"We have had an Imperial lesson./It may make us an Empire yet." Rudyard Kipling - The Lesson. Fascinating videos about Black Week, thank you. Tragically, what were seen as heavy losses in 1900 would become 'normal wastage' in WW1.
I was an Australian RAR reservist for 20 years, served with 2/3 Field Regiment, 105mm Howitzers, (Tobruk defence honour berfore my time), During my training I couldn't sit or lean on the wheels of the guns to rest, it was tantamount to sitting on the colours, I'm not surprised at the fervour in this story to save the guns at all costs!
My grandfather was awarded the Military Medal for saving a bogged down cannon from no- man's land under heavy enemy fire near Ypres in 1915 during WW1. He was a Sergeant in the Royal Horse Artillery from 1914 - 1919. RIP Dearest Grandad. ❤
Greetings from across the pond. It’s interesting to hear and read about a war we don’t get taught about in school here in America. Thank you for all you do on British history, and thank you for putting videos out, I truly appreciate it.
Wow that's kinda sad I was taught about the Boar Wars in school as part of World History in HS in the DC Metro area, it wasn't a great telling of the history but gave a basic account of what happened . I wonder if maybe I'm just old at 56 ? It's always good to gain more knowledge on any subject you have an interest in for me my whole family on both sides are British and many going back as far as the Tudors were military so I have an interest in British military history .
@@danran100 Umm at the time it was the British army. There hadn't been an English army for over a century by that point. I happen to have a good idea where the name Moran hails from and we don't need revisionist BS thanks, colonial history has more than enough BS by itself.
Very interesting. I am from the Netherlands and i was born and lived inthe Colensostraat here in the Netherlands. The neighborhood is called Transvaalbuurt and buurt means neighborhood. The whole neighborhood was built between 1901 and about 1905. All the streetnames refer to the Boerwar (boer means farmer in Dutch. Oe is pronounced like the o in "do" and the ou in "you"). We have Paul Krugerkade, Paul Krugerstraat, Pretoriaplein ( plein means square), Tugelastraat, Generaal Cronjéstraat ( longest shopping street in the Netherlands), Generaal Joubertstraat, Generaal Bothastraat, Generaal de la Reijstraat, Generaal de Wetstraat, President Steijnstraat, Paul Krugerpark is since the 80s called Nelson Mandela park: there was much resistance from us in the neighborhood to rename all streets and we won from the city council.
@@hendrikvanderschyff7812 Goedemorgen Hendrik. Graag gedaan. Als ik jouw tekst lees, is het alsof ik een tekst lees uit de 17e eeuw. Tot voor 5 jaar gelden had ik een college uit Zuid-Afrika. Hij praatte af en toe expres Zuid-Afrikaans. In Nederland zijn er meerdere Transvaal buurten. In Haarlem is de Gen. Cronjéstraat de langste winkelstraat van Nederland met ik dacht 500m, maar we n Ijmuiden is het een hele Korte straat.
Excellent presentation History Chap! Thank you for posting the battle of Colenso. Your skillful presentation gives a first person witness to the battle, which gives a clear understanding of how the battle unfolded. Thoroughly enjoyable l am certainly looking forward to more videos.
A truly delightful video. Full of accurate information and highly entertaining. Probably a descendant of Bullow of Colenso was Major Donald Bullough who was a Chief Officer of the Essex Ambulance Service in the 1980s.
The heroism in returning to the battlefield to save a comrade brings to mind that song Two Little Boys "did you think I would leave you dying when there's room on my horse for two.." Such bravery and valour always moves me.
Very interesting. My maternal grandfather was named John Albert Colenso Banks. Born in 1900, he died in 1965 a year before I was born. Tracing family ancestry we thought the Colenso was associated with the Italian village of the same name but then after mum died and dusty attics were cleansed, we found it came from this actual battle. I have an old sepia photo of great-grandad in uniform with two brothers dated 1895. I am not sure great-grandad fought in this battle though his siblings were also military men and I assume one of them must have died here and the name passed as a memorial.
I knew the son of George Ives, the last surviving British veteran of the Boer War. Jack lived in Quesnel, British Columbia and related several stories of his dad's experiences as a teen aged soldier in the South African War.
I tried an experiment. I'm a big fan of yours, and I am enthralled by your narration of the Battle of Colenso. However, on my 3rd viewing of this story, I put down the tablet viewer, and set it to where I could only listen to it. With a glass of good scotch whiskey, I started from the beginning. It's absolutely amazing to use a different way of receiving the news of this battle. Again, no visuals, only audio recording. One's mind begins to take on the geography of the Tugela basin and river. Next the units with their positions began to find their places in my mind as the story grows. I could almost hear the little boy's bugle sounding the advance. I could almost hear the "crack" of a Mauser bullet whizzing by. Please give the History Chap another perspective on this story and just use your imagination as he weaves his historical tale. "Three huzzahs and a tiger!"
Truly Black Week But the men were such inspiring heroes , who in spite of bad situations and poor commands, gave their all for their comrades and their honour . Cheers
Battles of the Boer War by W. Pemberton - Baring is worth a read, describes Colonel Long's crazy advance with his guns as well as all battles in "Black Week" and the rest of the war.
In defence of Longs “crazy advance” Buller did not take his senior arty officer with him when he reconnoitred the field. Otherwise the entrenched Boers might have been seen. As it was the guns were runout as per the book unfortunately about 1000 yds from the trenches on the opp bank of the river. I have letters to Long which clearly sympathise with him including a Boer General and Lord Salisbury. I’m abroad now so don’t have access to them so cannot list them. Suffice to say Long campaigned tirelessly on. Behalf of the officers who lost their pensions as a result of the action. They and Long had them restored solely due to his work.
@@TheHistoryChap This is another superb documentary of the highest standard. There is a beautiful Boer War memorial at the entrance to St Stephen's Green,Grafton Street,Dublin. Obviously it is dedicated to the Irish soldiers who fell in the Boer War in particular soldiers from the Royal Dublin Fusiliers. It was unveiled by the Duke of Connaught in 1905 and the memorial has the formal title "The Fusiliers Arch". Sadly it is known locally as "Traitors Gate". I dont know if you got my post in the comments section in another one of your high quality episodes titled "British Empire-Bloody Climax". Wishing you continued success.
Great video I like the battlefield maps you show and your narration style. I'm currently reading a book about the Boer war and struggle to visualize the battlefields with only worded descriptions. Thanks
Great presentation, I always wonder about Buller since I was trained at Buller Barracks in Aldershot. The treatment of George Ravenhill was a disgrace, but typical of the times.
