THE ADVENT OF "BIG BEN"
MAFEKING, _October 25th, 1899_.
To-day is the third day of the bombardment by which Commandant Cronje
is attempting to realise his threat of reducing Mafeking to ashes. Up
to the present it has been impossible to consider very seriously the
attempt of the Boers to besiege Mafeking. The earlier bombardment and
the series of events which have occurred during the interval have not
augmented the gravity of the situation. The Boer Commandant
endeavoured to carry out his word by opening the second bombardment of
Mafeking upon the day which he had notified Colonel Baden-Powell. We
had been incredulous at the threat of the Boers to send to Pretoria
for some siege guns. Monday, therefore, was a day of some anxiety for
us, and each was curious to know what result the enemy's fire would
produce. Upon this occasion, however, the townsfolk had reckoned
without taking into account the intentions of Colonel Baden-Powell,
and it was a very pleasant surprise to find that the bombardment of
Mafeking by the Boers had been converted into the bombardment of the
Boers by Mafeking. At a very early hour, two guns, which had been
placed near the reservoir, opened fire upon the enemy's artillery in
position at the water springs. The artillery duel which was thus
started continued for some hours, and if it did not do much damage to
either side it made manifest to the Boers that the defences of
Mafeking were not altogether at their mercy. About noon, however, the
Boers, who had been observed to place some guns in position upon the
south-west side of the town, threw shells at Cannon Kopje. Here again,
fortunately, no material damage was done.
Somewhat early in the afternoon, the look-outs reported tremendous
activity in the Boer camp. Across the veldt, those who cared, might
have seen the enemy engaged upon some enormous earthwork, which the
general consensus of opinion very quickly determined to be the
emplacements for the siege guns. They were about three miles away from
the town, and in a position different from that from which the guns
had shelled the kopje in the morning. The frequency with which shells
had exploded within the limits of Mafeking, had rendered the people
somewhat callous of the consequences, and despite an official warning
which was issued to the town, a large number of people stood
discussing, in excited groups, the value of this news, while no small
proportion of the population had gathered upon the west front to watch
with their glasses the completion of the enemy's earthworks. It was
three miles across the veldt, a mere black shadow upon the skyline,
distinguished by its proximity to a local landmark, the "Jackal Tree,"
where the Boers had intrenched their Creusot gun. It was not so much
that there were no other guns around us which had drawn the crowd, as
the morbid curiosity to see for themselves what perhaps in a few
hours they might never see again. At different points upon the eastern
and western heights the Boer guns had been stationed. To the
south-east there was a twelve-pounder at a very convenient range, and
so placed as to act as a flanking fire to the direct onslaught of "Big
Ben." Upon the extreme east there were two seven-pounders, one in
position at the water springs, the other covering the entire front of
the town. Upon the west and to the north the enemy had similarly
placed their guns. There was a seven-pounder emplacement, with a
Nordenfeldt support due west, 1,400 yards from the native stadt. Below
that, and between it and the north, the Boers had a Maxim. It is,
perhaps, somewhat extraordinary that an enemy who has procured the
best available artillery advice, should proceed to attack the town in
such a fashion, and much of the failure which has distinguished the
Boer bombardment is due to the fact that, instead of concentrating
their fire upon a series of given spots, they have maintained
simultaneous shelling from isolated points. As their shells fell, the
damage which they caused was scattered over a wide area, and confined
to a building here and there. Indeed, the greater portion of the
shells had merely ploughed up the streets. However, it was not to be
confirmed that afternoon. An hour after noon on the following day the
alarm rang out from the market place, the red flag was seen to fly
from headquarters, and the inhabitants were warned to take immediate
cover. Within a few minutes of the alarm, the proceedings for that day
began, and the first shell thrown from the Boer battery burst over our
camp. Presently on the distant skyline a tremendous cloud of smoke
hurled itself into the air. The very foundations upon which Mafeking
rests seemed to quiver, all curiosity was set at rest, and there was
no longer any doubt as to the nature of the new ordnance which the
Boers had with them. With a terrific impact the shell struck some
structures near the railway, and the flying fragments of steel spread
over the town, burying themselves in buildings, striking the veldt two
miles distant, creating a dust, a horrible confusion, and, an instant,
terror throughout the town. For the moment no one seemed to know what
had happened, when the sudden silence which had come upon the town was
broken by the loud explosion of the shell as it came in contact with
some building. It was a scene of unique interest, the rush of air, the
roar of its flight, the final impact, and the massive fragments of
steel and iron which scattered in all directions, gave no time for
those who had been exposed, to realise the cause of the disturbance.
