Today in Kimberley's History
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27 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.
Bombardment began at sunrise from three guns at Schmidt's Drift Road, and as they seemed rather vigorous we left our room which is on the top floor, and went below to listen to the shells which seemed to be falling all round us. When they stopped we had breakfast and sallied forth to inspect the damage done, and to see if we could get any pieces.
The worst casualty had occurred in front of the Catholic Church, where a poor old native woman had heen killed. I was looking at the spot where she had died, when a man near me kicked something soft and dusty, and remarked: 'That's a piece of her brain, Missis ...'; so, feeling rather queer, we went away.
The second bad place was a six inch hole in the roof and ceiling of a small house where the shell had entered at such an angle that it passed above a bed containing a woman and children; missed another bed, also with children in it, and fell through a small window where it burst and discharged itself harmlessly against a wall.
We then heard that our Mounted Troops were out, so I waited anxiously in the hotel till I saw them coming back in detachments.
At 11. o'clock Jack appeared, safe and sound, but in charge of the Ambulance waggon which was slowly taking Trooper Parker, C.P. to the hospital, mortally wounded in the back. Though much morphia had been given him on the field, the poor fellow was in agony, begging Jack to shoot him. Another Trooper was slightly wounded, but he rode in. These were the only casualties in a fight at Otto's Kopje - or, rather, on the veld around it, though the Boers must have lost heavily. A native asserted that he had seen 19 Boers carried away.
Extract from "The Diary of a Doctor's Wife – During the Siege of Kimberley October 1899 to February 1900" by Winifred Heberden.
Bombardment began at sunrise from three guns at Schmidt's Drift Road, and as they seemed rather vigorous we left our room which is on the top floor, and went below to listen to the shells which seemed to be falling all round us. When they stopped we had breakfast and sallied forth to inspect the damage done, and to see if we could get any pieces.
The worst casualty had occurred in front of the Catholic Church, where a poor old native woman had heen killed. I was looking at the spot where she had died, when a man near me kicked something soft and dusty, and remarked: 'That's a piece of her brain, Missis ...'; so, feeling rather queer, we went away.
The second bad place was a six inch hole in the roof and ceiling of a small house where the shell had entered at such an angle that it passed above a bed containing a woman and children; missed another bed, also with children in it, and fell through a small window where it burst and discharged itself harmlessly against a wall.
We then heard that our Mounted Troops were out, so I waited anxiously in the hotel till I saw them coming back in detachments.
At 11. o'clock Jack appeared, safe and sound, but in charge of the Ambulance waggon which was slowly taking Trooper Parker, C.P. to the hospital, mortally wounded in the back. Though much morphia had been given him on the field, the poor fellow was in agony, begging Jack to shoot him. Another Trooper was slightly wounded, but he rode in. These were the only casualties in a fight at Otto's Kopje - or, rather, on the veld around it, though the Boers must have lost heavily. A native asserted that he had seen 19 Boers carried away.