Churchill’s escape
During the first weeks of warfare the Boers had done many successful raids on British patrols and railroads and because of this they had managed to capture many British officers and soldiers. One of these was a young man called Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill.
The young Winston Churchill
The young Churchill was not in South Africa as a part of the armed force, but as a correspondent for the Morning Post. On the 15th November 1899 he managed to be allowed to go with an armoured train towards the frontline. The train consisted of a locomotive sandwiched between three wagons fitted with loopholes and carrying a 7 pound gun. The train was heard and seen by the Boers long before the British could see the Boers, so as the Boers opened fire, the British didn’t see the large stones the Boers had placed on the tracks.
The three wagons were derailed and overturned. The Boers fired onto the wagons while the British either defended the train, ran away or tried to clear the line.
Eventually this was accomplished and the locomotive and 50 wounded survivors steamed back to Estcourt. The British lost 4 dead, 14 wounded and 58 taken prisoner, including Churchill. The prisoners were all taken to a prisoner of war camp in Pretoria.
Churchill (far right) as prisoner of war
Churchill wasn’t a man to sit still in captivity and he soon found it possible to escape from the camp by climbing the fence at night. From here he travelled to Witbank, here he met a British mine manager and he helped Churchill to hid in his mine and later managed to hid him onboard a freight train heading for Portuguese East Africa from there Churchill managed to secure passage on a steamer and return to Durban.
Arriving in Durban Churchill was greeted as a hero by the British and the British forces. He was soon offered to join Lieutenant-General French’s cavalry and Churchill accepted. He wanted to return to fight the Boers and he had promised himself that he would rescue his friends; they were still in captivity in Pretoria. So the hero travelled north with French’s cavalry, Pretoria was the next major target for the British forces in South Africa.
Churchill joined Lieutenant-General French’s cavalry to return to fight the Boers