London to Ladysmith via Pretoria is a book written by Winston Churchill. It is a personal record of Churchill's impressions during the first five months of the Second Boer War. It includes an account of the Relief of Ladysmith, and also the story of Churchill's capture and dramatic escape from the Boers. The book was first published in 1900, and dedicated to the staff of the Natal Government railway.
In 1899 Winston Churchill, though he had left his Regiment, the 4th Hussars, in the previous March, was eager as ever to be within the sound of the guns and wasted no time in getting himself accredited to The Morning Post as war correspondent. He sailed from Southampton aboard the Dumottar Castle on 14 October and reached Cape Town on the 31st.
Churchill was captured while a military reporter. Churchill escaped from the prison camp and travelled almost 300 miles (480 km) to Portuguese Lourenço Marques in Delagoa Bay, with the assistance of an English mine manager. [1] His escape made him a minor national hero for a time in Britain, though instead of returning home, he rejoined General Redvers Buller's army on its march to relieve the British at the Siege of Ladysmith and take Pretoria. [2] This time, although continuing as a war correspondent, Churchill gained a commission in the South African Light Horse Regiment. He was one of the first British troops into Ladysmith and Pretoria. In fact, he and the Duke of Marlborough, his cousin, were able to get ahead of the rest of the troops in Pretoria, where they demanded and received the surrender of fifty-two Boer guards of the prison camp there. [3]
Churchill later re-told the events described in articles in The Strand Magazine in 1923–24, and his autobiography My Early Life. He produced a second volume of his experiences continuing where this one ceased, Ian Hamilton's March.
Churchill described his feelings when the armoured train he had been travelling with was ambushed by Boers:
He described his impressions of the Boer army when he first saw it, as a recently taken captive:
And on the feeling of being a prisoner:
What he took with him on his successful escape and what he wished he had had:
On what a Boer said to Churchill about the heart of their dispute with the British:
His feelings on seeing his younger brother wounded:
Churchill attempted to obtain his release arguing he was a civilian (he was most unhappy at the idea of remaining in prison for the duration of the war), as the Boers had released some civilian prisoners:
What he did not describe in the book was that he had offered, if released, to take no more part in the campaign, nor give any information which might hurt the Boer cause. Just to hedge his bets, he also attempted to get himself re-classified as a military prisoner, as he had heard of a possible exchange of military prisoners. The Boers regarded him as a significant prisoner, because of his initiative in attempting to get the train moving and allowing the engine to escape, because of his reputation as a war correspondent, and because he was a minor member of the aristocracy whose father had been a member of the British government. Nonetheless, it transpired that the authorities were seriously considering the possibility of accepting his offer to withdraw from the war, which later gave rise to accusations he had broken his agreement when he resumed reporting after his escape. [10]
With two others, Captain Haldane and Sergeant Brockie, Churchill devised a plan. The building where they were held was surrounded by a patrolled courtyard, and then a wall. The sentries moved about, and the conspirators determined that at a certain point the sentries would be briefly unable to see part of the wall, and a fit man would be able to climb it. On the first night they resolved to try to escape, the sentries changed their patrol pattern and escape was impossible. On the second an opportunity arose where two sentries stopped to talk to each other, and Churchill scaled the wall.
Brockie was killed at Ypres in 1915, but a simmering controversy broke out between Churchill and Haldane until his death in 1950 as to the exact events of that night. Haldane claimed that the party had again agreed to defer their escape, but that Churchill had then gone over the wall by himself. Churchill's account describes him waiting behind the wall for more than an hour for the others to join him, and then a discussion between them through the wall, where the others told him the sentry was suspicious and they could not escape. Haldane agreed a conversation took place, but not how Churchill had come to be on the other side of the wall while they had not. [11]
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, was a British statesman, soldier and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945, during the Second World War, and again from 1951 to 1955. Apart from two years between 1922 and 1924, he was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1900 to 1964 and represented a total of five constituencies. Ideologically an economic liberal and imperialist, he was for most of his career a member of the Conservative Party, which he led from 1940 to 1955. He was a member of the Liberal Party from 1904 to 1924.
Louis Botha was a South African politician who was the first prime minister of the Union of South Africa—the forerunner of the modern South African state. A Boer war hero during the Second Boer War, he eventually fought to have South Africa become a British Dominion.
