The Siege of Kimberley
During the Anglo-Boer War, Kimberley was besieged by Boer forces for four memorable months, from 14 October 1899 when the railway and telephone lines were cut, isolating the town, until General Frenches exhausted cavalry clattered in on 15 February 1900.
The Siege of Kimberley – It was exciting initially, with alarms and khaki-uniformed troops, and civilian volunteers being hurriedly armed and organised, the mine dumps were topped with fortifications an d martial law proclaimed. Even the bursting shells from the encircling Boer forces, after bringing initial chaos and one death, caused only minor damage and made excellent souvenirs. A relief force was expected almost daily, while the local actions brought casualties but also Boer prisoners and captured loot and failed to dampen civilian enthusiasm. Then the mood changed abruptly. on 28 November a major fight, intended to distract Boer attention from the advancing relief column, resulted 23 deaths and 31 wounded, mostly town people. Spirits plunged and the tactics of the military were promptly attributed to a desire for glory. A fortnight later came news of the British disaster at Magersfontein’s and people discovered that the relief forces arrival would be followed by the evacuation of Kimberley civilians, including women and children. “Banishment and bankruptcy” howled the local newspaper. Price controls and food rationing thigh tend with different ration scales for each section of the population. The mines were not working, money was short, and relief works were started by De Beers to provide some employment. The death rate rose, summer heat, dust, wind, flies and locust increased the feelings of boredom and isolation.
The only real excitement was the successful manufacture and firing of “Long Cecil’s” described by a military historian as “one of the most remarkable events in the history of a beleaguered garrison”.
Named after Cecil John Rhodes, the gun was designed by De Beers, innovative Chief Engineer ( an American, George Labrham) using, among other sources, the Encyclopedia Britannica,. It , like its shells stamped “compliments CJ Rhodes”, was manufactured in the De Beers workshops. Retaliation however, came swiftly, and a new outburst of Boer shelling was followed by the arrival of a “Long Tom” siege gun, whose huge shells crumpled the mud brick and corrugated iron of houses, pubs, shops and even the local Stock Exchange.
