Today in Kimberley's History
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71 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.
Jack and I went to the 6 o'clock Celebration, leaving Reggie to gloat over the bag of toys Father Christmas has brought him. There were a great number of people in Church, in spite of two Celebrations following, and the many uniforms dotted about the Church gave it an unusual appearance, and one could not help praying that they all might be alive next Christmas Day.
Later on we took Reggie to Church - his first privilege of that sort. His behaviour was excellent - though more a quaint imitation of other people's attitudes than anything else. The rest of the day was passed in watching dust storms which darkened the light and effectively prevented one from going out to wish one's friends 'A Merry Christmas'. In the evening an excellent dinner was laid before us - oyster soup, turkey, guinea-fowl, sucking-pig, veal, plum pudding, mince pies and jelly, dried fruits and walnuts. Not a bad menu after nearly three months of siege!
Extract from "The Diary of a Doctor's Wife – During the Siege of Kimberley October 1899 to February 1900" by Winifred Heberden.
Jack and I went to the 6 o'clock Celebration, leaving Reggie to gloat over the bag of toys Father Christmas has brought him. There were a great number of people in Church, in spite of two Celebrations following, and the many uniforms dotted about the Church gave it an unusual appearance, and one could not help praying that they all might be alive next Christmas Day.
Later on we took Reggie to Church - his first privilege of that sort. His behaviour was excellent - though more a quaint imitation of other people's attitudes than anything else. The rest of the day was passed in watching dust storms which darkened the light and effectively prevented one from going out to wish one's friends 'A Merry Christmas'. In the evening an excellent dinner was laid before us - oyster soup, turkey, guinea-fowl, sucking-pig, veal, plum pudding, mince pies and jelly, dried fruits and walnuts. Not a bad menu after nearly three months of siege!
George Labram moots the idea to Cecil Rhodes of making a field gun - 1899
Nobody really knows who first mooted the idea of making a gun in Kimberhey which could outrange the Boer artillery, but credit is usually given to George Labram, an American engineer in the town. He had come to South Africa in 1893 to erect a new crusher plant for one of the Kimberhey mines, staying on to become Chief Engineer to De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd, the company owning all the Kimberley diamond mines and which was under the chairmanship of Cecil Rhodes.
His greatest triumph perhaps was turning the workshops into a gun factory as well, never before having had anything to do with gun-making. Towards the end of 1899 Labram had noticed a billet of steel, 3 metres in length, ordered originally as shafting for one of the workshop machines, which was lying in the workshop yard. As it had a diameter of almost 28 cm it occurred to him that a fairly large calibre gun might be made from it. There were no books on gun-making in Kimberley but he remembered attending a lecture given some years previously by Sir William Anderson on the engineering aspects of the subject. With recollections of this, Labram and the De Beers' Chief Draughtsman (Edward Goffe) sought out all they could find on guns and their construction. There was not much available, only the few paragraphs on gunnery in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, some articles on guns in an old engineering journal, a War Office 'Treatise on Ammunition', and a gunnery textbook owned by an enthusiastic officer of the Diamond Fields Artillery.
Having read all these and discussed the subject with Lt-Col Chamier, who it seems was somewhat lukewarm about the whole idea, Labram decided it would be worthwhile attempting to make a gun which could reply more effectively to the Boer Artillery than the garrison's little mountain guns. On Christmas Night 1899, he put the suggestion to Rhodes and was given an immediate go-ahead. Work on the gun started next day.
(Source: South African Military History Journal)
Nobody really knows who first mooted the idea of making a gun in Kimberhey which could outrange the Boer artillery, but credit is usually given to George Labram, an American engineer in the town. He had come to South Africa in 1893 to erect a new crusher plant for one of the Kimberhey mines, staying on to become Chief Engineer to De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd, the company owning all the Kimberley diamond mines and which was under the chairmanship of Cecil Rhodes.