Ladysmith is a city in the Uthukela District of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It lies 230 kilometres (140 mi) north-west of Durban and 365 kilometres (227 mi) south-east of Johannesburg. Important industries in the area include food processing, textiles, and tyre production.
Major John Strange Spencer-Churchill, known as Jack Churchill, was the younger son of Lord Randolph Churchill and his wife Jennie, and the brother of former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Sir Winston Churchill.
The Battle of Spion Kop was a military engagement between British forces and two Boer Republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State, during the campaign by the British to relieve the besieged city Ladysmith during the initial months of the Second Boer War. The battle was fought 23–24 January 1900 on the hilltop of Spion Kop(1), about 38 km (24 mi) west-southwest of Ladysmith.
George Warrington "G. W." Steevens was a British journalist and writer.
The siege of Ladysmith was a protracted engagement in the Second Boer War, taking place between 2 November 1899 and 28 February 1900 at Ladysmith, Natal.
General Sir James Aylmer Lowthorpe Haldane, was a Scottish soldier who rose to high rank in the British Army.
My Early Life, also known in the USA as A Roving Commission: My Early Life, is a 1930 book by Winston Churchill. It is an autobiography from his birth in 1874 to around 1902. The book closes with mention of his marriage in 1908, stating that he lived happily ever after.
RMS Dunottar Castle was a Royal Mail Ship that went into service with the Castle Line in 1890 on the passenger and mail service between Britain and South Africa. In 1913 the ship was sold to the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company as the Caribbean. After the outbreak of the First World War she served as HMS Caribbean, first as a troop ship and then as an armed merchant cruiser, until she sank in a storm off the Scottish coast on 27 September 1915.
Jan Willem Boudewijn Gunning, was a Dutch physician, who served as the director of both the Staatsmuseum and what was then known as the Pretoria Zoological Gardens.
Winston Churchill, in addition to his careers of soldier and politician, was a prolific writer under the pen name 'Winston S. Churchill'. After being commissioned into the 4th Queen's Own Hussars in 1895, Churchill gained permission to observe the Cuban War of Independence, and sent war reports to The Daily Graphic. He continued his war journalism in British India, at the Siege of Malakand, then in the Sudan during the Mahdist War and in southern Africa during the Second Boer War.
Ian Hamilton's March is a book written by Winston Churchill. It is a description of his experiences accompanying the British army during the Second Boer War, continuing after the events described in London to Ladysmith via Pretoria.
When the Second Boer War broke out on 11 October 1899, the Boers had a numeric superiority within Southern Africa. They quickly invaded the British territory and laid siege to Ladysmith, Kimberley and Mafeking. Britain meanwhile transported thousands of troops both from the United Kingdom itself and from elsewhere in the Empire and by the time the siege of Ladysmith had been lifted, had a huge numeric superiority.
Major-General Sir William Penn Symons KCB was a British Army officer who was mortally wounded as he commanded his forces at the Battle of Talana Hill during the Second Boer War. While his forces won the battle, they had to abandon their position and fall back to Ladysmith. Symons and the more severely wounded were left to the Boers; he died three days later as a prisoner of war. A monument to his valour was raised in Victoria Park, Saltash, Cornwall, UK.
Major General Sir Geoffrey Barton, of the 7th Regiment of Foot, served the British Army from 1862 until 1904. Although he saw service in Ireland, Hong Kong and India, the majority of his campaigns were on the African continent. During the Second Boer War he was put in command of the 6th Brigade of the South Natal Field Force, taking part in the Relief of Ladysmith and the Relief of Mafeking. When he retired to Scotland he took an interest in local politics, the Red Cross Society and the Boy Scout Movement.
The Natal Field Force (NFF) was a multi-battalion field force originally formed by Major-General Sir George Pomeroy Colley in Natal for the First Boer War. It was later re-established for the Second Boer War (1899–1902) and commanded by Major-General Sir Redvers Buller VC GCB GCMG.
The South African Light Horse regiment of the British Army were raised in Cape Colony in 1899 and disbanded in 1907.
The early life of Winston Churchill covers the period from his birth on 30 November 1874 to 31 May 1904 when he formally crossed the floor of the House of Commons, defecting from the Conservative Party to sit as a member of the Liberal Party.