As for the defeats in Black Week, when Buller was given command of the Army Corps back in England, when he looked at the list of soldiers he was being given to command, he remarked, "well, if I can't win with these, I ought to be kicked". He knew the troops he was being given to command would be insufficient to get the job done, and the events of Black Week proved it. Besides this, not only had Buller not seen any action in 14 years when the war started, all the colonial campaigns he had previously fought in under Sir Garnet Wolseley, he fought in a subordinate role. Overall operational command was clearly a level of command he wasn't prepared for, and the events of Black Week proved this too. He definitely improved after being moved back to subordinate level and played a part in the defeat of the Boers in the conventional phase of the war. It was unfair what happened to Buller in the aftermath of the conflict, especially as the tactics he used to defeat the Boers and relieve Ladysmith would later be used by the British in the First World War.
Nathan, I agree with your assessment. Buller was wrong man for the job but when moved back into his comfort zone he did produce better results (excluding Spion Kop).
The crossing on the left was called Bridledrift not Brindledrift. My uncle, Gifford Sparks, had the farm where this crossing is. When the river is low, there's several spots you can cross knee-deep onto a small island we called Birds island and then splash over to the far side. There's a memorial and graves for the Brits that fell just before the farm entry gate. M.
Another great video Chris. Your narration is fantastic and filled with detail. It's a delight to watch your channel. Perhaps you might consider doing a series on the roles played by Irish Regiments in Britain's wars.
@@danran100 Why not? It's a fact that many Irishmen and women served in the British armed forces and they performed heroically; especially in helping to defeat Hitler.
Really heroic story. Shot three times at once. My grandfather was shot four times but not at the same time. The military tech background reminds a bit on 2022 ukraine.
To be fair I doubt I would have thought the Boers capable of accurate fire at 1,000 yards. It was rash in hindsight but given all prior experience doesn't seem suicidal for the time. For the Boers it was a turkey shoot. I find your videos most enjoyable for the depth of research but also your narrative style which adds so much flavor. Well done History Chap!
They're using 8mm Mauser rifles. Those things were nasty in the hands of a recruit, they were positively horrific in the hands of someone who'd trained with rifles their whole life, knew the area, and had the utter gall to use something called cover. They were basically a modern equivalent to the English Archer of previous years (mostly Welsh), whereas the British were a farce multiplier.. Look up Forgotten Weapons - he has vids on the Mauser bolt actions amongst others
The Rough Riders also faced the same rifles in the Spanish-American War. The US military was so impressed that Springfield Armory copied a lot of the Mauser rifle to make the Springfield 1903 rifle. Mauser sued them and the US government had to pay Mauser for patented infringement.
There is a memorial to the Boer war on the mall in Armagh city. Most people don’t even know about it. It is not beside the cenotaph which is well known. There are a lot of names on the Boer war memorial. The local Regiment would have been the Royal Irish Fusiliers.
Many thanks for sharing. There was a board in my old rowing club with the names of the club members who fought in this war. I doubt most modern members ever look at it let alone realise what it was all about.
Excellent...as always..I particularly like the way you tell us what happened to the characters in later life. So who were the 3rd father and son to win the VC? Very much look forward to watching more episodes. Thanks again , Nick.
Thanks for your kind words. The story about the three father-son VC winners in coming soon. Please make sure that you subscribe (& hit bell icon) so you don't miss it.
Stupidity, not bravery, or what we today call "sunk cost fallacy". A few guns with limited ammunition and an ego problem isn't worth 2000 men. Now if it was a couple of 1pdr Gatlings like the Hotchkiss or something like that.. Because those would be a technological loss.. But otherwise...
Great history lesson thanks. The British Army officer class system seem impervious the change being responsible many avoidable soldiers deaths in our history.
I spent 5 Years in 159 Colenso Bty RA (Previously 16 Bty). Corporal Nurse is Buried in Liverpool. I think its mad how we repeatedly use battle disasters as units battle honors. There is a memorial to the Irish Brigade at St Stevens Green in Dublin.
Liam, thanks for adding to the story. I have just released a video about Maj-Gen. Hector MacDonald - "Fighting Mac". th-cam.com/video/Sx178vz8p7U/w-d-xo.html
I have Longs medical report amongst other correspondence from/to him following the war. Long was wounded 7 times during the battle! He and his other surviving officers were courtmartialed and lost their pensions for loosing the guns. A post war letter to him from Botha (I could be wrong as I haven’t read it for a few years now) said that Longs action caused him to disclose his main positions and abandon his plan to trap the Brits after they crossed the road bridge.. also Long was not asked by Butler to join him reconnoitring the Field at Colenso. Buller which was odd. Long was I/c the artillery and it would have been normal for all key officers to accompany Buller on the reconnaissance. It seems Buller did not like Long and on the ship out to the Cape never asked Long to join him at table. Also Buller was an admirer of Jenny Churchill, Winston’s mother, and Long had sent Winston on the armoured train that was ambushed leaving Winston a POW - One could speculate that a telegram to Buller from the admired and influential Lady may have deepened Buller apparent dislike for Long. However, post-war there was much sympathy for Long in the correspondence I’ve seen and Long eventually regained the deprived pensions including his own.
John, thanks for adding to the discussion. I hadn't comprehended Jenny Churchill's possible involvement although I was aware of Long's responsibility for the train. As I said to another viewer, Long's tactic had been used successfully during the Franco-Prussian War so he wasn't totally "off script"
I can't believe ,that the British ever fought a better shooting People, meant every one above 12 years in a whole country. The Mausers didn't hurt ..😮 Thank you again. Ludwig
My Great Uncle Nicolas Chiazzari received a DSO for getting the Tugela River Ferry operational. Quote "Lieutenant N W Chiazzari, Natal Naval Vols., has been most useful, especially in getting into working order and working the punts across the river, both at Potgieter's and at Colenso, by which all the troops crossed." For his enterprise and leadership, Lieutenant Chiazzari was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, thereby becoming the first volunteer soldier in the Empire to be awarded this decoration. Another Great Uncle was wounded during the siege of Ladysmith and lost his arm during a battle near Bethesda..
Just found your channel today and boy am I happy. Subscribed! FYI before this I thought only 4 VCs were won (wikipedia!) but they dont list Babtie or Lister Reid. A quick check and we discover you are correct!
