Communications during the Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902

Logo

The Anglo-Boer War Study Group of Australia's

EXHIBITION GALLERY No. 6

Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902

COMMUNICATIONS

Semaphore Signals

Successful earlier systems of communications were used again

in the Anglo-Boer War. These included semaphore in which coloured flags were

used to spell out messages. The war against the Boers presented special problems

with the terrain and weather. Line-of-sight was sometimes difficult in hilly country,

often ruling out the use of heliographs and semaphore. In addition, such signals,

where they were actually used, could sometimes be 'read' by the enemy.

Night Signal Lamps

Signal lamp

Night signal lamps allowed communications in the dark, but oil lanterns could only

provide a dim output. During the disastrous defeat at Spion Kop, British and

irregular units (some with Australian members) reached the top of the 1200-foot

(400 metre) hill. But swirling mists prevented night signals to battalions waiting

below. As well, oil for the lamps had been mostly discarded during the perilous

night climb. Boer artillery on neighbouring hills opened fire at daylight with

devastating effect, the British forces having failed to properly entrench

themselves on Spion Kop.

Telephones

Telephone communication became available in the 1880s, but its use in warfare only

became possible when portable telephones, electricity generating equipment and

cable were developed. During the later stages of the Anglo-Boer War, ten thousand

blockhouses were built to hem in the Boers. Many groups of these were connected

by telephone allowing distant outposts under attack to call for reinforcements. In the

event that the telephone lines were deliberately cut, the blockhouses could still use

rockets to signal for help.

A British telegrapher sends news of the

victory at Klip Drift while listening on a

telephone handset for return messages.

HELIOGRAPHS

Used by both sides, signalling in morse code by mirrors could cover long distances. Up to

sixteen words per minute was possible but, like semaphore, flashing, mirror signals could

be read by the enemy. Flashes could be put down a tube to minimise detection, but this

significantly reduced the effective distance of the device. Depending of the size of the

reflector mirror otherwise, distances of more than 250 kilometres were possible (and

achieved in 1894), and the heliograph was still in use by the Pakistan Army in the 1970s,

and by Afghan guerilla units in the recent war with Russia.

For further information, click here (external website)

BICYCLES

For at least part of the Anglo-Boer War, three per cent of the British force were

bicyclists. Even the Boer Army, better known for its wide-ranging, mobile horse-

mounted Commandos, possessed bicycles. Although mostly used for dispatch-

riding (carrying communications), bicycles were used for patrols and scouting.

Queensland sent members of the Queensland Cycle Corps to the war, and these

men may have formed the nucleus of the Royal Australian Cycle Corps after

Federation.

Photograph in UK Intelligence Corps Museum

Fort Klapperkop Museum possesses the prototype of an 8-man special 'War

Cycle' built for use on railway lines. This vehicle, among other uses, could be

used to transport wounded soldiers.

Further information: click here (external site)

Logo for cards and letters

A mobile Boer post office like this one meant that commandos at the front

could send or receive fresh news quickly. The existence of mobile post offices

showed that the Boers could sometimes support irregular forces in the field to

a previously unimaginable extent. Postal services for British forces improved

during the course of the war, despite the large theatre of operations.

A prisoner's artwork

During the war many Boer POWs were shipped

overseas to camps at St Helena, Bermuda,

Dominica and to Sri Lanka where camps were

established at Diyatalawa, Ragama and Mt

Lavinia. In these postcards, prisoner J. Corbin

has sketched waterolour scenes illustrating life

in the Diyatalawa Camp (which can be seen in

the photo on the postcard). Other camps were

located in India. Altogether 24000 Boers were

imprisoned overseas.

More POW art

[Frontpage] [Exhibition Guide] [Last Gallery]

CONTINUE TOUR HERE

SITE STATS SINCE 7 MARCH 2003
Get a GoStats hit counter