HOW WE BLEW UP AND CAPTURED TRAINS.
Looking at the matter superficially it seems a very barbarous thing to
derail and destroy trains with dynamite, but this was the only course
left open to us, since large military stores were being continually
brought in by the British from the coast. We honestly regretted that,
owing to the derailment and destruction of trains, drivers, stokers,
and often innocent passengers were launched into eternity. War is at
best a cruel and illogical way of settling disputes, and the measures
which the belligerent parties are sometimes compelled to take are of
such a character that sentimentality does not enter into any of the
calculations of the contending parties.
It should not be necessary to assure my readers that we acted entirely
within our rights in derailing and destroying trains. This was the
only means we had of breaking the British lines of communication and
of interrupting the conveyance of British troops and food.
Moreover, we were more than justified in any act of train-derailment
that we committed, by the instructions of Lord Wolseley as expressed
in his handbook. In that well-known publication this distinguished
soldier actually prescribes the use of dynamite, and even suggests the
manner in which it may be employed to the best advantage. But although
this train-wrecking was in every degree justifiable, I can assure the
reader that we regarded it as a very unpalatable duty. I remember that
when Lord Kitchener complained to me about the destruction of a
certain train, I sent him a reply to the following effect:--
"That the blowing up and destroying of trains was as
distasteful to me as I hoped the burning of our houses was
to his Excellency; and that when we derailed trains we
entered upon the task with hearts quite as heavy as those
which I presumed weighed down his troops when they deported
our women and children from their homes to the Concentration
Camps."
I shall now describe how we went to work in the matter of capturing
trains. That this is not so easy a task as appears to be supposed I
shall endeavour to show. Perhaps the best way to exemplify our method
of procedure would be to describe a particular instance which occurred
in March, 1901, between Belfast and Wonderfontein on the Delagoa Bay
Railway. The two stations are approximately 12 miles apart. At either
station a garrison had been established, and these were provided with
two or three cannons and two armoured trains, which latter were held
in readiness to proceed to any place within their immediate sphere of
action when anything irregular occurred on the line. They were used
besides to carry reinforcements and stores when needed. The armoured
train was indeed a very important factor in the British military
tactics, and one we had to take fully into account. The railway
between these two stations was also guarded by blockhouses. Every
morning the British soldiers carefully inspected their particular
section of the railway before trains were despatched in any direction.
The peril of running trains at night was speedily recognised, and of
those that attempted the journey very few indeed escaped capture. On
the particular occasion when the incident I am about to relate took
place, we were encamped at Steenkampsbergen, enjoying a little
remission from the arduous work in which we had been engaged. But we
were not idle, and a field-cornetcy of approximately a hundred men was
detailed to attempt the capture of a train. I personally reconnoitred
the line, and sent a field-cornet with instructions to lay a mine at
the most favourable spot for the distasteful operation we were about
to perform.
Our _modus operandi_ was to take a Martini-Henri rifle and saw off
four inches before and behind the magazine, and then to so file the
trigger guard that the trigger was left exposed. Two of the most
intelligent burghers were despatched over night with this mutilated
rifle and a packet of dynamite to the spot chosen for the mine, while
two other burghers kept guard.
Special precautions were taken to prevent footmarks being traced by
the British patrols, the burghers walking for a considerable distance
on the rails. The mine was prepared by carefully removing the stones
from underneath the rails and as cautiously replacing them to again
fill up the hole after the instruments of destruction had been
adjusted. The trigger was placed in contact with the dynamite, and
just enough above ground to be affected by the weight of the
locomotive, but so little exposed as to be passed unnoticed. All
surplus stones were carried off in a bag and great care was taken to
conceal all traces of the mine. Gingerly and cautiously and without
leaving any trace of their visit, the burghers now returned to their
field-cornet and reported that all was in order. The field-cornetcy
took up its position behind a small hill about a mile from the
railway, and the men concealed themselves and their horses so
ingeniously that their presence was not even suspected by the
occupants of the blockhouse close by. According to our information the
first train that was to pass next morning was the mail train carrying
the European mails, and the prospect of capturing some newspapers and
thus obtaining news of the outside world, from which we had been
isolated for several months, filled us with pleasant expectation. I
especially instructed the field-cornet to obtain newspapers, and to
capture as much food and clothing as possible. It being the custom of
the British garrisons to send scouts along the railway each day to
examine the line, the next morning the track was as usual
microscopically inspected, but the scouts failed to discover the trap
which we had laid.
Two outpost burghers lay at the top of the hill in the grass, and from
their coign of vantage they had a clear view of the railway line.