I bet those Hotchkiss or Krupp light artillery would still be very effective today. Same with the Maxim machine gun. Its interesting how not much has changed since the enclosed brass cartridge self contained with primer, powder and bullet in brass case. And that was 150 years ago. We should have flechette guns where you can have a magazine the size of a 30 round magazine hold 300 flechettes. This is a copyright idea, they need to use heavy duty paper treated on the inside in place of brass. Maybe the paper and primer completely burn and nothing is ejected
Michael, thank you for your kind comment and your request about Sir Richard F Burton. Great idea, I will add to my list. Please make sure you subscribe so you don't miss it.
Right here are the Boers Outdoorsmen, that means excellent marksmen. Dutch lineage mostly, blood is thicker than water the Dutch make excellent serviceman. Knowledge of the terrane and climate, The Boers were locales. Finally old fashioned thinking by the establishment, rather than alternatives later to be developed like special forces, which the British were later to excel at. That’s it basically.
There were 'Irish units " that fought on the side of the republics, These men took mostly the roll of saboteurs, blowing up rail lines they had the skills as they were miners on the rand
The Boers showed the British what rifle marksmanship was. After the war, the British started training their soldiers and came up with the “Mad Minute”. They would shoot their SMLE rifles in the prone position at 200 yards, at a man sized target from the waist up. Then, after one minute, they would count the hits.
Regarding Prvt George Ravenhill. I had been led to believe that once given a VC It could not be taken from you. Quote: 'you could go to the gallows wearing one'. Is this not true then? Thanks.
Thanks for raising that point. My understanding is that within the royal warrant establishing the VC there is a clause allowing for removing. The quote that you mentioned was from King George V. No VC has been forfeited in over 100 years although the provision remains.
That man who went to prison and had his V.C. taken away should be given it back. It should go to his family. The fact he died in poverty 14 years later is a National Disgrace. Anyone else who had a medal taken away, for whatever reason should get it back. They can be given to the nearest of kin. Thanks for a terrific video. As always, very sad about how many horses died in the battle.
I would like to send you a photo of Freddie Roberts' grave as well as other Battle of Colenso graves. Freddie is buried at Chieveley Station (from where Churchill travelled in the armoured train before his capture). Chieveley was used as a field hospital at the time.
Frankly, I can’t believe that they were making 1000 yard shots with Mauser rifles. That would be an incredible feat, even with today’s scoped hunting rifles.
Another very interesting video. My father served in the RAF 1948-55 in South Africa. Excuse my ignorance but, who actually won the Boer War? Seems like a bit of a stalemate to me. Is there any chance you might do a talk on Lord Baden Powell please?
I honestly don't know what to say. Brilliant video and very accurate. I have been to the Spioenkop battle field memorial and it was interesting learning about what happend there more than a hundred years ago. My heart ache for the Brits because it was a war that could have been avoided if not for there greed. But I've no sympathy for the numbers lost ,because of what they did to our women and children. Mag die Here wees met elke siel wees wat geduurend die oorlog weg gegooi was en van vergeet was. En mag die koninging vir eewig in hel brand. Edit: please forgive my terrible English, it isn't my first language
Zack, thanks for taking time to comment. I will do a video about Kitchener's scorched earth policy and the concentration camps reasonably soon. Just want to be sensitive with that particular subject.
@@TheHistoryChap Are you going to do something about the evolution of British 'cavalry' doctrine? The British did win this war after all and when you take away all the guilt shaming and retrospective lamentation; they won it crushingly. Well over half the Boer fighting men were either dead, incarcerated or incapacitated. Both Boer capitals were occupied, and basically all Boer farmland was burnt to sunder. What last vestiges of the Boer resistance were left were continually being strangled out by British mounted patrols who had come to grips with this very new form of warfare. Officers such as Haig wanted to completely wipe the Boers off the face of the planet and had him and others officers got their way that reality was only months away. Quite literally. The Boers were a formidable enemy due to the very nature of their harsh existence and before anyone bangs on about the financial cost to Britain just remember that the resources used by the USA in failing to deal with the Taliban FAR exceeded anything the British used in the vast expanse of the veldt (and that's without planes and vehicles or the auxiliary assistance of several allies).
@@doug6500 Im just going to argue a little in the regards of ''they won it crushingly''. There are a lot of factors that I honestly think you are missing. Britain was humiliated during the war because of the number of troops and finances they sent to win (edit: for the time period, it was to expensive and questioned why they needed so many troops against mere farmers). To top it all they had to use dishonorable tactics to just to win, causing the British people and many others around the world to question Britains actions (which we all know was driven by greed). Sir Author Doyel (hope Im spelling his name correctly) described it the beginning of the end for the British empire. Not a very crushing victory when even one of your main propagandists say that, now is it?
I’m sure it was just a slip of the tongue but you made a small error around the 12:05 mark, Bobs was actually awarded the VC for his actions in the Indian Mutiny not the 2nd Afghan War.
I got a feeling some of these Commissioned Officers looked after themselves with awarding medals when it was the Troops who did the hard work in battle
It would seem as if the British commanders had an extremely difficult time learning from their mistakes, carried on into the next wars as well, unfortunately...
How about a video on the battle of surrender hill, and Paardeberg? And what about Col. Scobell, who used the Boer tactics against them. What about the 3 sieges that never surrender to the Boers? What about Baden Powell?
"Gun Crews" - that's for the Navy. Royal Artillery had Gun Detachments. "Gun Teams" were the horses. 3 pairs, Lead pair, Swing pair and Wheel pair, Leaders, Swingers and Wheelers. Schofield was not initially awarded the VC. He got the DSO, but it was later upgraded, and he had to return his DSO. He came from Audenshaw near Manchester. I went to Audenshaw Grammar School. The award of posthumous VC's was not authorised at the time, and the Colenso business was a turning point in the policy, after some agitation, particularly from the family of one of the officers who had died whilst trying to save the Colours of the 24th at Isandhlwana in January 1879.
What on Earth was Buller thinking in his message to Ladysmith?!? A mental collapse of some kind? It seems almost inconceivable that with a numerically-superior army in the field, even a bloodied one, a general would advise something like that.
Certainly not ordered to do so by Buller. I guess Col. Long thought it had worked in Sudan so why not try it again? Also led to believe that the Prussians used the same tactic against the French during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870.