His greatest triumph perhaps was turning the workshops into a gun factory as well, never before having had anything to do with gun-making. Towards the end of 1899 Labram had noticed a billet of steel, 3 metres in length, ordered originally as shafting for one of the workshop machines, which was lying in the workshop yard. As it had a diameter of almost 28 cm it occurred to him that a fairly large calibre gun might be made from it. There were no books on gun-making in Kimberley but he remembered attending a lecture given some years previously by Sir William Anderson on the engineering aspects of the subject. With recollections of this, Labram and the De Beers' Chief Draughtsman (Edward Goffe) sought out all they could find on guns and their construction. There was not much available, only the few paragraphs on gunnery in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, some articles on guns in an old engineering journal, a War Office 'Treatise on Ammunition', and a gunnery textbook owned by an enthusiastic officer of the Diamond Fields Artillery.
Having read all these and discussed the subject with Lt-Col Chamier, who it seems was somewhat lukewarm about the whole idea, Labram decided it would be worthwhile attempting to make a gun which could reply more effectively to the Boer Artillery than the garrison's little mountain guns. On Christmas Night 1899, he put the suggestion to Rhodes and was given an immediate go-ahead. Work on the gun started next day.
(Source: South African Military History Journal)
Cecil Compton Paterson flew one of the first aeroplane flights in 1911
Evelyn Frederick (Bok) Driver, Captain Guy Livingstone, and Cecil Compton Paterson, in 1911 formed the African Aviation Syndicate ‘to promote the science and practice of aviation in South Africa’. It had a Paterson biplane and a Bleriot monoplane, and in 1912 acquired another Paterson and Bleriot. Paterson stayed in the air for 35 minutes, reaching a height of 600 metres above sea level on 25 December 1911, a South African record, only to crash the next day. On 27 December 1911 Driver flew the first airmail to Muizenberg from Cape Town, about 13 kilometres away.
The African Aviation Syndicate moved to Kimberley and established a permanent headquarters at Alexandersfontein. Plans were made for the establishment of a flying school, with the tacit approval of Brigadier-General Christiaan Beyers, who was Commandant-General of the Union’s newly formed Defence Force. Disagreement between the principals forced the Syndicate into liquidation in September 1912. A group of Kimberley enthusiasts bought the assets at a public auction in 1912, and Paterson started the Paterson Aviation Syndicate.
The citizens of Kimberley in the early days of flight went in their thousands to watch the various exhibitions put on for their benefit by Cecil Compton Paterson, Bok Driver and John Weston. Paterson had already made a name for himself by constantly circling the Honoured Dead Memorial. During the Easter holidays of 1912 he made his name in Kimberley by staging “…the most brilliant aviation display ever seen on the diamond fields.” He challenged Arthur Wright to race him on a motor cycle from Alexandersfontein to the Kimberley horse race course (today the semi-industrial area opposite the Diamond Pavilion).
The Diamond Fields Advertiser reported that Compton Paterson won the race easily. Compton-Paterson wrote: “Both machines were made to make a standing start. The motor cycle, however, was given 200 yards start so that its rider would not be inconvenienced by the aeroplane’s movements before it took to the air. The plane, however, proved much the faster and covered the course of six miles in something like 6 minutes 45 seconds, beating the motor cycle by over half a mile.” Paterson then went on to give a display of bombing an “enemy” camp with melons and afterwards flew back to Alexandersfontein in the dark. The crowd were suitably impressed. It was shortly after this display that Paterson accomplished the first-ever cross country flight in South Africa, flying from Kimberley to Klerksdorp in four hours and forty two minutes.
A disastrous fire in February 1913 had destroyed all Weston’s aircraft and his workshop, but his dream of the establishment of a flying school for South Africa was about to become a reality. On 1 July 1913, the Paterson Aviation Syndicate was registered in Kimberley. Tom Hill who had purchased the biplane (No 36) that Paterson had continued to operate after the liquidation of the first syndicate, was one of the seven directors of the new syndicate. His co-directors were Ernest Oppenheimer, Alpheus Williams, Herbert Harris, Charles May, David Macgill and George Robertson.