Ten o'clock in the morning arriving without a train appearing, my men
began to grumble. In the excitement of this adventure they had omitted
to prepare any food, and they were not now allowed to make fires,
because the smoke evolved in culinary operations would have been
immediately noticed by the enemy's outpost. We had therefore to remain
hungry, or our well-laid plans would have been frustrated. Time passed
on, and at 2 o'clock in the afternoon there were still no traces of
the expected train. Our horses were saddled up and had been without
food since the previous afternoon, and the poor animals also began to
show their displeasure by whinnying and stamping their hoofs on the
ground. The enemy's scouts had already inspected the line three or
four times either by going over it on foot or by using a trolley.
The afternoon was well advanced, and fears were growing in our minds
that the mine had been discovered. I should say that it was Sunday
afternoon, and that the mine had been laid on Saturday night. This
train-wrecking scheme of ours was contrary to the practices of our
nation, who regard all such acts on Sunday as a desecration of the
Sabbath, but here I will again apply an English precept, "The better
the day the better the deed."
About four o'clock my outposts notified to me the approach of smoke,
and shortly afterwards we beheld a train coming along. Every man of us
mounted his horse, and we sat calmly in the saddle to observe the
execution of our plan. We held our breaths. Perhaps the British had
detected the mine and removed it, with the result that all our travail
would be in vain; or they might possibly have sent a large force of
soldiers with cannon on the train to give us a "good hiding" to boot.
We watched breathlessly the progress of the train as it rapidly
approached the fatal spot, and our hearts thumped wildly as we waited
to see the success or failure of our enterprise. We had not long to
wait, for with a tremendous shock the mine exploded, overturning the
engine, and bringing the train to a standstill.
We now proceeded to storm the train, but I saw the danger of advancing
in a mass and shouted to my men to go carefully and spread out. When
we were about 500 feet from the train the British fired a volley at
us, but in so doing they merely displayed by their firing that there
were not many riflemen on the train, and that those that there were
shot badly and at random. Thus shown the weakness of the enemy, we
stormed with renewed vigour, and on arriving at about a hundred yards
distance we dismounted. The defenders did not face our fire long
before displaying the white flag. I stopped fire at once and the
train was ours.
It was Lieutenant Crossby, of the Remount Department, who waved the
white flag, and he now surrendered with about 20 "Tommies."
Among the occupants of the train was an old major, and on his saying
that he was very sick, and was on his way to the hospital, we
immediately apologised for having disturbed him and for the delay
which our little operation had caused him. There were eight sacks of
European mail in the train and these we seized. We liberated the
"Tommies" after disarming them. The Lieutenant in charge was the sole
person detained as a prisoner-of-war, and he was added to six other
British officers who were vegetating under our charge. Only a part of
the train could be destroyed by us, as one section was occupied by
women and children who were being transported to the Concentration
Camps.
On the following morning the field-cornet brought me the papers and
said with a smile, "You see I have brought you what you required,
General." I was overjoyed to obtain tidings from the outside world.
The letters were distributed about the laager, and there was abundance
of reading matter. I felt rather sorry for the "Tommies" who were
being thus mercilessly robbed of their letters, but I consoled myself
with the thought that our plight was quite as bad as theirs, for we
Boers had had no communication from any members of our families for
twelve months, and we felt justified in making the "Tommies" share our
misfortune. The Boers did not, however, get much satisfaction out of
other men's epistles, and even those who could read English gave up
the operation after having perused one or two, and threw away the
sackfuls of letters with disappointed faces.
The capture of this train was our second success. Shortly before we
had seized a train near Pan Station and had obtained a splendid haul.
This particular train was carrying Christmas presents for the British
soldiers, and we found a miscellaneous assortment of cakes, puddings
and other delicacies. It was very amusing that we should be
celebrating Christmas with cakes and puddings which had been intended
for our opponents.
A few weeks after we had captured the train carrying the European
mails we made another attempt at train wrecking, this time at
Wonderfontein Station. All, too, went well on this occasion until we
charged, and the British opened fire upon us with cannon. We were not
favoured this time by any sort of cover, but had to attack over open
ground, exposing ourselves to the heavy fire of the guns and the
fusillade of a hundred British riflemen. We had chanced this time upon
an armoured train, and the trucks which bore the cannon had remained
uninjured. The nut was rather too hard for us to crack, and failing to
take the train by storm, we were compelled to retire, after having
sustained the loss of three men, of whom one was my brave adjutant,
Vivian Cogell. From what I have said I think my readers will agree
that the capturing of a train is not always a "cake and ale"
operation.