The guns to the artilary are the eqivlent to the regemental colors of other units , The rule regimant colors never touch ground and to be protected at all costs . If you watch parades you will see that the regimental colors have the two most experanced SGT / S Sgt protecting the them.
the Royal artillery named 1 of its training troops at Woolwich Arsenal Colenso troop. its the troop i was in during basic training in 1977. We never got told why it was called that. now i know where the name came from. Another troop was called inkerman troop. never got to finish basic training though. did the pass out parade and was about to start gunnery training when the firemen went on strike so we had to switch to fire fighter training. As we were fighting fires longer than expected and r regiments were waiting for us we never went back to Woolwich to finish r training we went home on leave for 2 weeks then off to r units. tough few months. 6 green goddess with 6 men per goddess to cover the whole of north London. think there was about 10 fire stations with 3 engines per station in the area we ahd to cover with just 6. we got to r base the day before the strike started to settle in and hope the strike got called off. green goddess arrived in the middle of the night so we had to do a crash course on them as we never got to see them or train with them till 8 hrs before the strike started. think the strike started around october and ended late Jan early Feb. we just finished finding where all the gear was stored on them and sat down for breakfast and heard on the news the strike had started and the call out bell went off straight away. within 30 mins al 6 goddess were out on the road. my crew the 1st crew out and the last crew back when the strike ended in the UK. sometimes we went 3 or 4 days with no sleep or food as we were constanly out fighting fires. deal with 1 fire start heading back to base and get directed to another fire before we got back to base. last fire was at east India docks. flour silo went up. we were there 24/7 for 2 weeks trying to put that out. we did that in 12 hrs shifts. 3 engines on site while the other 3 either rested if possible or went to deal with other fires. we were told not to let any of the water get onto the flour silo or it will explode. so all we could do is hose down all the buildings around it to stop them going up as well. Firemen saw how exhausted we were and most of us collasping the firemen came over and helped us then called an end to the strike. what kept us going was the pills the officers were giving us. we didnt know what they were at the time but later found out it was speed. I was 17 when the strike started 18 by the time it finished. Spent my 18th birthday fighting fires. half the time we didnt even know what day it was. it was grab sleep where possible usualy maybe 2 to 3 hrs a sleep a week. sandwiches and coffee bought to use by r police escorts who could see were were really struggling to stay on r feet due to lack of sleep and food. most of us were not much more than kids. think the oldest was about 19 the youngest 16.
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"We have had an Imperial lesson./It may make us an Empire yet." Rudyard Kipling - The Lesson. Fascinating videos about Black Week, thank you. Tragically, what were seen as heavy losses in 1900 would become 'normal wastage' in WW1.
Thank you for watching my video and for taking the time to comment
I was an Australian RAR reservist for 20 years, served with 2/3 Field Regiment, 105mm Howitzers, (Tobruk defence honour berfore my time), During my training I couldn't sit or lean on the wheels of the guns to rest, it was tantamount to sitting on the colours, I'm not surprised at the fervour in this story to save the guns at all costs!
Thanks for sharing your military experiences.
My grandfather was awarded the Military Medal for saving a bogged down cannon from no- man's land under heavy enemy fire near Ypres in 1915 during WW1. He was a Sergeant in the Royal Horse Artillery from 1914 - 1919.
RIP Dearest Grandad. ❤
Thank you for sharing your family story.
Respect to your grandfather's memory!
Greetings from across the pond. It’s interesting to hear and read about a war we don’t get taught about in school here in America. Thank you for all you do on British history, and thank you for putting videos out, I truly appreciate it.
Wow that's kinda sad I was taught about the Boar Wars in school as part of World History in HS in the DC Metro area, it wasn't a great telling of the history but gave a basic account of what happened . I wonder if maybe I'm just old at 56 ? It's always good to gain more knowledge on any subject you have an interest in for me my whole family on both sides are British and many going back as far as the Tudors were military so I have an interest in British military history .
Glad you enjoyed it
@abysswatchers
Don't get confused about "British" and "English" history.
@@danran100 Umm at the time it was the British army. There hadn't been an English army for over a century by that point. I happen to have a good idea where the name Moran hails from and we don't need revisionist BS thanks, colonial history has more than enough BS by itself.
@@rosiehawtrey danielmoran is a pen name, but tell me, where does it come from ?
The boers are absolutely inspiring
Thanks for watching my video
Thank you very much , i love hearing these history stories ... Cheers Simon 🤩
My pleasure. Thanks for watching.
Thank you, I have really enjoyed the series, and so much so that I have forgotten to comment, cheers
Thanks Andrew.
Please make sure that you subscribe so you don't miss future videos.
No worries, I have subscribed and will be sharing, cheers
I didn't think it was possible, but these videos are getting better and better, Thank you.
Glad you are enjoying them and thank you for posting your kind words.
A stunning retelling of the action to retrieve the guns. Exceptionally well done. Thank you. 👏🏻
Patrick, many thanks.
Please subscribe so that you don't miss any future videos.
@@TheHistoryChap Already subscribed my friend, content like yours is priceless.
Very interesting. I am from the Netherlands and i was born and lived inthe Colensostraat here in the Netherlands. The neighborhood is called Transvaalbuurt and buurt means neighborhood. The whole neighborhood was built between 1901 and about 1905. All the streetnames refer to the Boerwar (boer means farmer in Dutch. Oe is pronounced like the o in "do" and the ou in "you"). We have Paul Krugerkade, Paul Krugerstraat, Pretoriaplein ( plein means square), Tugelastraat, Generaal Cronjéstraat ( longest shopping street in the Netherlands), Generaal Joubertstraat, Generaal Bothastraat, Generaal de la Reijstraat, Generaal de Wetstraat, President Steijnstraat, Paul Krugerpark is since the 80s called Nelson Mandela park: there was much resistance from us in the neighborhood to rename all streets and we won from the city council.
That is absolutely fascinating. Thank you so much for taking the time to share this information.
Very much appreciated.
@@TheHistoryChap Pieter Maritzstraat, Ben Viljoenstraat, Tafelbergstraat, Spionkopstraat, Transvaalstraat, Goetzeestraat, Brandtstraat.
"The Kop" at Ansfield soccer stadium is named after Spioenkop. Apparently, some of their players fell there.
Baie dankie vir hierdie inligting.
@@hendrikvanderschyff7812 Goedemorgen Hendrik. Graag gedaan. Als ik jouw tekst lees, is het alsof ik een tekst lees uit de 17e eeuw. Tot voor 5 jaar gelden had ik een college uit Zuid-Afrika. Hij praatte af en toe expres Zuid-Afrikaans. In Nederland zijn er meerdere Transvaal buurten. In Haarlem is de Gen. Cronjéstraat de langste winkelstraat van Nederland met ik dacht 500m, maar we n Ijmuiden is het een hele Korte straat.
