1900 – Waiting for the Next Attack

104 days into the Siege of Kimberley

On 27 January 1900, Winifred Heberden recorded a remarkable change in the atmosphere within the besieged town: "Still quietness – to everybody's astonishment."

Only a few days earlier, Kimberley had endured the heaviest bombardment of the entire siege, with more than 500 shells falling on the town in a single day. Now, the guns were largely silent. Rather than celebrating, many residents became uneasy.

Nobody knew whether the lull meant the Boer forces were preparing a fresh assault or simply repositioning their artillery. Every quiet hour was accompanied by speculation about what might happen next. The uncertainty became almost as exhausting as the shellfire itself.

Did You Know?

By late January 1900, Kimberley's residents had spent more than three months living under siege. Even periods without shelling were filled with tension as people waited for the next attack.

1900 - Building a New Kind of Home

As the siege continued, Kimberley's residents adapted to extraordinary circumstances.

Winifred noted that bomb and splinter-proof shelters had now been built in almost every garden or on the verandas of private homes. These simple shelters, often reinforced with earth, timber and whatever materials could be found, provided families with somewhere to take cover whenever the warning guns sounded. What had begun as a temporary emergency had become part of everyday life.

Children learned where to run when they heard shells overhead. Families kept essential belongings close at hand, while household routines revolved around the ever-present possibility of bombardment. The shelters became symbols of Kimberley's determination to endure.

Did You Know?

During the Siege of Kimberley, many residents abandoned their bedrooms and slept in improvised bomb shelters. Some took refuge in drainage culverts beneath the streets, while others dug shelters into mine dumps and tailings heaps to protect their families from shellfire.

1900 - Rumours Fill the Silence

In a town cut off from the outside world, rumours spread almost as quickly as official news.

One of the stories circulating on 27 January claimed that Lord Methuen had warned the Boer forces that if they continued shelling Kimberley itself instead of concentrating on the military forts, he would retaliate by dropping explosives from balloons. There is no reliable evidence that such a threat was ever officially made, and it was almost certainly one of many wartime rumours.

Yet the story reveals something important about life during the siege. Without newspapers from outside, reliable communication, or modern technology, people constantly searched for explanations. Every rumour offered hope, reassurance or, sometimes, fresh anxiety. For Kimberley's residents, uncertainty became one of the greatest hardships of the siege.

Did You Know?

Heliograph messages, flashlight signals, military scouts and intercepted dispatches all brought fragments of information into Kimberley—but rumours often travelled faster than verified news.