Much as people throng to the spot where some appalling catastrophe has
occurred, so, a minute after the shell exploded, people appeared from
all directions to run to the scene, and although the shell had caused
no very great damage, the noise which it had made, its unusual size
and explosive force, did not tend to pacify people. Many were
convinced that Mafeking was doomed, and although no loss of life
occurred, there were few who did not think that their days were
numbered. In the course of the afternoon, after a rain of seven-and
nine-pound shells, the Boers opened with this gun again, and although
happily no loss of life occurred, the missile wrecked the rear of the
Mafeking Hotel, falling within a few feet of Mr. E. G. Parslow, the
war correspondent of the _Chronicle_. The force of the explosion
hurled this gentleman upon a pile of wood, blew the walls out of
three rooms, set fire to a gas engine, and effectually littered the
yard of the hotel. With the curious inconsequence which has marked the
Boer proceedings in their investment of Mafeking, the enemy threw no
more of these heavier shells during the afternoon, contenting
themselves with discharging at odd moments those of lesser calibre.
The two shells which had been fired during the afternoon gave the
inhabitants of Mafeking some little ground by which to judge the
nature of the bombardment on the morrow. After the cessation of
hostilities word was passed round that the two shells which had been
launched at Mafeking were a 64lb. howitzer and a 94lb. breech-loading
siege gun, and that it might be reckoned that these were but the
preliminary shots by which to measure the range. Officially it was
notified that every precaution must be taken to remain within the
bomb-proof shelters which the inhabitants of Mafeking had been advised
to construct. It is the presence of these pits which explains the
slight loss of life that has occurred during the Boer bombardment of
Mafeking. Up to to-day the effect of the terrible hail of shells which
has poured into the town has been but a few slight wounds. But there
could be no doubt that the more serious fighting was at last to take
place, and it seemed to us only natural to expect a general advance
upon Mafeking in the morning. The night passed with every man sleeping
by his arms and at his post. The women and children had been removed
to their laager, the horses were picketed in the river-bed, and once
again all preparations for defence, and all those measures which had
been taken to secure immunity from shell fire were, for the last time,
inspected. Firing began very early on Wednesday morning, a gun
detachment under Lieutenant Murchison opening with a few shells from
our position to the east of the town. When the light had become clear
the Boers brought their new siege guns once more into play. We
estimated at nightfall that the enemy must have thrown rather more
than two hundred shells into Mafeking, and if Mafeking be saved for
future bombardment its salvation lies in the fact that it is,
relatively speaking, little more than a collection of somewhat
scattered houses with tin roofs and mud walls. Any other form of
building would have been shaken to its foundations by the mere
concussion of these bursting shells. Where bricks would have fallen,
mud walls simply threw down a cloud of dust. But if Mafeking be still
more or less intact, it can congratulate itself upon having withstood
a most determined and concentrated shell fire.
It is difficult to defend the action of the Boers in laying upon
Mafeking the burden of these siege guns. We have heard no little from
Commandant Cronje upon the rules of warfare, as set out by the Geneva
Convention, by time-honoured practices, and by that sense of custom
and courtesy which at the present day still brings back some slight
echo of the chivalry which distinguished the wars in dead centuries.
Nevertheless, there is a grim and ill-savoured travesty in the Boer
bombardment of this town. We do not complain, and we must be forgiven
if we find some ironical and melancholy interest attaching itself to
our situation. Three times has Colonel Baden-Powell pointed out to
Commandant Cronje the buildings which enjoy the immunity of the Red
Cross flag, yet these buildings are still deliberately made the
objective of the Boer artillery; twice have we received flags of truce
from the Boers, ignoring altogether the fact that they were but the
clumsy subterfuge by which an unprincipled enemy secured to itself
some new and advantageous position for its guns; then, as a crowning
act of mercy, we have this Boer Commander, so blatant a gentleman that
he is by sheer force of his aggressive impudence worthy of our
attentions, training upon a defenceless town a 64lb. howitzer and a
94lb. breech-loading siege gun, pieces whose action is relegated by
these self-same observances of civilised warfare to towns who possess,
in the first place, strong fortifications; in the second, masonry and
concrete in their construction.