Excellent presentation History Chap! Thank you for posting the battle of Colenso. Your skillful presentation gives a first person witness to the battle, which gives a clear understanding of how the battle unfolded. Thoroughly enjoyable l am certainly looking forward to more videos.
Thomas, thanks for your kind words and encouragement.
Working on my next one - Sir Hector MacDonald "Fighting Mac".
Golly this is a good video! well done chap!
Thanks for watching my video, glad you enjoyed it.
A truly delightful video. Full of accurate information and highly entertaining. Probably a descendant of Bullow of Colenso was Major Donald Bullough who was a Chief Officer of the Essex Ambulance Service in the 1980s.
Thanks for your support
The heroism in returning to the battlefield to save a comrade brings to mind that song Two Little Boys "did you think I would leave you dying when there's room on my horse for two.." Such bravery and valour always moves me.
Just subscribed! A very well researched and presented channel! Zulu was my favorite movie growing up, so all this fascinated me!
Thanks for your support.
You are a masterful storyteller, you.
Many thanks.
Yet another superbly presented clip.
I'm really enjoying this Boer War series Chris and eagerly await and savour each new episode.
Bravo.
Many thanks, lots more to come.
Working on a video about Hector MacDonald, "Fighting Mac"
Brilliant work once again Sir. Your description of the Battle Of Colenso was ribbiting. Kudos Sir!
Once again, thank you for your support and encouragement.
Very interesting. My maternal grandfather was named John Albert Colenso Banks. Born in 1900, he died in 1965 a year before I was born. Tracing family ancestry we thought the Colenso was associated with the Italian village of the same name but then after mum died and dusty attics were cleansed, we found it came from this actual battle. I have an old sepia photo of great-grandad in uniform with two brothers dated 1895. I am not sure great-grandad fought in this battle though his siblings were also military men and I assume one of them must have died here and the name passed as a memorial.
Wow, Andy, what a brilliant family story.
Thanks for sharing.
th-cam.com/users/TheHistoryChap
I knew the son of George Ives, the last surviving British veteran of the Boer War. Jack lived in Quesnel, British Columbia and related several stories of his dad's experiences as a teen aged soldier in the South African War.
I tried an experiment. I'm a big fan of yours, and I am enthralled by your narration of the Battle of Colenso. However, on my 3rd viewing of this story, I put down the tablet viewer, and set it to where I could only listen to it. With a glass of good scotch whiskey, I started from the beginning. It's absolutely amazing to use a different way of receiving the news of this battle. Again, no visuals, only audio recording. One's mind begins to take on the geography of the Tugela basin and river. Next the units with their positions began to find their places in my mind as the story grows. I could almost hear the little boy's bugle sounding the advance. I could almost hear the "crack" of a Mauser bullet whizzing by. Please give the History Chap another perspective on this story and just use your imagination as he weaves his historical tale. "Three huzzahs and a tiger!"
Strangely enough I am planning a podcast channel.
An excellent report. Well done sir.
Many thanks for watching.
Interesting part of History. Thanks for the upload.
My pleasure.Thanks for taking the time to comment.
th-cam.com/users/TheHistoryChap
Truly Black Week
But the men were such inspiring heroes , who in spite of bad situations and poor commands, gave their all for their comrades and their honour . Cheers
I think that is something soldiers the world over do for their comrades.
Thanks for taking the time to post.
Just found your channel and can’t get enough. Very well done videos with in depth detail. Thank you for your efforts.
Another superb presentation , thank you Chris .
My pleasure. Thanks for watching.
My Grand Da was there in the Connaught Rangers.
Jimmy, thanks for sharing. I appreciate you taking the time to post.
Battles of the Boer War by W. Pemberton - Baring is worth a read, describes Colonel Long's crazy advance with his guns as well as all battles in "Black Week" and the rest of the war.
In defence of Longs “crazy advance” Buller did not take his senior arty officer with him when he reconnoitred the field. Otherwise the entrenched Boers might have been seen. As it was the guns were runout as per the book unfortunately about 1000 yds from the trenches on the opp bank of the river. I have letters to Long which clearly sympathise with him including a Boer General and Lord Salisbury. I’m abroad now so don’t have access to them so cannot list them. Suffice to say Long campaigned tirelessly on. Behalf of the officers who lost their pensions as a result of the action. They and Long had them restored solely due to his work.
Subscribed - thanks for your research and insights
Many thanks for your support.
@@TheHistoryChap Thank you very much - well delivered from your side
I did enjoy it. Thank you
Thank you for watching.
Here's my latest video: th-cam.com/video/C-LXRavNbLU/w-d-xo.html
Fantastic stuff as per usual Chap✌️
I'm glad that you enjoyed it.
Thanks for your support.
Fantastic as always History Chap! Love the info on the individual participants and what they went on to next👌👍
Thank you. I’m glad that you enjoyed it.
@@TheHistoryChap This is another superb documentary of the highest standard. There is a beautiful Boer War memorial at the entrance to St Stephen's Green,Grafton Street,Dublin. Obviously it is dedicated to the Irish soldiers who fell in the Boer War in particular soldiers from the Royal Dublin Fusiliers. It was unveiled by the Duke of Connaught in 1905 and the memorial has the formal title "The Fusiliers Arch". Sadly it is known locally as "Traitors Gate". I dont know if you got my post in the comments section in another one of your high quality episodes titled "British Empire-Bloody Climax". Wishing you continued success.
Thank you for another excellent and informative video, please keep up the great work!
Thank you for your kind words.
Great video I like the battlefield maps you show and your narration style. I'm currently reading a book about the Boer war and struggle to visualize the battlefields with only worded descriptions. Thanks
Thanks for watching.
Great presentation, I always wonder about Buller since I was trained at Buller Barracks in Aldershot. The treatment of George Ravenhill was a disgrace, but typical of the times.
It's always interesting to learn about the stories behind the names.
Great stuff, as always! Thanks for another interesting and entertaining video!
Glad you enjoyed it Michael.
Working on my next one - Hector MacDonald "Fighting Mac".
Great video as usual thanks, its such a shame that the men in charge were so short sighted and set in their ways!!!!
I agree but also humbly suggest that most of us don't adapt to change as quickly as we should (myself included!)
