Today in Kimberley's History
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58 days since beginning of the Siege of Kimberley, 1899
Extract from "The Diary of a Doctor's Wife – During the Siege of Kimberley October 1899 to February 1900" by Winifred Heberden.
Everybody expected to hear the Imperial guns again, but everything was quiet. Curiously enough no signalling to us from the English occurred. In the night, though, it was stated, unofficially, that the Boers had signalled to us from the same kopje that the Column had shelled that morning. It was stated that the Boers, representing themselves to be Lord Methuen's Column, signalled to say that they were obliged to give up and go away entirely as the enemy held all the positions, and it was impossible to get them out!
The kopje the Boers are on is practically impregnable, one side of it being a sheer precipice. Their water supply is at Spytfontein, however, and though there are two other Boer positions round there, our army may at present be cutting off the water.
Jack and I rode to Wesselton that afternoon and saw how very strongly fortified this distant (6 miles) point of Kimberley is. About 100 of the Lancashires are there, and all the miners act as armed guards; and though Wesselton is so close to the Free State the position of the Debris Heaps makes it altogether too strong for the Boers to attack with any success, and their shells have done absolutely no damage there.
Extract from "The Diary of a Doctor's Wife – During the Siege of Kimberley October 1899 to February 1900" by Winifred Heberden.
Everybody expected to hear the Imperial guns again, but everything was quiet. Curiously enough no signalling to us from the English occurred. In the night, though, it was stated, unofficially, that the Boers had signalled to us from the same kopje that the Column had shelled that morning. It was stated that the Boers, representing themselves to be Lord Methuen's Column, signalled to say that they were obliged to give up and go away entirely as the enemy held all the positions, and it was impossible to get them out!
The kopje the Boers are on is practically impregnable, one side of it being a sheer precipice. Their water supply is at Spytfontein, however, and though there are two other Boer positions round there, our army may at present be cutting off the water.
Jack and I rode to Wesselton that afternoon and saw how very strongly fortified this distant (6 miles) point of Kimberley is. About 100 of the Lancashires are there, and all the miners act as armed guards; and though Wesselton is so close to the Free State the position of the Debris Heaps makes it altogether too strong for the Boers to attack with any success, and their shells have done absolutely no damage there.