Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill (54 page)

It was difficult enough
: Riall,
Boer War
, 23.

The camp had a bleak tin building
: Ibid.

Occasionally, they were even forced to resort
:
http://17thdivision.tripod.com/rationsoftheageofempire/id5.html
.

From the hills surrounding the town
: Atkins,
Relief of Ladysmith
, 61.

From Estcourt, Churchill watched the flashes
: The men in Estcourt also had a heliograph, which looked like a round, brass-framed vanity mirror on a tripod, with an arm on a swivel that held another, identical mirror. It was usually operated by a young officer named Malcolm Riall, who had undergone additional training in signaling while at Sandhurst and would calmly sit before his heliograph, smoking a pipe and wearing a flat-brimmed hat to shade his eyes as he attempted to communicate with White. It was not a perfect system. There were often cloudy or stormy days, and the high hills that lined the northern bank of the Tugela River, just south of Ladysmith, obstructed their view, but Riall was usually able to make it work. “Fortunately I am a fairly good signaler myself,” he wrote to his mother, “and if there was any difficulty…I could generally rely on getting the message through.” Riall,
Boer War
, 10.

“spent years in pigeon culture”
: “Carrier Pigeons in the British-Boer War,”
Collier’s Weekly
, Dec. 23, 1900, 15.

“brown speck floating”
: Winston Churchill,
London to Ladysmith
, 28.

“favourite diet”
: Steevens,
From Capetown to Ladysmith
, 34.

Bicycles, which had been used
: Caidin and Barbree,
Bicycles in War
, 12.

“Nothing looks more formidable”
: Winston Churchill,
My Early Life
, 244.

“the advantage of drawing first blood”
: Winston Churchill,
London to Ladysmith
, 14.

“seriously underrated the nature”
: “Boers at Kraaipan,”
Diamond Fields Advertiser
, Oct. 14, 1899.

“Wilson’s death-trap”
: T. A. Heathcote,
British Admirals of the Fleet, 1734–1995: A Biographical Dictionary
(Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Leo Cooper, 2002), 80.

“It was not really an armored train”
: Atkins,
Relief of Ladysmith
, 65–66.

“Day after day”
: Haldane,
How We Escaped from Pretoria
, 6.

“chief diversion of our life”
: Atkins,
Relief of Ladysmith
, 65–66.

“How relieved the occupants”
: Haldane,
How We Escaped from Pretoria
, 6.

“should get to the front”
: Winston Churchill,
Ian Hamilton’s March
, 123.

“An armoured train!”
: Winston Churchill,
London to Ladysmith
, 23. “Mr. Morley” refers to John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn, who had been chief secretary for Ireland and would, in 1905, become secretary of state for India. Morley was known for his opposition to imperialism in general and the Boer War in particular and, as such, was an object of scorn and derision for Churchill.

“Beyond Chieveley”
: Winston Churchill,
London to Ladysmith
, 24.

When they finally reached Colenso
: Ibid.

When they pulled back in
: Ibid., 25.

“could see nothing”
: Amery,
My Political Life
, 117.

As they climbed out of the car
: Ibid.

CHAPTER 10: A PITY AND A BLUNDER

One night soon after arriving in Estcourt
: Winston Churchill,
My Early Life
, 243.

During the Battle of Elandslaagte
: Haldane,
Soldier’s Saga
, 137.

“I can never doubt”
: Winston Churchill,
Story of the Malakand Field Force
, 81.

“Instantly the camp sprang to life”
: Atkins,
Relief of Ladysmith
, 68.

The day before, a new battalion
: Amery,
Times History of the War in South Africa
, 2:115.

“A dense, paralyzing mist of uncertainty”
: Ibid.

“A moment of confidence”
: Ibid.

All around them guy ropes
: Atkins,
Relief of Ladysmith
, 67–69.

“Lord, O poor Tommy!”
: Steevens,
From Capetown to Ladysmith
, 39.

“I saw the flash of lightning”
: “Notes on Lightning-Strike in South Africa,”
AngloBoerWar.com
, Jan. 25, 1902,
http://www.angloboerwar.com/forum/13-miscellany/4611-notes-on-lightning-stroke-in-south-africa
.