@@TheHistoryChap 👍
As for the defeats in Black Week, when Buller was given command of the Army Corps back in England, when he looked at the list of soldiers he was being given to command, he remarked, "well, if I can't win with these, I ought to be kicked". He knew the troops he was being given to command would be insufficient to get the job done, and the events of Black Week proved it. Besides this, not only had Buller not seen any action in 14 years when the war started, all the colonial campaigns he had previously fought in under Sir Garnet Wolseley, he fought in a subordinate role. Overall operational command was clearly a level of command he wasn't prepared for, and the events of Black Week proved this too. He definitely improved after being moved back to subordinate level and played a part in the defeat of the Boers in the conventional phase of the war. It was unfair what happened to Buller in the aftermath of the conflict, especially as the tactics he used to defeat the Boers and relieve Ladysmith would later be used by the British in the First World War.
Nathan, I agree with your assessment. Buller was wrong man for the job but when moved back into his comfort zone he did produce better results (excluding Spion Kop).
The crossing on the left was called Bridledrift not Brindledrift. My uncle, Gifford Sparks, had the farm where this crossing is. When the river is low, there's several spots you can cross knee-deep onto a small island we called Birds island and then splash over to the far side. There's a memorial and graves for the Brits that fell just before the farm entry gate. M.
Michael, thanks for taking the time to add to the story.
The volume of water in the Tugela today is probably considerably less than it was in 1899.
Another great video Chris. Your narration is fantastic and filled with detail. It's a delight to watch your channel. Perhaps you might consider doing a series on the roles played by Irish Regiments in Britain's wars.
@robg
Why would he want to do that ?
@@danran100 Why not? It's a fact that many Irishmen and women served in the British armed forces and they performed heroically; especially in helping to defeat Hitler.
@@robg5958 Bollocks !
They'll be whinging for another "800 years of slavery" crap. 🏴 🇬🇧
Thanks for your kind words and your suggestion. I will put it on my ever-growing list!
Really heroic story. Shot three times at once. My grandfather was shot four times but not at the same time. The military tech background reminds a bit on 2022 ukraine.
Thanks for sharing story about your grandfather.
To be fair I doubt I would have thought the Boers capable of accurate fire at 1,000 yards. It was rash in hindsight but given all prior experience doesn't seem suicidal for the time. For the Boers it was a turkey shoot. I find your videos most enjoyable for the depth of research but also your narrative style which adds so much flavor. Well done History Chap!
Thanks for your kind words, David.
They're using 8mm Mauser rifles. Those things were nasty in the hands of a recruit, they were positively horrific in the hands of someone who'd trained with rifles their whole life, knew the area, and had the utter gall to use something called cover. They were basically a modern equivalent to the English Archer of previous years (mostly Welsh), whereas the British were a farce multiplier..
Look up Forgotten Weapons - he has vids on the Mauser bolt actions amongst others
They were using 1893 Mauser small ring rifles in 7x57 Mauser, also known as the Spanish hornet. The boers were outstanding marksman.
The Rough Riders also faced the same rifles in the Spanish-American War. The US military was so impressed that Springfield Armory copied a lot of the Mauser rifle to make the Springfield 1903 rifle. Mauser sued them and the US government had to pay Mauser for patented infringement.
Sad & tragic. Superb summary. A precursor to the mindset of “we have achieved a fraction of our objectives with very large casualties “?
I'm glad you liked it.
th-cam.com/users/TheHistoryChap
Yet again, very informative as always.
Many thanks.
In a similar Boer war story 3 Canadians were awarded VCs at Leliefontein for saving Canadian field guns from the Boers.
Doug, thanks for adding.
So many stories from this war.
Hello Chris, excellent video, I love it your stories especially when there is a Victoria Cross action in it, well done mate, Lee.
Thank you. Please make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss future videos.
There is a memorial to the Boer war on the mall in Armagh city. Most people don’t even know about it. It is not beside the cenotaph which is well known. There are a lot of names on the Boer war memorial. The local Regiment would have been the Royal Irish Fusiliers.
Many thanks for sharing. There was a board in my old rowing club with the names of the club members who fought in this war. I doubt most modern members ever look at it let alone realise what it was all about.
Great explanation of the battle.
Thank you for your kind comment.
I’ve toured many of these battle sites - such a great pity I didn’t have the benefit of your expertise to accompany me at the time.
Maybe a future career for me?
Excellent...as always..I particularly like the way you tell us what happened to the characters in later life. So who were the 3rd father and son to win the VC? Very much look forward to watching more episodes. Thanks again , Nick.
Thanks for your kind words. The story about the three father-son VC winners in coming soon. Please make sure that you subscribe (& hit bell icon) so you don't miss it.
What heroism trying to save those guns and fallen comrades.
Stupidity, not bravery, or what we today call "sunk cost fallacy". A few guns with limited ammunition and an ego problem isn't worth 2000 men. Now if it was a couple of 1pdr Gatlings like the Hotchkiss or something like that.. Because those would be a technological loss.. But otherwise...
Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Thank you from South Africa ✌
:)
Great history lesson thanks. The British Army officer class system seem impervious the change being responsible many avoidable soldiers deaths in our history.
Jim, thanks for taking the time to comment.
I spent 5 Years in 159 Colenso Bty RA (Previously 16 Bty). Corporal Nurse is Buried in Liverpool.
I think its mad how we repeatedly use battle disasters as units battle honors.
There is a memorial to the Irish Brigade at St Stevens Green in Dublin.
Liam, thanks for adding to the story.
I have just released a video about Maj-Gen. Hector MacDonald - "Fighting Mac".
th-cam.com/video/Sx178vz8p7U/w-d-xo.html
I have Longs medical report amongst other correspondence from/to him following the war. Long was wounded 7 times during the battle! He and his other surviving officers were courtmartialed and lost their pensions for loosing the guns. A post war letter to him from Botha (I could be wrong as I haven’t read it for a few years now) said that Longs action caused him to disclose his main positions and abandon his plan to trap the Brits after they crossed the road bridge.. also Long was not asked by Butler to join him reconnoitring the Field at Colenso. Buller which was odd. Long was I/c the artillery and it would have been normal for all key officers to accompany Buller on the reconnaissance. It seems Buller did not like Long and on the ship out to the Cape never asked Long to join him at table. Also Buller was an admirer of Jenny Churchill, Winston’s mother, and Long had sent Winston on the armoured train that was ambushed leaving Winston a POW - One could speculate that a telegram to Buller from the admired and influential Lady may have deepened Buller apparent dislike for Long. However, post-war there was much sympathy for Long in the correspondence I’ve seen and Long eventually regained the deprived pensions including his own.
John, thanks for adding to the discussion.
I hadn't comprehended Jenny Churchill's possible involvement although I was aware of Long's responsibility for the train.
