Today in Kimberley's History
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101 days since beginning of the Siege of Kimberley, 1900
Extract from "The Diary of a Doctor's Wife – During the Siege of Kimberley October 1899 to February 1900" by Winifred Heberden.
Boer bombarding woke us up at a very early hour this morning, and there seemed to be so many guns that our first half-awake thought was that the Relief Column had arrived! But it seems that nine Boer guns were playing on us, and with their noise added to that of our guns from all the different Forts it is no wonder we were surprised.
The Boer guns were placed thus: Alexandersfontein 1, Wimbledon 2, Lazaretto 3 (two cordite), Diebels Vlei 1, Kamfersdam 1, Susannah 1.
I had a splendid view from my window of 'Long Cecil' and a 7-pounder firing away from No.2 Redoubt, and also one gun on the Searchlight Debris Heap. I could also see the smoke from the one on Diebels Vlei. This latter gun cannot reach much beyond the Fort where Harry Gibbs is, so it did not contribute many shells to-day. The main idea seems that the Boers intend to make things unpleasant in the town itself. We are in the direct line of fire in my room from the Kamfersdam gun, but the shells, though occasionally skimming over the roof, never fell within 60 or 70 yards from us. We are, nevertheless, some 100 yards from the magazine at the Police Barracks, and a little further on is the Ordnance Department, so these constitute our chief danger - though a girl of 18, named Maddocks, an old Barkly patient of Jack's was killed by a shell not very far from our hotel this morning.
Up to 7 p.m. it was roughly estimated that 500 shells had been fired at the town. The gun 'Susannah' had a lively duel with the Wesselton, the latter firing about 90 shells. Beaconsfield had a bad time to-day, but nobody was injured, the usual number of extraordinary escapes being quoted. Desultory shelling went on all round us till about 9 p.m.
Extract from "The Diary of a Doctor's Wife – During the Siege of Kimberley October 1899 to February 1900" by Winifred Heberden.
Boer bombarding woke us up at a very early hour this morning, and there seemed to be so many guns that our first half-awake thought was that the Relief Column had arrived! But it seems that nine Boer guns were playing on us, and with their noise added to that of our guns from all the different Forts it is no wonder we were surprised.
The Boer guns were placed thus: Alexandersfontein 1, Wimbledon 2, Lazaretto 3 (two cordite), Diebels Vlei 1, Kamfersdam 1, Susannah 1.
I had a splendid view from my window of 'Long Cecil' and a 7-pounder firing away from No.2 Redoubt, and also one gun on the Searchlight Debris Heap. I could also see the smoke from the one on Diebels Vlei. This latter gun cannot reach much beyond the Fort where Harry Gibbs is, so it did not contribute many shells to-day. The main idea seems that the Boers intend to make things unpleasant in the town itself. We are in the direct line of fire in my room from the Kamfersdam gun, but the shells, though occasionally skimming over the roof, never fell within 60 or 70 yards from us. We are, nevertheless, some 100 yards from the magazine at the Police Barracks, and a little further on is the Ordnance Department, so these constitute our chief danger - though a girl of 18, named Maddocks, an old Barkly patient of Jack's was killed by a shell not very far from our hotel this morning.
Up to 7 p.m. it was roughly estimated that 500 shells had been fired at the town. The gun 'Susannah' had a lively duel with the Wesselton, the latter firing about 90 shells. Beaconsfield had a bad time to-day, but nobody was injured, the usual number of extraordinary escapes being quoted. Desultory shelling went on all round us till about 9 p.m.
More than 500 shells landing in Kimberley today - 1900
The Boer reply to the British 28.1 pounder Long Cecil gun took a few days to get going, but on 24 January 1900 all nine Boer guns retaliated, more than 500 shells landing in the town. It was the heaviest shelling of the siege. Naturally enough this terrified the population besieged within the town, the noise made even worse with the defenders replying with all their guns including the Long Cecil. The Long Cecil would fire 60 shells this day. There were a few buildings damaged by the Boer shelling, one exploding at the back entrance to the Kimberley Club while the members were having their supper, and several shells fell around Nazareth House. One citizen was wounded, and another, a young 16 year old girl, Maggie Maddocks, was killed.
