2 JUNE 1901 - DEFENCE OF JAMESTOWN

[archie777]

The “First Occupation of Jamestown” took place on 18 November 1899. On the previous day the 30-strong garrison of Cape Police under Inspector Halse received notice to quit Jamestown and proceed to Dordrecht. 

There was no Town Guard at the time and the Boers under General Olivier, flushed as they were with their capture of Aliwal North, met with no opposition in taking Jamestown.

 

In due course the Boers withdrew from that part of the Cape Colony, and British rule returned to Jamestown. Then, on 2 June 1901, a Boer Commando under General Kritzinger, “boldly charging the cordon, surprised the small and somnolent garrison of Jamestown.” 

“History of the War in South Africa” by Grant, Vol IV, p79.
By this time there was a Jamestown Town Guard, 40 strong, and they manned the trenches on the perimeter of the town. A koppie about 1000 yards from the town was defended by 16 men of the Dordrecht District Volunteer Guard and 11 more of the DDVG held a trench near the road to Aliwal North.

 

The Boer forces numbered some 500 men and the defenders of the koppie were the first to surrender after 4 of them were killed. The total action lasted some 3 hours. The Boers only had one casualty: a young chap who had donned the greatcoat of one of the British casualties and was mistakenly shot by his own people.