As I said to another viewer, Long's tactic had been used successfully during the Franco-Prussian War so he wasn't totally "off script"
Great videos!
Glad you like them! Thanks for your support.
@@TheHistoryChap When is Spionkop coming? You got to do that one!
Narration is excellent!!
Thank you.
I can't believe ,that the British ever fought a better shooting People, meant every one above 12 years in a whole country. The Mausers didn't hurt ..😮 Thank you again. Ludwig
Thanks for watching
Great again. Thank you
My pleasure!
Thanx so much. This was so interesting!
Glad you enjoyed it!
th-cam.com/users/TheHistoryChap
My Great Uncle Nicolas Chiazzari received a DSO for getting the Tugela River Ferry operational. Quote "Lieutenant N W Chiazzari, Natal Naval Vols., has been most useful, especially in getting into working order and working the punts across the river, both at Potgieter's and at Colenso, by which all the troops crossed." For his enterprise and leadership, Lieutenant Chiazzari was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, thereby becoming the first volunteer soldier in the Empire to be awarded this decoration. Another Great Uncle was wounded during the siege of Ladysmith and lost his arm during a battle near Bethesda..
Wow, thanks for sharing. What an incredible family story.
Just found your channel today and boy am I happy. Subscribed! FYI before this I thought only 4 VCs were won (wikipedia!) but they dont list Babtie or Lister Reid. A quick check and we discover you are correct!
Stephen, thanks for your support.
Always glad to be one step of Wikipedia.
Great series !!
Thank you for watching.
I bet those Hotchkiss or Krupp light artillery would still be very effective today. Same with the Maxim machine gun. Its interesting how not much has changed since the enclosed brass cartridge self contained with primer, powder and bullet in brass case. And that was 150 years ago. We should have flechette guns where you can have a magazine the size of a 30 round magazine hold 300 flechettes. This is a copyright idea, they need to use heavy duty paper treated on the inside in place of brass. Maybe the paper and primer completely burn and nothing is ejected
Thank you for taking the time to comment
Great stuff! Would like to request you take on Sir Richard F Burton maybe in a short series. Thank you.
Michael, thank you for your kind comment and your request about Sir Richard F Burton. Great idea, I will add to my list.
Please make sure you subscribe so you don't miss it.
Right here are the Boers
Outdoorsmen, that means excellent marksmen.
Dutch lineage mostly, blood is thicker than water the Dutch make excellent serviceman.
Knowledge of the terrane and climate, The Boers were locales.
Finally old fashioned thinking by the establishment, rather than alternatives later to be developed like special forces, which the British were later to excel at.
That’s it basically.
Thanks for watching my video & your feedback
great video
Thank you for watching
I'm related to Major General Sir Hector Macdonald 🫡🇬🇧
Thanks for watching my video & sharing your family story.
It would be great to have more on Irish regiments. Check out Cpl O'Lavery during the American war of independence.
There were 'Irish units " that fought on the side of the republics, These men took mostly the roll of saboteurs, blowing up rail lines they had the skills as they were miners on the rand
The Boers showed the British what rifle marksmanship was. After the war, the British started training their soldiers and came up with the “Mad Minute”. They would shoot their SMLE rifles in the prone position at 200 yards, at a man sized target from the waist up. Then, after one minute, they would count the hits.
Thanks for taking the time to comment.
th-cam.com/users/TheHistoryChap
Terrific series on such a terrible war.
Just one thing, your camera isn't sitting level.
Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the observation
Regarding Prvt George Ravenhill. I had been led to believe that once given a VC It could not be taken from you.
Quote: 'you could go to the gallows wearing one'. Is this not true then?
Thanks.
Thanks for raising that point. My understanding is that within the royal warrant establishing the VC there is a clause allowing for removing.
The quote that you mentioned was from King George V. No VC has been forfeited in over 100 years although the provision remains.
That man who went to prison and had his V.C. taken away should be given it back. It should go to his family. The fact he died in poverty 14 years later is a National Disgrace. Anyone else who had a medal taken away, for whatever reason should get it back. They can be given to the nearest of kin. Thanks for a terrific video. As always, very sad about how many horses died in the battle.
I think his VC is in a museum.
th-cam.com/users/TheHistoryChap
I would like to send you a photo of Freddie Roberts' grave as well as other Battle of Colenso graves. Freddie is buried at Chieveley Station (from where Churchill travelled in the armoured train before his capture). Chieveley was used as a field hospital at the time.
You can get in touch via my website (www.thehistorychap.com)
Well researched it makes sense why Robert's was severe upon Boer
Interesting observation. Thanks for sharing.
very well done
Thank you.
Have you done battle of Wagon Hill? I have a particular interest in it with Maj Miller-Walnut Gordon Highlanders.
No, I haven't. Will add to my ever-growing list.
Wel gedaan.
Thanks for watching my video
To lose your guns to the enemy is the ultimate disgrace to an artilleryman.
Thanks for taking the time to comment.
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@@TheHistoryChap Great grandfather was killed during the Boer War.
Honestly it sounded like their alligator mouth overload their canary behind, now that is what I call an ass whooping!
Thank you for taking the time to comment
Frankly, I can’t believe that they were making 1000 yard shots with Mauser rifles. That would be an incredible feat, even with today’s scoped hunting rifles.
Thanks for watching my video
Brilliant
That's very kind of you. Thanks.
Another very interesting video. My father served in the RAF 1948-55 in South Africa. Excuse my ignorance but, who actually won the Boer War? Seems like a bit of a stalemate to me. Is there any chance you might do a talk on Lord Baden Powell please?
I honestly don't know what to say. Brilliant video and very accurate. I have been to the Spioenkop battle field memorial and it was interesting learning about what happend there more than a hundred years ago. My heart ache for the Brits because it was a war that could have been avoided if not for there greed. But I've no sympathy for the numbers lost ,because of what they did to our women and children. Mag die Here wees met elke siel wees wat geduurend die oorlog weg gegooi was en van vergeet was. En mag die koninging vir eewig in hel brand.
Edit: please forgive my terrible English, it isn't my first language
Zack, thanks for taking time to comment.
I will do a video about Kitchener's scorched earth policy and the concentration camps reasonably soon. Just want to be sensitive with that particular subject.
@@TheHistoryChap Are you going to do something about the evolution of British 'cavalry' doctrine?
The British did win this war after all and when you take away all the guilt shaming and retrospective lamentation; they won it crushingly. Well over half the Boer fighting men were either dead, incarcerated or incapacitated. Both Boer capitals were occupied, and basically all Boer farmland was burnt to sunder. What last vestiges of the Boer resistance were left were continually being strangled out by British mounted patrols who had come to grips with this very new form of warfare.