Maggie had been staying at 16 Scholtz Street, the residence of a Mr George Palmer, when the Krupp shell struck the house shortly before 07h00 that day, exploding in her bedroom while she was dressing. Maggie was killed instantly, her spine being broken. She had been a patient of Dr Jack Heberden when the Maddocks family lived in Barkly West.
Maggie was the daughter of the late Thomas “Yankee” Maddocks, (aged 53 years and six months), an American citizen who was one of first settlers killed in the Matabele Uprising on 24 March 1896. At the time he was the mine manager of the Nellie Reef Mine at Insiza in the then Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Before Thomas Maddocks had gone north he had been a digger/prospector in the Barkly West region.
Left to mourn her sudden and tragic death were her mother Johanna, and siblings William Maddocks, Mary Johanna Maddocks, John Crawley Maddocks, Thomas Boyle Maddocks, Joseph George Maddocks, and Lewis Hughes Maddocks. Christened Magdalena Margaret Georgina, she was the third eldest and was known to all and sundry as Maggie.
(Courtesy of Steve Lunderstedt and Kimberley Calls...and Recalls)
The Boer reply to the British 28.1 pounder Long Cecil gun took a few days to get going, but on 24 January 1900 all nine Boer guns retaliated, more than 500 shells landing in the town. It was the heaviest shelling of the siege. Naturally enough this terrified the population besieged within the town, the noise made even worse with the defenders replying with all their guns including the Long Cecil. The Long Cecil would fire 60 shells this day. There were a few buildings damaged by the Boer shelling, one exploding at the back entrance to the Kimberley Club while the members were having their supper, and several shells fell around Nazareth House. One citizen was wounded, and another, a young 16 year old girl, Maggie Maddocks, was killed.
Maggie had been staying at 16 Scholtz Street, the residence of a Mr George Palmer, when the Krupp shell struck the house shortly before 07h00 that day, exploding in her bedroom while she was dressing. Maggie was killed instantly, her spine being broken. She had been a patient of Dr Jack Heberden when the Maddocks family lived in Barkly West.
Maggie was the daughter of the late Thomas “Yankee” Maddocks, (aged 53 years and six months), an American citizen who was one of first settlers killed in the Matabele Uprising on 24 March 1896. At the time he was the mine manager of the Nellie Reef Mine at Insiza in the then Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Before Thomas Maddocks had gone north he had been a digger/prospector in the Barkly West region.
Left to mourn her sudden and tragic death were her mother Johanna, and siblings William Maddocks, Mary Johanna Maddocks, John Crawley Maddocks, Thomas Boyle Maddocks, Joseph George Maddocks, and Lewis Hughes Maddocks. Christened Magdalena Margaret Georgina, she was the third eldest and was known to all and sundry as Maggie.
(Courtesy of Steve Lunderstedt and Kimberley Calls...and Recalls)
Emily Hobhouse reports on her findings regarding concentration camps during the Second Anglo Boer War - 1901
Emily Hobhouse, an English philanthropist and social worker who visited the Transvaal and Orange Free State Republics during the Second Anglo Boer War, reported to the British government that she found 2 000 women and children in shocking circumstances in the British concentration camp at Bloemfontein. The British government was unsympathetic to the plight of the prisoners and the dire circumstances continued. It was estimated that more than 27 000 people in White camps and more than 18 000 inhabitants of Black camps had died in captivity during the war.
Emily Hobhouse, an English philanthropist and social worker who visited the Transvaal and Orange Free State Republics during the Second Anglo Boer War, reported to the British government that she found 2 000 women and children in shocking circumstances in the British concentration camp at Bloemfontein. The British government was unsympathetic to the plight of the prisoners and the dire circumstances continued. It was estimated that more than 27 000 people in White camps and more than 18 000 inhabitants of Black camps had died in captivity during the war.