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Military History – South Africa – Europe – England 19th Century
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the wreck suggest that no explosive shells were used and shells found recently have their fuses
set at safety. It appears that in their haste and excitement, the Boer gunners forgot to arm their shells.
Later in the war locomotives were protected with elaborate ropework jackets and railway wagons
were modified to provide stronger protection for armed men. Trains were also converted to hospital
carriages for the transportation of the wounded.
See also:
Churchill, Winston; Colenso, Battle of; Naboomspruit, Ambush near; Willow Grange, Battle of.
Reference:
Churchill, Winston S., London to Ladysmith via Pretoria (London, Longmans Green, 1900; London,
Leo Cooper, 1989); Marix Evans, Martin, The Boer War: South Africa 1899–1902 (Oxford,
Osprey Publishing, 1999); Bushmans River Tourism Association, The Armoured Train Incident,
www.battlefields.co.za/history/angloboer_war.
Artillery, Boer
The Boer artillery units in the Orange Free State and the Transvaal republic were composed of
professional soldiers with a significant number of experienced German officers who were able to
train their men to a high degree of efficiency. The Transvaal was enriched by tax revenues from the
healthy mining industry and, under the direction of Lieutenant-colonel Trichardt, made considerable
expenditures to acquire the newest and best weapons. When the war broke out they were significantly
better equipped than the British.
The modern guns the Boers had were the 155mm Creusot, known by the British as the Long Tom
(of which there were four), the 120mm Krupp howitzer (four), 75mm Krupp and Creusot QFs, i.e.
quick-firing guns (twenty-eight) and the 37mm Maxim-Nordenfelt, known as the Pom-Pom (twentytwo). The latter was not considered to be an artillery piece by the British. Quick-firing guns had the
propellant charge in a cartridge case, rather than a separate bag, which increased the speed of
reloading. Still greater rates of fire were achieved with a recoil-absorbing device on the Creusot
which enabled the gun-carriage to stay still and thus removed the requirement to re-lay (aim) the gun
after every shot. The Transvaal, being the richer state, had the most modern weapons. There were
also forty-one other guns of various calibres and vintages, and the Boers naturally made use of any
British guns they could capture.
The Long Toms were used in the sieges of Kimberley, Ladysmith and Mafeking to bombard the
towns. It was not possible to limit their fire to purely military targets, but neither side appears to have
thought it irregular to kill civilians in the process. The howitzers, usually considered short-range
weapons for accurate shelling of defensive works, actually out-ranged the older British field and
horse artillery. Indeed, it was generally the case that the Boer guns out-ranged British guns of similar
calibre and type, demonstrating that French and German manufacture was superior to that of the
British at this time.
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