Officers such as Haig wanted to completely wipe the Boers off the face of the planet and had him and others officers got their way that reality was only months away. Quite literally.
The Boers were a formidable enemy due to the very nature of their harsh existence and before anyone bangs on about the financial cost to Britain just remember that the resources used by the USA in failing to deal with the Taliban FAR exceeded anything the British used in the vast expanse of the veldt (and that's without planes and vehicles or the auxiliary assistance of several allies).
@@doug6500 Im just going to argue a little in the regards of ''they won it crushingly''. There are a lot of factors that I honestly think you are missing. Britain was humiliated during the war because of the number of troops and finances they sent to win (edit: for the time period, it was to expensive and questioned why they needed so many troops against mere farmers). To top it all they had to use dishonorable tactics to just to win, causing the British people and many others around the world to question Britains actions (which we all know was driven by greed). Sir Author Doyel (hope Im spelling his name correctly) described it the beginning of the end for the British empire. Not a very crushing victory when even one of your main propagandists say that, now is it?
I’m sure it was just a slip of the tongue but you made a small error around the 12:05 mark, Bobs was actually awarded the VC for his actions in the Indian Mutiny not the 2nd Afghan War.
it was a slip of the tongue - was thinking about his campaign in Afghanistan.
I was hoping you would go on and say how many father/ sons were awarded the VC. Just wow.
Maybe I should do a video about them?
I got a feeling some of these Commissioned Officers looked after themselves with awarding medals when it was the Troops who did the hard work in battle
It would seem as if the British commanders had an extremely difficult time learning from their mistakes, carried on into the next wars as well, unfortunately...
Jeff, it seems so. I would like to really research what effect the Boer War had on military tactical thinking leading into WW1.
How about a video on the battle of surrender hill, and Paardeberg? And what about Col. Scobell, who used the Boer tactics against them. What about the 3 sieges that never surrender to the Boers? What about Baden Powell?
Thanks for watching my video.
"Gun Crews" - that's for the Navy.
Royal Artillery had Gun Detachments.
"Gun Teams" were the horses. 3 pairs, Lead pair, Swing pair and Wheel pair, Leaders, Swingers and Wheelers.
Schofield was not initially awarded the VC. He got the DSO, but it was later upgraded, and he had to return his DSO. He came from Audenshaw near Manchester. I went to Audenshaw Grammar School.
The award of posthumous VC's was not authorised at the time, and the Colenso business was a turning point in the policy, after some agitation, particularly from the family of one of the officers who had died whilst trying to save the Colours of the 24th at Isandhlwana in January 1879.
Thank you for taking the time to share.
excellent
Many thanks. Please check out some of my other videos
No siege of Mafeking? When do we get a video on BadenPowel?
Will be coming soon.
What on Earth was Buller thinking in his message to Ladysmith?!? A mental collapse of some kind? It seems almost inconceivable that with a numerically-superior army in the field, even a bloodied one, a general would advise something like that.
Goodness only knows.
Supposedly, General White in Ladysmith signalled back that he was holding the town for the Queen.
Does anyone know where the Utrecht Commando was deployed by General Botha at the battle of Colenso if at all?
Not sure, without looking back at my notes (if I did indeed make a note!)
You have to wonder what the artillery officer was thinking setting up his guns like that. This battle was a terrible waste of lives.
Certainly not ordered to do so by Buller.
I guess Col. Long thought it had worked in Sudan so why not try it again?
Also led to believe that the Prussians used the same tactic against the French during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870.
Another Rrrrripping video
simply Wipping
Thanks.
If only the Boers wore grass huts and fought with spears, the Brits could have been more confident of victory that day.
Thanks for watching my video & for your comment.
The guns to the artilary are the eqivlent to the regemental colors of other units , The rule regimant colors never touch ground and to be protected at all costs . If you watch parades you will see that the regimental colors have the two most experanced SGT / S Sgt protecting the them.
Great point. Thanks for sharing, Craig.
Very good.
Thank you.
Please do subscribe so you don't miss my next videos. th-cam.com/users/TheHistoryChap
I think Corporals in the artillery are called Bombardiers or Lance Bombardiers. I could be wrong as the ranks may of been different back then.
Thanks for sharing
the Royal artillery named 1 of its training troops at Woolwich Arsenal Colenso troop. its the troop i was in during basic training in 1977.
We never got told why it was called that. now i know where the name came from.
Another troop was called inkerman troop.
never got to finish basic training though. did the pass out parade and was about to start gunnery training when the firemen went on strike so we had to switch to fire fighter training.
As we were fighting fires longer than expected and r regiments were waiting for us we never went back to Woolwich to finish r training we went home on leave for 2 weeks then off to r units.
tough few months. 6 green goddess with 6 men per goddess to cover the whole of north London. think there was about 10 fire stations with 3 engines per station in the area we ahd to cover with just 6.
we got to r base the day before the strike started to settle in and hope the strike got called off. green goddess arrived in the middle of the night so we had to do a crash course on them as we never got to see them or train with them till 8 hrs before the strike started. think the strike started around october and ended late Jan early Feb.
we just finished finding where all the gear was stored on them and sat down for breakfast and heard on the news the strike had started and the call out bell went off straight away. within 30 mins al 6 goddess were out on the road. my crew the 1st crew out and the last crew back when the strike ended in the UK. sometimes we went 3 or 4 days with no sleep or food as we were constanly out fighting fires. deal with 1 fire start heading back to base and get directed to another fire before we got back to base. last fire was at east India docks. flour silo went up. we were there 24/7 for 2 weeks trying to put that out. we did that in 12 hrs shifts. 3 engines on site while the other 3 either rested if possible or went to deal with other fires. we were told not to let any of the water get onto the flour silo or it will explode. so all we could do is hose down all the buildings around it to stop them going up as well. Firemen saw how exhausted we were and most of us collasping the firemen came over and helped us then called an end to the strike.
what kept us going was the pills the officers were giving us. we didnt know what they were at the time but later found out it was speed.
I was 17 when the strike started 18 by the time it finished. Spent my 18th birthday fighting fires. half the time we didnt even know what day it was. it was grab sleep where possible usualy maybe 2 to 3 hrs a sleep a week. sandwiches and coffee bought to use by r police escorts who could see were were really struggling to stay on r feet due to lack of sleep and food. most of us were not much more than kids. think the oldest was about 19 the youngest 16.
Thank you for taking the time to share your story