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Shell Shock? by Paul HooperI've just been reading a book on the Boer War and the Sieges of Ladysmith and Mafeking. Now I'm not going to bore you with detailed descriptions etc, but I came across a few incidents that might amuse. Apparently at Ladysmith, the Boer guns that fired at the besieged town were only fired between 9.00am-12 noon Monday to Saturday. At noon the Boer gunners knocked off for lunch and didn't recommence firing till 2.00pm and then only until 4.00pm when they knocked off for the day! After a few weeks of this the British had got used to the system and started holding sports, concerts and even horse racing on a Sunday and all the shopping etc was done during the two hour break during the day. However when a group of German Volunteers joined the Boers in the siege, they opened fire at 1.00pm on a Sunday! The British protested to the Boers and the Germans were bought before a Boer court and court-martialled and sent home for disturbing the Lord's Day. The British also respected the unofficial two hour ceasefire. At 12 noon on the 9th November 1899 the Prince of Wales Birthday they fired a 21 gun salute in his honour. The perplexed Boers manned their defences expecting an all out attack. It wasn't till later that afternoon that they learned the reason for the fire. Christmas Day 1899 saw six shells fired into Ladysmith which failed to explode. When they were examined each shell was engraved in bold capital letters: WITH THE COMPLIMENTS OF THE SEASON. When the shells were opened they were stuffed with Christmas Puddings instead of powder! |