On 10 September 1913 General J.C. Smuts representing the Government of the Union of South Africa, and Cecil Compton Paterson in his personal capacity signed a Memorandum of Agreement whereby the Government agreed to have 10 candidate pilots trained at Alexandersfontein on the outskirst of Kimberley. The trainees included Ken van der Spuy, B.H. Turner, G.S. Creed, G. Clisdal, E.C. Emmett, G.P. Wallace, M.S. Williams, Hopkins, Solomon and M. van Coller. Private pupils included Arthur Turner (not to be confused with B.T. Turner) who was Paterson’s mechanic, and Miss A.M. Bociarelli.
Based on articles produced by Kimberley Calls...and Recalls Facebook Group
Evelyn Frederick (Bok) Driver, Captain Guy Livingstone, and Cecil Compton Paterson, in 1911 formed the African Aviation Syndicate ‘to promote the science and practice of aviation in South Africa’. It had a Paterson biplane and a Bleriot monoplane, and in 1912 acquired another Paterson and Bleriot. Paterson stayed in the air for 35 minutes, reaching a height of 600 metres above sea level on 25 December 1911, a South African record, only to crash the next day. On 27 December 1911 Driver flew the first airmail to Muizenberg from Cape Town, about 13 kilometres away.
The African Aviation Syndicate moved to Kimberley and established a permanent headquarters at Alexandersfontein. Plans were made for the establishment of a flying school, with the tacit approval of Brigadier-General Christiaan Beyers, who was Commandant-General of the Union’s newly formed Defence Force. Disagreement between the principals forced the Syndicate into liquidation in September 1912. A group of Kimberley enthusiasts bought the assets at a public auction in 1912, and Paterson started the Paterson Aviation Syndicate.
The citizens of Kimberley in the early days of flight went in their thousands to watch the various exhibitions put on for their benefit by Cecil Compton Paterson, Bok Driver and John Weston. Paterson had already made a name for himself by constantly circling the Honoured Dead Memorial. During the Easter holidays of 1912 he made his name in Kimberley by staging “…the most brilliant aviation display ever seen on the diamond fields.” He challenged Arthur Wright to race him on a motor cycle from Alexandersfontein to the Kimberley horse race course (today the semi-industrial area opposite the Diamond Pavilion).
The Diamond Fields Advertiser reported that Compton Paterson won the race easily. Compton-Paterson wrote: “Both machines were made to make a standing start. The motor cycle, however, was given 200 yards start so that its rider would not be inconvenienced by the aeroplane’s movements before it took to the air. The plane, however, proved much the faster and covered the course of six miles in something like 6 minutes 45 seconds, beating the motor cycle by over half a mile.” Paterson then went on to give a display of bombing an “enemy” camp with melons and afterwards flew back to Alexandersfontein in the dark. The crowd were suitably impressed. It was shortly after this display that Paterson accomplished the first-ever cross country flight in South Africa, flying from Kimberley to Klerksdorp in four hours and forty two minutes.
A disastrous fire in February 1913 had destroyed all Weston’s aircraft and his workshop, but his dream of the establishment of a flying school for South Africa was about to become a reality. On 1 July 1913, the Paterson Aviation Syndicate was registered in Kimberley. Tom Hill who had purchased the biplane (No 36) that Paterson had continued to operate after the liquidation of the first syndicate, was one of the seven directors of the new syndicate. His co-directors were Ernest Oppenheimer, Alpheus Williams, Herbert Harris, Charles May, David Macgill and George Robertson.
On 10 September 1913 General J.C. Smuts representing the Government of the Union of South Africa, and Cecil Compton Paterson in his personal capacity signed a Memorandum of Agreement whereby the Government agreed to have 10 candidate pilots trained at Alexandersfontein on the outskirst of Kimberley. The trainees included Ken van der Spuy, B.H. Turner, G.S. Creed, G. Clisdal, E.C. Emmett, G.P. Wallace, M.S. Williams, Hopkins, Solomon and M. van Coller. Private pupils included Arthur Turner (not to be confused with B.T. Turner) who was Paterson’s mechanic, and Miss A.M. Bociarelli.
Based on articles produced by Kimberley Calls...and Recalls Facebook Group