497 S. Gee, injured scalp; 5419 C. Bunker, injured left leg; 3008 W. Harvie, injured scalp; 8499 W.H. Shears, injured, fracture both bones left leg; 8448 W. Tone, injured scalp; 3869 H. Jemison, injured scalp, severe; 2216 J. Donoghue, fracture jaw and ribs, severe; 998 F. Wait, electrical shock; 3736 H. Spencer, injured right thigh.
Cape Government Railways – Driver W. Shepherd, injured scalp; Stoker James Hind, concussion scalp, wound fracture right arm, severe.











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