After the early morning hours had been whiled away Commandant Cronje
made preparations for a general advance upon the town under the
protection of his cannon fire. This was the moment which each of us
had longed for. As the Boer advance seemed to be concentrated upon the
eastern side, I proceeded to the redan at De Koch's Corner under Major
Goold-Adams, and, later on, to another a little lower down in the same
quarter of the town under Captain Musson. At this time, any one who
can, is supposed to bear arms to defend our position, and, so as to
more completely identify themselves with the movement for protection
of this place, the correspondents that are here are each carrying
their rifle and bandolier, and taking up their stand in some one of
the trenches. The correspondent of the _Chronicle_, Mr. E. G. Parslow,
the correspondent for Reuter's, Mr. Vere Stent, and myself, requested
Captain Musson, a local dairy farmer, who has been placed in charge of
one of the redans upon the east front, to allow us to assist him in
the protection of his earthwork, and it was from there, as a
consequence, that I watched the bombardment of Mafeking, taking an
active part in any rifle practice which Captain Musson permitted to
his men. At Major Goold-Adams's there had been stationed a Maxim
detachment, and it was not long before its sharp rat-a-tat-tat was
heard speaking to the enemy. The warm reception which was accorded to
the Boers from this redan soon began to draw their fire. With "Big
Ben" discharging its 94lb. shells in every quarter of the town, and a
12-pounder from the north-west dropping shrapnel with much
discrimination over that quarter, the enemy upon the east side soon
followed the example so shown them and discharged shells at the redans
along their front. The range was singularly good, and in a very few
minutes shells were dropping over and in very close proximity to our
two redans. Between the two, and but a little removed from the line of
fire, was the building of the Dutch Reformed Church, and several of
the shells intended for the Maxim in Major Goold-Adams's fort found
lodgment in its interior. The front of this church had been penetrated
in several places by the shells, when the gun was slewed suddenly
round upon the hospital and a shell fell in an outhouse attached to
the monastery with disastrous effect. When the smoke had cleared away
little was left of the building beyond a pile of smoking ruins. Above
Captain Musson's redan our untimely visitors constantly burst and
scattered, and we began to realise fully the value of the bomb-proof
shelters. In a little while, however, the Boers relaxed their shell
fire, and beyond maintaining sufficient fire to cover their advance,
the heavier guns were for the time silent. With this, the Boers began
to open out in extended order upon the east side of the town,
advancing on our west to within 900 yards of our defences. At each
point the Boer advance was protected by the guns, the heavy artillery
to the south-west seeming to be the centre of a circle of armed men,
who were advancing slowly upon this gallant little town. At no time
did the enemy, however, beyond the few upon the west side, come within
effective range of our rifles or our Maxims, contenting themselves
with taking up positions at 2,000 yards, and dealing out to us
prolonged rifle fire with some intermittent shelling. The firing was
very rapid, very general, and more or less impotent. Indeed their
expenditure of rifle ammunition and their extreme prodigality in
shells was as much playing into our hands as reaping them any
advantage.
By night we reckoned that over two hundred shells had been fired
alone, though it was very doubtful whether there be two hundred pounds
worth of damage to credit to them. We have had two men wounded, while
here and there it is believed that certain of the enemy received their
quietus. Whether we beat them off or whether they lacked the spirit to
attack us it be impossible to determine, and it is enough to say that,
whatever may have been their intention, Mafeking remains as it was
before the first shot was fired. At night, after the attack, Colonel
Baden-Powell issued a general order congratulating his forces and the
people in Mafeking upon their calmness during the heavy fire to which
they had been subjected.
As we are situated at present, it is impossible for us to leave our
trenches in order to give battle to the enemy, but we are still buoyed
up by the hope of being able before long to take in our turn the
offensive. In the meantime, most of us live with our rifles in our
hands, our bandoliers round our shoulders, existing upon food of the
roughest kind, peering over sandbags at the distant position of the
Boers, or crouching in the shell-proof trenches as their shells burst
overhead. There is much gravity in our isolated position; there is the
danger that, by good luck more than by skill, Mafeking may be reduced,
but there is no reason to fear that the determination and courage of
the town will give way. Above all else that may be calculated to
endure.