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Military History – South Africa – Europe – England 19th Century
.Article – Online Historic Information | Military
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toria two days earlier, the Orange Free State forces remained very active, blowing up bridges
and ambushing supply convoys. As a result Roodewal Station, which had been taken by the British on
23 May and garrisoned with men of the 4th Derbyshires, was the temporary railhead and goods were
off-loaded there until the railway to the north could be brought back into commission. De Wet
captured a wagon train en route to Heilbron from Vredefort Road Station at Zwavelkrans, near the
Rhenoster River on 5 June. It surrendered without resistance as the 200 men on board were
outnumbered three to one and fifty-six wagons of supplies were taken.
On 6 June, still undetected, De Wet returned to the railway line where he divided his force into
three. The first, 300 men and one 75mm Krupp, was sent to deal with Vredefort Road Station at
sunrise the next day; the second, with another 300 men, two Krupps and a Pom-Pom, were ordered
north to attack the British camp; and De Wet himself, with eighty men and one Krupp, headed for the
station at Roodewal itself. The British, who were attacked at dawn, resisted fiercely and De Wet’s
men were pinned down until the northern party had succeeded at the camp and brought two more
75mm Krupps south to help. The increased artillery fire forced a British surrender. De Wet observed
that their fortifications were constructed of bales of clothing and blankets, which kept British
fatalities down to twenty-seven men, while 200 or so were captured.
The richness of the prize was beyond Boer powers to exploit, for they lacked the transport to
carry it away. The post-bags were opened and looted by Boer and British alike and what the
commando could not carry off was to be burnt. De Wet had to work hard to ensure a place for rifle
ammunition among the goods his men took, then, according to De Wet: “When the sun set, the burghers
were again on the march. But what a curious spectacle they presented! Each man had loaded his horse
so heavily with goods that there was no room for himself on the saddle; he had, therefore, to walk,
leading his horse by the bridle.”
See also:
Prisoners-of-War; Transport.
Reference:
De Wet, Christiaan, Three Years War (London, Archibald Constable, 1902); Pretorius, Fransjohan,
The Anglo-Boer War 1899–1902 (Cape Town, Don Nelson, 1985).
Rooibaatje
A Red-jacket, that is a red-coat or British soldier. The term was used in the First Boer War when the
British infantry were still clad in red. However, in the Second Boer War the British were more often
called ‘Khakis’.
See also:
Khaki.
Roo’nek
A red-neck. The term was used by the Boers for the English who, until sufficiently tanned, suffered
from the strong sun.
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