In the end, eighty-six British servicemen
: Stephen Adams, “Boer War Records Show 86 Were Struck by Lightning,”
Telegraph
, June 24, 2010.

“As for their boots”
: Steevens,
From Capetown to Ladysmith
, 25.

“perhaps thirty harmless shots”
: Atkins,
Relief of Ladysmith
, 69.

“with an unblushing assurance”
: Atkins,
Incidents and Reflections
, 122.

“a pity and a blunder”
: Ibid., 127.

“There could be only one explanation”
: Ibid.

“There was to be no retreat”
: Atkins,
Relief of Ladysmith
, 71.

Later that night, not long before midnight
: Haldane,
Soldier’s Saga
, 138.

“with a heart full of misgivings”
: Ibid., 139.

“hanging about to pick up”
: Ibid., 140.

When he grimly told Churchill
: Winston Churchill,
My Early Life
, 244.

“I need hardly point out”
: Haldane,
Soldier’s Saga
, 139.

“When I approached him”
: H. W. Kinsey, “Churchill and Ladysmith,”
Military History Journal
7, no. 3 (June 1987).

“more disappointed than I”
: Ibid.

“eager for trouble”
: Winston Churchill,
My Early Life
, 244.

“I accepted the invitation”
: Ibid.

“It was no possible use”
: Amery,
My Political Life
, 117.

Churchill, already up and ready to go
: Atkins,
Incidents and Reflections
, 128–29.

Quickly assessing the situation
: Winston Churchill,
London to Ladysmith
, 31.

There was some confusion and difficulty
: Haldane,
Soldier’s Saga
, 141; Winston Churchill,
London to Ladysmith
, 31.

“In dispatching the train”
: Haldane,
Soldier’s Saga
, 140.

CHAPTER 11: INTO THE LION’S JAWS

“a sign of opposition or indeed of life”
: Winston Churchill,
My Early Life
, 244.

“If the veld can only be compared”
: Maurice,
History of the War in South Africa
, 47.

“went out in a businesslike way”
: Amery,
Times History of the War in South Africa
, 2:24.

Where there was no natural feature in the landscape
: Ibid., 2:38.

“a people whose only mode of warfare”
: Letter to the editor,
Diamond Field Advertiser
, clipping, no date given, Africana Library, Kimberley, South Africa.

“The actual conditions of warfare”
: Amery,
Times History of the War in South Africa
, 2:16–19.

“These experienced soldiers”
: Comaroff,
Boer War Diary of Sol T. Plaatje
, 38.

“When this siege is over”
: Steevens,
From Capetown to Ladysmith
, 39.

“long brown rattling serpent”
: Winston Churchill,
London to Ladysmith
, 32.

“It would be hard”
: Amery,
Times History of the War in South Africa
, 2:115.

“When God holds out a finger”
: Reitz,
Commando
, 43–44.

“Had I been alone”
: Haldane,
Soldier’s Saga
, 142.

“A long hill was lined”
: Winston Churchill,
London to Ladysmith
, 32.

“Certainly they were Boers”
: Winston Churchill,
My Early Life
, 244.

Whenever they were forced to go on foot
: Hillegas,
With the Boer Forces
, 82.

“There were men in the Boer forces”
: Ibid., 51.

Ordering his men to find as many stones
: Amery,
Times History of the War in South Africa
, 2:116.

When their work was finished
: Ibid.

CHAPTER 12: GRIM SULLEN DEATH

“Remain at Frere”
: Haldane,
Soldier’s Saga
, 141–42.

“Everything about the station”
: Ibid., 142.

Ordering the telegraphist to report to Long
: Ibid.

When the train reached the crest of a hill
: Ibid.

“This noisome beast always lurks”
: Steevens,
From Capetown to Ladysmith
, 34.

Urgently pressing the button
: Haldane,
Soldier’s Saga
, 142.

“rather elated”
: Ibid., 143.

Churchill, standing on a box
: Winston Churchill,
My Early Life
, 245; Winston Churchill,
London to Ladysmith
, 32.